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Eastside Elementary students author books

Students in Kenya Rafferty’s fourth-grade classes are now published authors.

Students created two interactive books, The Game of Bros and Alien Invasion. The premise behind the idea was for each class to create their own interactive fiction novel in which the reader chooses the plot and the outcome of the story. The students brainstormed as a class and created a large web that explained the different parts of the adventure and assigned a student to write each section.

Dr. Cynthia Wilkins from Belhaven University worked with the fourth-graders on the project, helping them come up with their story ideas, shape the stories, and review, revise, and edit the books alongside Ms. Rafferty, whom she said was, “unwavering [in her] support of her students as they revised, edited, and revised again.”

Rafferty said that she loves to teach writing in such a creative way, and was excited to giver her students such a wonderful and different writing experience.

“I can already see the instruction that they received while working on the book reflected in the student’s in-class writing.” Rafferty said, adding that she is so pleased to see her student’s excitement for writing and sharing their work increase, and loves seeing that excitement on regular in-class assignments as well.

“The days that Dr. Wilkins would come in, the students would be so intensely focused and excited about what they were doing,“ she said, “It was awesome to witness them just run away with their ideas.”

The books also include original artwork done by the students with the help of art teacher Rhonda Browning. The students worked on making sure their drawings were detailed and enhanced the writing of their section to help the reader better understand the story.

Both books are for sale on Amazon for $8.95 and all proceeds raised from sales will go to Eastside Elementary. The books take the reader through a series of choices that allow the reader to direct the story the way they want It to go. Rafferty’s homeroom class published The Game of Bros.

An excerpt:

“You love playing your computer games! You spend hours in your room moving from level to level, solving puzzles, gaining prizes and badges.

It’s all fun and games, right?

But what if one day, something goes terribly wrong with your game? What if the game comes to life and the characters in your game are suddenly standing right in front of you?

That’s what happens to you in this story. And it’s up to you to save yourself, your family, and the world.

Will you make the right choices?”

Rafferty’s second class (O’Leary’s homeroom) published Alien Invasion.

An excerpt:

“They’re coming! Earth is the target of a possible invasion by aliens from outer space! You have been called to action! What should you do? Should you join the space force and head into deep space to fight the new enemy, or should you remain on Earth to help defend the planet from these invaders? Your choices will determine your fate and the fate of all the inhabitants of Earth.”

Many students have purchased their own copies of both books, and have been seen reading the books and discussing the different choices they made in the stories with their classmates. It is an exciting accomplishment for the students and Rafferty to see the books completed and up for sale, right in time for Christmas.

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To purchase Game of Bros go to https://tinyurl.com/GameofBros

To purchase Alien Invasion go to https://tinyurl.com/EastsideAlienInvasion

Rafferty’s Homeroom

O’Leary’s Homeroom

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