WMU students get excited about reading and writing

WINFIELD — Students at Winfield-Mount Union School were excited to welcome illustrator Robbie Behr’s and author Matthew Swanson’s Busload of Books Tour.

After seeing information about the tour on the First Book website, WMU Band Director Lindsey Pogmore wrote an essay expressing the impact a visit from the tour would have on WMU students.

Students and staff were all incredibly excited to be one of the 52 Title 1 schools to make the cut for the tour.

Preschool through first grade students learned about the book “Everywhere Wonder,” and received their very own copies.

Third through fifth grade students were given a deeper look into the inner workings of the creative process of making “Ben Yokoyama and The Cookie of Doom,” before they also received copies of the presented book.

“The students had many questions, and it sounds very much like there may be some budding writers in the elementary student body,” Pogmore said.

In small group time, elementary students selected by teachers were given the opportunity to ask further questions and do a writing/drawing activity with Behr and Swanson.

Students asked typical questions about their dog and their favorite foods, but there were a number of thought provoking questions, as well.

Third-grader Tynley Finke wanted to know if Behr and Swanson ever argued over writing.

“If you don’t talk about things, you might not be able to keep working,” Finke said.

Parker Putnam, fourth-grader, wanted to know if they had ever tried having Behr draw first and then Swanson write a story.

“Drawing helps me find the story,” Putnam said.

“Robbi prefers to respond,” Swanson said.

According to Behr, she likes that Swanson doesn’t put a lot of description into his stories, so as she reads she is able to simply draw what her mind sees.

While Behr and Swanson spent the day with WMU students in presentations and small groups, their four children attended classes at WMU.

“Everyone was pretty friendly,” Behr and Swanson’s seventh-grader Kato said of his time at WMU.

Their oldest child, Alden, experienced high school for the first time.

“We usually visit elementary schools, so this is the first time Alden has been able to go to high school,” Behr said.

According to Alden, the classes were really long, but she found she did enjoy some subjects.

“I liked Geography a lot because there was a lot of discussion,” she said.

“Independent art was also pretty fun,” Alden added.

The youngest, Jasper, was a big fan of his time with the monkey bars during Kindergarten recess and fifth-grader Augie enjoyed playing a literacy version of Jeopardy in his class for the day.

Book donations were made possible thanks to the Build a Bear Book Foundation, and even secondary students were given the opportunity to pick out books at their grade level.

Not only are Behr and Swanson seeking to evoke an excitement for writing, but they are also working with Washington College to collect data concerning reading, writing trends following visits from authors.

“A lot of these visits are just one and done and it is hard to get enough information about it,” Swanson said.

This will be one of the largest studies on this impact with Title 1 schools, and the hope is that the information will help schools obtain funding for more author visits.

While Behr and Swanson are running their tour on donations, Swanson says that most authors charge schools for their visits.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com