What did the student(s) learn about this experience:

"My favorite part about the book project was trying to make my book rhyme.  It was a struggle at times but I enjoyed trying to find words that rhymed.  For example, when I put the character Davis in the book it was hard to come up with a word that rhymes with my name.  I learned from this project how to create a children’s book.  It was a good experience and I was glad I was chosen to go read my story at the elementary school. " - Davis

"My favorite part about making this book was I was able to be creative, show independence, and be able to show others how to make books of their own. I enjoyed creating a problem that I feel most families can relate to and laugh about. I was able to complete this book independently using new skills learned in FACSIII. The best part was teaching others how they can create a book using a plot diagram. Being able to answer their questions and helping them made me feel respected. This was an experience I will always remember. " - Jordan

What did the teacher enjoy about this experience:

"Our family journey with FACS and FCCLA was filled with excitement and adventure.  We began this project with a collaboration with our librarian, Ms. Walker, to have FACSIII students in full year 7th grade teen living classes learn more about families.  The goal was to have students examine family roles in society and demonstrate communication skills that contribute to positive family relationships. 

On our journey we read rich multicultural texts that illustrated dynamic families working together and solving problems. Students brainstormed their own family dynamics and wrote a story to illustrate their family type (realistic or fantasy).  Plotting and crafting scenarios they could write about to demonstrate families working together to solve a problem was a bit of a challenge.  Students created story boards to plan their writing.

Our ILC, Mrs. Coleman, then introduced Book Creator and the magic of Canva.  This collaboration allowed students to bring their stories to life.  During Book Creator sessions, I realized there were students that would benefit from writing and speaking in their native language.  I suggested this to a few students who had been struggling with finding the appropriate English words. With newfound energy, students could now tell the story they envisioned in their mind.

The introduction of multiple languages was so impactful for me we decided to take our books to a local elementary school where students from other cultures could hear books written and read in their native tongue too.  Our ILC worked to coordinate with two of our feeder schools.

The FACSIII students were so excited to go to their former elementary schools.  Not only would they read their books to an authentic audience, but they would help the 3rd graders write their own family books.  FACSIII students were able to take this project a step further as they developed and demonstrated their childcare skills and got to mentor a group of children along the way.

FCCLA students who did not participate in the previous field trip or write books were invited to a different elementary school where some of them had attended.  FCCLA students read fictional family stories to 2nd graders and listened as the 2nd grader read a non-fiction text they wrote.  The magic came for both when they had to collaborate, fusing a fictional family with non-fictional communication.  They wrote stories on paper and book creator and made an amazing connection as they worked in this 1:1 environment.

Both groups shared that when they were working with the elementary school students that felt like they were making a difference, and that this collaboration would be remembered for years to come.  I personally loved this collaboration and felt that this truly brought all of our competencies and goals to life in a hands on, real-world collaboration." 

- Melinda Preston