AUTHORS VISIT THE NOVA RIF COMMUNITY
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At the RIF of NOVA Golden Gala in October 2022, best-selling author David Baldacci and his Wish You Well Foundation made a generous donation to support RIF of NOVA. Our Board decided to designate this donation toward a multi-year plan to bring authors and illustrators and their books to several of our RIF of NOVA participating schools. When students meet authors and illustrators, they are excited and inspired to see themselves as creators, too!
The Authors in our Community program had a "virtual" launch in May 2023 as several schools participated in Shenandoah University’s annual Children’s Literature Conference, which, among other options, offers schools virtual visits with authors and illustrators. The 50-minute visits were broadcast live, and students were given the opportunity to ask questions during the presentations. Eighteen RIF of NOVA schools took advantage, bringing authors and illustrators to more than 118 classrooms during the month of May. Each school was also given several copies of the presenting author’s books to distribute to students or classrooms. |
The "virtual" authors included...
...Chris Van Dusen, John Schumacher (better known as Mr. Schu) and Katherine Applegate, Bob Shea, R.J. Palacio, and Alan Gratz. In addition, Dr. Karen Huff, conference coordinator and Director of Shenandoah University's Children’s Literature Program & Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, offered scholarships to any teachers in any of our RIF of NOVA Title 1 programs to attend the full conference and receive three college credits for doing so. Two teachers took advantage of this wonderful opportunity. In the upcoming years, we plan to bring live author visits to our RIF of NOVA programs, in addition to hopefully continuing this partnership with Shenandoah University.
Potomac View Elementary School students enjoyed a drawing lesson from author/illustrator Chris Van Dusen
They watched...
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They drew...
And they were pretty proud of their work!
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Meanwhile, at Dumfries Elementary School, Mrs. Breeden's first grade class participated in a virtual author visit with Bob Shea.
Bob Shea showed the "how-to's" of his drawings
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Dumfries first graders were all eyes!
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And they tried their hands at it -- with quite good results!
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Reaction to the virtual author/illustrator experiences? All positive!
"The students and teachers LOVED the visit. It has sparked a renewed interest in author study and reading books that this author has written or illustrated. When Mr. Van Dusen was asked a question about how he became such an amazing illustrator, he answered that drawing takes practice and so does writing. This comment stuck with students as some were heard to say, "I need to keep practicing so I can get better!" -- Debbie Crawn, Potomac View Elementary School
"Our 4th grade students were studying Katherine Applegate, so we chose this author visit. We purchased This is a School for our K-2 classrooms and Odder for grades three through five classrooms to read. We had them talk about the authors and read their books prior to the author visit. Our students liked the books as well as seemed to enjoy the author visit." -- Bethany Drake, Yorkshire Elementary School
"The older students LOVED it! We had read Chris Van Dusen books earlier this year, and they loved seeing his studio and robots and all of it!" -- Mary Frances Daly, Mount Eagle Elementary School
"Bob Shea was very engaging. Both students and teachers enjoyed seeing how he created his books. They loved the interactive Q&A and hearing the author read some of his books." -- Emily Decarolis, Dumfries Elementary School
"The teachers and students enjoyed the author visit of R.J. Palacio and even had some of their questions answered. I hope you will be able to offer this program again." -- Edith Serrano, Oak Ridge Elementary School
"The students and teachers LOVED the visit. It has sparked a renewed interest in author study and reading books that this author has written or illustrated. When Mr. Van Dusen was asked a question about how he became such an amazing illustrator, he answered that drawing takes practice and so does writing. This comment stuck with students as some were heard to say, "I need to keep practicing so I can get better!" -- Debbie Crawn, Potomac View Elementary School
"Our 4th grade students were studying Katherine Applegate, so we chose this author visit. We purchased This is a School for our K-2 classrooms and Odder for grades three through five classrooms to read. We had them talk about the authors and read their books prior to the author visit. Our students liked the books as well as seemed to enjoy the author visit." -- Bethany Drake, Yorkshire Elementary School
"The older students LOVED it! We had read Chris Van Dusen books earlier this year, and they loved seeing his studio and robots and all of it!" -- Mary Frances Daly, Mount Eagle Elementary School
"Bob Shea was very engaging. Both students and teachers enjoyed seeing how he created his books. They loved the interactive Q&A and hearing the author read some of his books." -- Emily Decarolis, Dumfries Elementary School
"The teachers and students enjoyed the author visit of R.J. Palacio and even had some of their questions answered. I hope you will be able to offer this program again." -- Edith Serrano, Oak Ridge Elementary School
Cover image: Waking Times
