Last Thursday Samuel's school had a visit from author Mara Rockliff. She did a 40 minute or so presentation about a book she wrote, Pieces of Another World, and gave an inspiring description of her job as an author: what inspires her, how she got the idea to write her book, other books she has written, the experience of trying to get a book published, pseudonyms she uses and why. Her presentation was both informative and entertaining and the students enjoyed it.
The book Pieces of Another World is about a girl who goes to see a meteor shower with her dad late one night and it brings in all the magic that a child experiences when they get to go out late, the things they see in their town, and the wildlife they see. There are 4 pages at the end of the book with information and some fun activities related to comets and meteors. The illustration in the book is lovely as well, it goes along nicely with the "magical" feeling you get from the story.
Parents were invited to attend this event at the school and after checking out the author's website I was intrigued. I wanted to take my oldest son, who loves the subject of outer space and who likes to write stories. I knew that it wouldn't be possible to attend this when Samuel went because he gets very agitated when he sees us at school. Fortunately I was able to take him and two of his friends to another session. It was great, I think her presentation not only reached my son for the outer space part, but also in her discussion of her experiences as an author. She had a slide show from her computer along with her talk and she did a great job getting the children to participate by asking questions.
Later in the day when I asked Samuel about seeing this he seemed to enjoy it based on the comments he made. The things that made a lasting impression for him were two pictures she showed in her slide show of Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers - she wrote to him when she was a child), and The Berenstain Bears (she met the authors when she was a child).
My little plug for her is not nearly doing her or her presentation justice, so check out her website: mararockliff.com. Maybe your child's school would like to have her visit. I highly recommend it and I highly recommend her book Pieces of Another World!
Showing posts with label School special event. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School special event. Show all posts
Monday, April 2, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Dr. Seuss's Birthday Celebration at School
I received notice from Samuel's inclusion teacher earlier this past week that his class would be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday on Friday with a reading activity. They would be allowed to bring in a pillow, a snack, a drink, and a few books to look at. They would be taking time out from class to have some relaxed reading time. I found out the night before that they would also be reading to a kindergarten class.
As I was gathering the necessary things for Samuel to take Thursday evening I asked him a few questions about the snack he wanted to take and he joined right on in getting everything together! It was such fun seeing him interested in an upcoming event at school. When I asked him about the snack he told me he wanted peanuts and apple juice. We decided that he would take his bean bag chair and he asked to bring a blanket as well. I talked him out of bringing the comforter for his bed and he accepted taking an oversized flannel baby blanket. He also wanted to take a stuffed animal, so we found a nice squishy one. They were told to bring "a book or two," he wanted to take 5 and ended up taking six, all Dr. Seuss books! He proudly carried in his things to school yesterday morning.
We heard a "Hi Samuel!" as we were walking in. A boy walked in from the parking lot and joined us in the hallway. Samuel, with a smile on his face, said "go away". He gets excited when something unexpected like that happens, I need to review his social stories about greetings and how to respond! I finally got Samuel to return the hello and then I talked to him. He told me his name, which sounded familiar from a few school years ago. "Were you Samuel's computer buddy in kindergarten a few years ago?" He indeed was and he is in Samuel's class this year. He said that he likes to help Samuel. I thanked him for that and told him that Samuel has two brothers who help him also. He said "I know, I saw you in the grocery store last year when I was with my Mom." (Then I remembered him saying hello there also)
Samuel does seem to be pretty well-liked by his classmates. His teachers have told me that other students pitch in to help him. Samuel does not usually respond to them very much, though I think he does respond much more now than he did a few years ago. I have thought about asking the teachers what they tell the other students about Samuel and the other autistic boy in their class. One time I mentioned (in an e-mail) a book to share with the other children about an autistic classmate and the teacher never responded to being interested in it. Something I'm going to have to inquire about.
Our dialogue when I picked Samuel up yesterday afternoon was something like this:
It was great to have Samuel in a good mood after school!
As I was gathering the necessary things for Samuel to take Thursday evening I asked him a few questions about the snack he wanted to take and he joined right on in getting everything together! It was such fun seeing him interested in an upcoming event at school. When I asked him about the snack he told me he wanted peanuts and apple juice. We decided that he would take his bean bag chair and he asked to bring a blanket as well. I talked him out of bringing the comforter for his bed and he accepted taking an oversized flannel baby blanket. He also wanted to take a stuffed animal, so we found a nice squishy one. They were told to bring "a book or two," he wanted to take 5 and ended up taking six, all Dr. Seuss books! He proudly carried in his things to school yesterday morning.
We heard a "Hi Samuel!" as we were walking in. A boy walked in from the parking lot and joined us in the hallway. Samuel, with a smile on his face, said "go away". He gets excited when something unexpected like that happens, I need to review his social stories about greetings and how to respond! I finally got Samuel to return the hello and then I talked to him. He told me his name, which sounded familiar from a few school years ago. "Were you Samuel's computer buddy in kindergarten a few years ago?" He indeed was and he is in Samuel's class this year. He said that he likes to help Samuel. I thanked him for that and told him that Samuel has two brothers who help him also. He said "I know, I saw you in the grocery store last year when I was with my Mom." (Then I remembered him saying hello there also)
Samuel does seem to be pretty well-liked by his classmates. His teachers have told me that other students pitch in to help him. Samuel does not usually respond to them very much, though I think he does respond much more now than he did a few years ago. I have thought about asking the teachers what they tell the other students about Samuel and the other autistic boy in their class. One time I mentioned (in an e-mail) a book to share with the other children about an autistic classmate and the teacher never responded to being interested in it. Something I'm going to have to inquire about.
Our dialogue when I picked Samuel up yesterday afternoon was something like this:
Me- How was your reading day?
Samuel - Good. I took my socks off!
Did you have your snack?
Yes. I ate all my peanuts.
Did you read to the kindergarten class?
Yes. I read Hop on Pop and _________________.
(Can't remember the other title )
It was great to have Samuel in a good mood after school!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)