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Wilber
by McKenna Avery

Grade 2
Prompt: Description of Wilber
IST: Barbra Tabura
Evaluator: Melissa
(read the Evaluator's Comment and Connections)

McKenna presented her writing about Wilber as a book with illustrations, which is scanned below. This presentation is a fabulous way for younger writers to practice and share their work.

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Writing Program Evaluator Melissa comments:

          This book is an example of an outstanding second grade writing project.  In it, McKenna presents a series of stories about her dog, Wilber.  Her stories are well written; they have clear beginnings and endings, good writing mechanics, and excellent details.  They are also fun to read, full of humor and surprises.  McKenna clearly put a great deal of effort into her book.  She put the stories in a logical order, beginning with an introduction of Wilber, continuing on with the three stories that developed his quirky character, and ending with a humorous reflection on her relationship with him.  She created neat title and contents pages, and she found a picture to illustrate each story. 

Connections:

*To see another example of how a young writer used illustrations along with her writing, see Brittany Coffelt's story about her brother Jaquies in Illuminations, the 2005-2006 Gorman Anthology. (One of the many excellent illustrations from her story is printed with her writing.)

*Create a book like McKenna did, with stories about someone or something that is important to you. Illustrate the book with drawings and/or pictures, too.

*McKenna did a great job writing titles for each section of her book. The titles sound fun and they give the reader a hint about what each story will be about. When you write, practice creating fun and orginal titles like this.