Kindergarten students in Ms. Tiffany Laughlin's class at Bridgeway Elementary listened to several published authors on Monday afternoon read their own story via Zoom and had the opportunity to ask questions after listening to each one. The authors were all first graders in Ms. Mallory Hamilton's Villemade first grade class at Parkwood Elementary. 

"My class shared the books they wrote that all had a book cover and title and included a beginning, middle and end," Hamilton said. "They did their own illustrations and learned about how real authors share their work with others." 

Hamilton's students took photos of their pages and shared them with Hamilton using Seesaw and she was able to present them on Zoom during the readings. 

Melanie Rodriguez shared a story about being afraid to go to the dentist. She was surprised when Laughlin asked her students to raise their hand if going to the doctor scares them as well. Several hands went up and Rodriguez was excited to see she was not alone. 

"It's all about making the connections and seeing how people relate to their writing," Hamilton said. "They got the chance to relate to their audience and it was a great way to share their work."

Laughlin enjoyed the opportunity of seeing some of her former students present to her current class.

“It was a good learning experience for the kindergarteners who are really working on spaces in between words, details on their pictures and in their writing.” 

Cityanna Kumlachew was the first student to volunteer to read their story and every person that followed her also got a round of applause from the kindergarteners. 

"Some of them said they felt nervous to share their stories," Hamilton said, "but they were all brave and shared their writing and I am proud of them."