IN THE CLASSROOM -- The write stuff

Danette Goulet

It was all very professional.

A couple of smartly dressed children flanked the door to Room 14 at

Newport Elementary School, handing out blue and pink programs.

Inside, a semicircle of miniature yellow chairs was set up to face a

floral-cushioned, white rattan chair -- the author’s seat.

On one side of the seat of honor stood a big sign on an easel,

welcoming guests to the Authors’ Tea and announcing the featured authors

of the afternoon.

On the other side of the rattan throne, a table with a homey blanket

thrown over it was set with a silver pitcher filled with roses.

It was the perfect, elegant touch.

I don’t know if the decorations hanging from the ceiling were just

part of the classroom decor or if they were special for the tea, but that

also helped to set the scene.

As invited guests in Laura Parker’s first-grade class sat, ready to

hear the authors share their piece de resistance, some eyed the

delectable-looking, glazed bundt cake and other treats in the back and

sniffed the air, which smelled of freshly brewed coffee.

Then, with his little sneakered feet nowhere near the floor, Max

Bendick put his left ankle on his right knee and began to read his book

review of “3-D Dinosaur Thrillers.”

Max described his favorite book in a clear, loud voice.

The next piece really hit home with me. Danielle McMahan read a

newspaper she had created called Classroom News. She had several news

stories of class happenings, an entertainment section and a guest

columnist.

The young editor chose her classmate Skylar Jacobs to write the

“special report” because he had just gone on a family vacation to

Washington, D.C., and she thought it would be fun to hear about, she

said.

She was right.

He told his audience his impressions of the city at night. On their

first night there, he and his family went out at 10 p.m., because that’s

only 7 p.m. in California, he reported.

“Everyone, I tell you, do not go out at that time because people who

are dangerous can be out at that time,” he wrote.

The next couple of authors wrote fiction stories.

There was “The Birthday Party Sleepover,” which was a wildly

imaginative story about a ghost who crashed a birthday party.

Collin Chessell wrote about a magic carpet that took him to Hawaii,

New York and Nebraska, of all places. And then it also gave him $1,000.

All of the stories were writing assignments students had done in class

and that they then chose to lengthen and revise, Parker said. So the

stories the authors shared at the three teas held to honor them ranged

from nonfiction to fiction and from fairy tales to book reviews.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Danette Goulet visits a campus within the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District and writes about her experience.