Community Reads: Author Visit with Laura Purdie Salas at Cannon Falls
Laura Purdie Salas came to our school to present her poetry to our students grades K-5. She also had an evening visit open to the community, students, and families. Laura talked to the students about what poetry is, how to write its, and the publishing process. In addition, she read some of her work to the students and showcased different types of poetry. There were different activities set up for the students to participate in before the evening presentation and they were able to meet Laura and have books signed. The teachers had access to a number of her books to pre-teach poetry to the students and to also use as a follow up.
720 participated
The drive behind bringing a Poet to school was to increase students' exposure to and knowledge of that particular type of writing. Also, poetry is a state standard and we were able to pre-teach the topic, see the presentation, and follow up on it as well. We used a survey which was completed by students 3-5 and as a class for K-2, in addition the guests at the evening presentation were surveyed too. The questions included: prior to the presentation-have you been to a library presentation before, have you seen one on this topic? Post presentation were-would you like to learn more about this topic, would you go to this presentation again, what have you learned, what would you like to learn, and what was the most interesting part of this to you?
The responses from the students included things such as: they didn't know that they could write a poem, they thought all poems had to rhyme previously, they liked the use of similes and onomatopoeia. Less than half had been to a presentation at the library-either didn't know about them or couldn't get there and that they'd go to some now. Not many would see this presentation again but were very interested in the author's ability to take a poem from idea to completion and the concept that we are all poets. The children, staff, and parents expressed a desire to know more about poetry. The teachers were able to pre- and post- teach the skill and expressed positive feedback as well.
SELCO, Cannon Falls Public Library, Cannon Falls Elementary School, Laurie Turner