Our greatest passion is passing on knowledge to students and giving them the confidence and motivation to utilize that knowledge in meaningful and fulfilling ways. You, too, can help your students find their passions by creating and publishing a classbook. Classbooks are collaborative projects that instill a sense of purpose in students as they work together to accomplish something meaningful.
One of the most exciting things about embarking upon a classbook journey is witnessing students make delightful unplanned discoveries along the way. We can’t help but wonder about the unexpected lessons students learn as they work with their peers to create their classbook. As we see them take these small yet significant steps towards the future, we can only hope that our efforts will motivate them to discover their passions and devote themselves to the things they love.
Helping Young Writers Find Their Voices
Young students have so much potential. Who knows? You may have the next J.K. Rowling or Neil Gaiman sitting in your classroom!
Of course, writers don’t know they’re writers until they actually give it a shot! Your classbook project has the potential to ignite your students’ passion for writing, and only time will tell where that passion takes them.
Classbook projects give young writers a chance to explore the writing process and say what they want or need to say. They may not be quite ready to pen the next great novel, but introducing them to the writing process at an early age helps them find their voices and discover how much they enjoy putting pen to paper. This classbook project could lead to several accomplished journalists, bloggers, novelists or poets later on in life. You never know what the future holds!
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Discovering Unknown Interests
Not every student in your classroom will walk away from the publishing process with a newfound desire to become an author. Some may view writing as nothing more than a hobby, while others may only write when necessary, and that’s okay! Classbook projects aren’t just about teaching your students how to write—they broaden their horizons and introduce them to new and creative ideas.
Take advantage of this aspect of the project by encouraging an open-minded, creative approach to writing. Start with the subject of your book. Avoid narrow, rigid topics in favor of open-ended questions or story starters that invite unique and personal interpretations. Better yet, bring all of your students together for a fun brainstorming session so you can come up with a classbook topic that resonates with everyone in some way or another.
The ultimate goal is to spark your class’s curiosity, whether they’re interested in constellations or capybaras. An archeologist in the making might receive his first glimmer of inspiration by researching his favorite dinosaur. A future pilot might start her flight training by learning about Amelia Earhart or Bessie Coleman.
Even if they don’t discover their dream career or life goal right away, a thought-provoking topic will encourage them to dig deeper into the research and writing process. This, in turn, will build the skills and motivation they need to pursue their passions on their own time and in their own ways.
Finding the Courage to Seek and Pursue Dreams
In contrast to short-term writing assignments and journaling activities, creating and publishing a classbook is a long-term project that builds your students’ academic stamina and teaches them the importance of dedication and planning.
Your classbook project is not something they can rush through or wait until the last minute to complete. It’s a journey—one that you must teach your students to navigate one step at a time. Show them how time management and perseverance work together to help them achieve their goals. It takes hard work and determination to accomplish anything meaningful in life, and classbook projects model that truth for your students.
Seeing their published book at the end of the process is the reward for all their hard work and proof that they can achieve any goal if they start with a good plan and possess enough grit to see it through. This is, perhaps, the greatest benefit of publishing, as it is this sense of confidence and motivation that will empower your students to recognize their passions and pursue them with intensity and dedication.
Publishing Paves the Road to Discovering Passions
It’s a bit optimistic to hope that every one of your students will discover a lifelong passion through your next classbook project. However, it’s not unrealistic to imagine that most of your students will learn something to help them begin their search.
Allowing your students the freedom to uncover hidden interests and build their self-confidence and resolve is critical to helping them find their own way, whether they discover their passions now or ten years down the road. Once they do, they’ll have a beautiful hardcover book to remind them of where it all began—right in your classroom!
Sign up to receive your free classbook publishing kit and embark upon the journey to help yo10ur students discover the things they truly love in life. Check out our blog for teaching strategies, writing prompts and classroom activities, or pop on over to our online Teacher’s Lounge for helpful resources and lesson plans!