Kindergarten Author Study: Clement + Willems

Author-Illustrator School Visit.

ROYAL TREATMENT. 

This is what the 'royal treatment' looks like.... 

if you've ever wondered. 

If you've ever wondered how it feels to be appreciated,

I'm about to show you a school visit that was a grand slam. 

That photo is about 75% of the greeting that I saw when walking into the Roosevelt Elementary School media center for our time together. Yes. That's an emotional moment for me. I've been greeted by LUV before, but this was a whole new level of appreciation.

It's STUNNING. It's INCREDIBLE. It's literally BREATH TAKING!!! There were 10 panels (each taken from my blog,) each enlarged to poster-size format to make that accordion wall across the top -- sitting atop the library's book shelf. No matter how far I backed up, I couldn't get the whole backdrop into my view-finder and stay in focus. How many superlatives do I have stored in my surprise bag? Now take a look at some of the student created 'quilt' detail. 

Here's a little glimmer of our time together. 

I'm introducing my book, "You're Wonderful" 

and we are comparing the quilt to the finished book. 

Here I've recruited one boy + one girl from each class to be a captain to help me, lead my 'following directions' song and dance, "All Together Now." We're just getting ready to get started. The smiles are contagious. The energy is infectious. 

After our time together singing, dancing, signing, reading, jumping + freezing together -- I also had just enough time to zip quickly through the kindergarten building, with my camera clicking as fast as it could click. Look what I found outside of Mrs. Miller's classroom. Chances are you have never been introduced to my work. My first picture book is entitled, "You're Wonderful" and basically has six vocabulary words -- repeated in each of six verses. Can you guess my lyrics by looking at their author-study bulletin board? 

Mrs. Miller's Kinder-Class Author Study Bulletin Board for "You're Wonderful" with Quilted Student Writing

I promise to share the heart-felt individual kinder-writing above on Friday, as part of my golden fiftieth Fine Motor Friday RoundUP edition. I have a lot of other glimpses to share tonight. Right beside Mrs. Miller's student writing pictured above is the creative work of Mrs. Hake (our evening hostess and the grandma of Ella, pictured with me in that first image in front of the school sign -- where my name is up-in-lights.)

Look at the bulletin board of the kinder-student self-portraits and the self-selected adjective of their choice. Mrs. Hake!!!! Brilliant. BRAVO! AmAzInG! LUV LUV LUV it!

Mrs. Hake's Kinder-Class Bulletin Board Author Study for "You're Wonderful" 

NOW ENJOY A CLOSE-UP OF THESE HEART-FELT KINDER SELF PORTRAITS.  

Beyond the fact that I LUV these two bulletin boards showcasing the student response to my work.... the even bigger, mind-blowing, OUT-of-this-WORLD, is Mrs. Hake's other bulletin board. Are you ready for this? There's the Debbie Clement bulletin board and just beyond? There's the Mo Willems bulletin board author study. BE STILL MY HEART. 

Can you imagine my brain and heart racing fast enough to fathom that these kinder-kids are learning about Mo + Debbie in the same season? Compare and contrast our two authors. 

No kidding. I feel like I have 'arrived.' It happened in West Palm Beach. On a Tuesday. 

Now enjoy a few quick vignettes around the classrooms. 

So much more to say about this WONDERFUL day. 

So much more. 

My heart is full. 

So is my memory card. 

You'll be seeing a lot of Roosevelt Elementary over the days and weeks ahead. 
It takes a village!!

P.S. If you arrived via the anchor chart pin..... 

I bet you'll want to take a look at this RoundUP of Anchor Charts from the future! 

I am so grateful for EVERY pin. 

As a self-published author your pin brings new visibility to my work. 

Thank you for pinning generously! 

-- Debbie --