Publishing Party!!

So after using the template in my last post to create some amazing picture books,

my first graders and I celebrated this accomplishment with a "Publishing Party."  When our kids went to lunch and recess, my colleague and I decorated our rooms with streamers!  This first publishing party was a surprise.

 Then on each child's desk, we put their finished narrative writing, a medal with their name on it (made of paper, template below), and a slip of paper for other children to leave comments about their writing!  Click on this picture to download the medals and comment sheet for yourself!

When the kids came in they were excited, surprised, and confused!  We sat all the first graders down and told them the procedures for the publishing party!  The directions were to take their narrative story, their comment sheet, and a pencil, and they could walk around and "hand up pair up" with as many other children as possible to share their narrative and get comments!  My colleague and I participated of course, and I got to hear each child's story and leave a comment.  We also had other teachers come in.  Overall, it was a huge success!  The kids were engaged in their learning and reading for about 45 minutes!  Wowowow!  We loved it, and we will definitely be doing this again next quarter!