First Grade "Rotten Ralph" Authors

Rotten Ralph is a feisty, mischievous cat, whose antics in Jack Gantos' books delight young and old readers alike. Last week our first graders retold the Rotten Ralph story onstage in front of their parents and then each boy presented his parents with an original picture book he had written and illustrated, based on the Rotten Ralph series.

"Rotten Ralph Goes to Science Class," "Rotten Ralph Visits the Apple Store," "Rotten Ralph Goes Snowboarding," and "Rotten Ralph Goes to the Movies" were some of our boys' titles. You can imagine what trouble Ralph was going to cause in each of these venues, and you can also imagine how proud our first grade author/illustrators were as they took their places with their parents and read them their stories.

Throughout this year, through modeling and guided practice, the first graders have become increasingly independent writers, able to write in a variety of genres.

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