The Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary kindergarten class of Bonita Schraut is shown on Thursday. Students in this class helped author a book. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)
By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
Shown Thursday is Janie Rodriguez’s kindergarten class at Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary, where students in Rodriguez’ class assisted in authoring a book. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)
Students who are 5 or 6-years-old are normally having books read to them, but educators Bonita Schraut’s and Janie Rodriguez’ kindergarten students have taken reading to the next level by having their own books published.
The two classes from Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary School each published a book about what the students were thankful for, the teachers said. Student had one page to write and another to draw a picture.
“We got a solicitation in our mailbox at school about a company that could make our kids published authors, and my kids are pretty good at telling stories,” said Schraut. “I thought it would be a really good thing for them to do, plus it’s fun being a published author.”
The excitement and pride in their work showed on the faces of the children as Schraut, their teacher, read through their work.
“My grandpa said he liked my picture,” said 5-year-old Lily Rodriguez.
“They got a lot of enjoyment,” Schraut said. “They learned about how to put together a story, how to draw pictures, who authors are and who illustrators are; I’m really proud of them. I think they did a grand job.”
Ethan Ruiz, 6, wrote that he is thankful for the school, while Consuelo Banuelos, 5, wrote that she is thankful for Christmas. Six-year-old Jose Garza wrote that he was thankful for the rain, and 5-year-old Emma Aguilar wrote that she was thankful for her puppy.
“The main reason we went with the theme of being thankful was because it was in the month of November, when we got the solicitation from the publisher,” said Jaime Rodriguez. “Since Thanksgiving was a theme in the classroom already, we decided to make the theme about being thankful.”
Rodriguez said that since writing the books, the students have shown a keen interest in reading.
“They go to the library and they see books, but they’ve never seen an author, and they don’t realize that they could be an author,” Rodriguez said. “This introduced them to the concept of making a book. Now they can make the relationship to the author and the illustrator because now they have a better grasp of books.”
Librarian Blanca Balli echoed those sentiments, remarking that she has observed an increased interest in reading by the kindergarten classes since the books were published.
“We usually wait until January before we let the kindergarteners check out books because it takes them a little while to learn the sounds of the letters, then put them together to form words,” said Balli. “By January is usually when they’re ready to check out books, so this week they were checking out books for the first time. A lot of them were really excited about it.”
Balli said that the students expressed superior knowledge of the publishing process and the roles that authors and illustrators have in the books they love.
“Hopefully they’ll have such pride in the book they’ve created that they’ll want to read other people’s work, and they’ll continue to read throughout their lives,” said Balli.
Read this story in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
1 comment
I happen to know both of these educators that teach at Judge Oscar de la Fuente Elementary. Both are extremely dedicated individuals, who take great pride in their profession. Thank you Mrs Schraut & Mrs Rodriguez for your extraordinary efforts.