Author Visit with Jason Chin

Today, our students traveled to the City Campus to meet Jason Chin, an author/illustrator of non-fiction pictures books. He read his book Gravity and talked about how he came up with the idea for the story and how it evolved over time. We also got a chance to see him do a quick drawing of some of the items from the book. After we spent some time with our visiting author, the Pre-K students got to meet up with their city counterparts for some exploring of their playground and playing with old and new friends.

 

Author Visit 2016

The students traveled to the city campus today to meet Megan McCarthy, our visiting author/illustrator. It was a jam-packed morning filled with two exciting bus rides, some playtime with our city pre-k buddies, and of course learning all about Megan McCarthy and how she became a children’s book author. 

 We had such a good time, that some students couldn’t pass up a little snooze on the way back to school!

  

Pre-K Playground Party!

After the author visit yesterday, our students were quite delighted with the opportunity to play on the newly constructed city campus playground. They quickly made new friends with the city pre-k and enthusiastically created chasing games, climbed trees, and made lovely music on the outdoor instruments.

 

Kate Messner visits WT

On Monday, all of the North Hills Campus traveled to the city campus to hear Kate Messner speak about her journey as a writer. She talked to the students about how different experiences in her life have inspired her to write some of her most beloved books. The idea for Seamonster’s First Day was written when her son saw something large that was floating in the lake near their home. Her son asked what the object could be, as it appeared to be swimming in the water. This got Kate thinking. What if it were a sea monster? What might a sea monster’s life be like?

photo2

She also discussed how she researches the material for her stories by trying to experience the events for herself first. When she was writing Marty McGuire, she actually kissed a real frog just as Marty does in the story. She explained that, while it may seem strange, this process helps her to fully embody the moment and she is able to then tell a more descriptive story.

photo3

After the presentation was over, we paired up with our city Pre-k buddies to color and assemble our sea monster hats, enjoy a small snack, and hear the story of Seamonster’s First Day. Before we knew it, it was time to get back on theĀ  bus and head back to school. It was an excited and fun-filled day!