Publishing Student Writing - Tall Tales and Bare Books

In previous posts, I talked about the importance of the publishing step in the writing process for children and some ideas about how to publish student writing. I posted about lapbooks and folder reports, and binding your own books or having them bound at a local office supply store. Today, I'll talk about using poster board to make a "Tall Tale" accordion-style book and Bare Books.

When my oldest was in 4th grade, we completed a Tall Tales unit study. I used Evan-Moor Literature Pockets Tall Tales as the primary component for the study. At the end of the unit, Amber had to write her own tall tale. Her story was delightful and I thought it would be fun to publish her tall tale as a truly tall tale. I cut a piece of poster board into strips, typed the story she had handwritten, and glued the papers to the poster board. She added illustrations throughout the story. Lastly, we folded the tall tale up like an accordion for easy storage in her "Books by Amber" box.

Her completed project used to be taller than her when she was in 4th grade! Now she's taller than her tall tale and me!

Another source of inspiration for publishing student writing can be found in a lovely company, Bare Books. Bare Books sells very reasonably priced hard cover blank books that are perfect for publishing student writing. They also sell blank game boards which my daughter has used to make a Middle Ages game and a Germs game. Below is the "There Was a Sad Peasant Who Swallowed a Pheasant" book that Amber created as part of our Middle Ages unit last school year.

In future posts, I'll talk about other ways to publish student writing such as three-ring notebooks, paper bag books, large tri-fold books, and paper plate books.