BILLINGS — On Wednesday, students at Alkali Creek and Bitterroot elementary schools took a field trip to the Billings Public Library to see their newest project in person: published paper books.
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Kindergartners through third graders were tasked with creating a book review about their favorite book. The goal is to persuade the reader to read it.
Fourth and fifth graders were tasked with writing an opinion piece about a business here in Billings.
Fifth grader McKenna Williams from Alkali Creek Elementary wrote about her favorite dessert, Crumbl Cookie.
"I wrote about Crumbl because I love their cookies, and I love eating them, but I rarely get them," she said. "(My favorite part was putting in the pictures), 'cuz you get to look at all the different kinds of cookies that they have, and then you just implant them in, and they look really good in the book."
Her classmate, Jacob Hickle, wrote about the Four Dances Trailhead recreation area.
"I've had some pretty remarkable experiences there, and I felt like I knew a lot about it. And I just felt like I could make a good book out of it... I think it came out all right. I kind of wish I put some more words on each page," Hickle said Wednesday.
Students at the elementary schools have been working on their writing skills all semester, starting with narrative and informative writing and ending the unit with opinion writing.
The paper book project has been ongoing for five years, with help from literary coaches at Billings Public Schools, donations from the Education Foundation, and free printing through Allegra Printing.
Literary coaches work with Billings Public Schools to help promote literacy within the classrooms by teaching teachers strategies to help students learn reading and writing skills.
The students were able to digitally publish their books through a digital book design program called WriteReader.
"To be able to see what your child has written, see the pictures they've drawn, also hear their voices, I mean, you can't beat that," said Bitterroot Elementary teacher Lynda Chase.
Chase has taught elementary schoolers for 33 years, and she has done the project for the past two years. Her kindergartners and first graders wrote books for the project this year.
Chase says literary coaches help simplify writing and reading for kindergartners and first graders.
"When you think about at the beginning of the school year, some of these kids couldn't write a letter, and know what a letter sound is, and now they're writing sentences and books," she said.
Chase also says that the literary coaches promote literacy within the schools by helping the students enjoy the subjects they write about.
"We want to make sure that things are being taught in a way that is similar, but not taking away the art of teaching. But, we want to make sure that every kid is getting reading and writing in a quality way," said literary coach Kristie Martin.
Martin works alongside one other literary coach in the district.
"We can help with navigating the curriculum. We can help with making standards. We can help with what we want kids to really be, and do as literate citizens of our society," she said.
Now, the work between the public school district, the students, literary coaches, Allegra Printing, and the Education Foundation is on display for all to enjoy at the Billings Public Library.
The students' books will be on display at the children's section until June 3.
