Sample Books

The children involved in the Kids Write and Create Project develop books with the aid of mentors from Temple University.

Mentors help their buddies to plan, develop, organize, and publish their own books, at levels best suited to each child.  Once published, the mentors also help the children to read the books they have created.  Children participating in Kids Write and Create gain experience in writing and illustrating both narrative and expository texts.  The children’s imaginations run wild while writing narratives about princesses, superheroes, their families, and their dreams.  They have also written expository texts on topics from famous African Americans to the dangers of Second Hand Smoke.

Building on Kids Write, the project also targets 2nd graders by integrating science and literacy activities in order to help students gain pride and enjoyment in literacy and science learning.  The 2nd graders work with Temple University students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to learn grade appropriate science content including scientific information on biomes and the animals that inhabit them.

While many kid writing programs allow the children to write, themselves, as best they can, our program has the children dictate their sentences. Speech Language Pathologist mentors take dictation but also scaffold the children’s oral language to facilitate growth in written language skills. Mentors type the text and scan (i.e., digitize) the accompanying illustrations that the children make. In addition, each book has a cover, title page, and an “about-the-author” page with a photograph. At the end of each semester, books are bound and presented to the authors who are honored at a special celebration held in their honor and also attended by parents/guardians, teachers, and the Temple mentors. Many children express amazement that their own ideas and words are worthy of being “published.” For some, it is the first book that they have ever owned.