Ariel Morales

EDU 320
12/13/18 Big Book Project Reflection

Creation of the Big Book

When I was introduced to the idea of creating my own Big Book I was admittedly
overwhelmed. I didn’t think that I could write and illustrate my own story and I honestly had no
idea where to begin in terms of a topic or theme. After creating my unit on communities a couple
of semesters ago and my text set this semester I was inspired by habitats and the study of cultures
to create a story based on habitats. After sitting down and creating a draft and a couple of
sketches for my illustrations I put the project to rest as there were more pressing projects at hand!
After mid-terms I opened up my computer and decided to look at my draft again. This time I
made some revisions and decided to find some standards to go along with my project for my
lesson. I knew that I wanted to create an interactive trade book and wanted a little bit of rhyme
but was still struggling to finish my story and keep it mature enough for first and second graders.
Over Thanksgiving break, after talking with my grandmother about the project, she
decided to give me her copy of a non-fiction big book on habitats. I was inspired by the
photographs and depictions to finally finish my story. I wrote a story about Tina the sea turtle
who travels from habitat to habitat trying to find her very own. She encounters many different
creatures and plants as well as some different types of land before finally making it to the ocean.
Putting the big book together was very hard work and took a long time but I was very
blessed to have some little helpers known as my siblings color and cut different pictures for me!
I glued everything and wove the pages together with some twine my mom had and it was
finished! I was very proud of the work that had been done and the end product and was ready to
present it!

Wells Academy Off-Campus Presentation

For the off-campus presentation at Wells Academy, I was able to arrive early and meet
the principal while more of my peers arrived and the gym was set up. There were only a few
tables so I decided to set up on the floor with a couple of other people. As we prepared for the
first class to come in I was glad that I had a chance to take a peek at some of the other big books.
The creativity was awesome! As the kids began to arrive we got into our placed and I waved a
few over. The kids loved the interactive feature to my book and had a great time taking Tina
through the story. They all wanted a turn and they were a little rough on the pages because they
wanted to touch everything. Poor Tina got a little ripped but the book held up very well. I
decided to move to the table and as the kids got older they were more interested in the story. One
of the kindergarten kids said that my book was too long so I decided to condense the story and
shorten it for the younger grades but went through the whole thing with the 1st-5th graders.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I received such a positive response.
 Mary Seat of Wisdom Montessori School
I had originally signed up to do my second off-campus presentation at the library but the
contact was out of town and would not be back until after the semester would be scheduled to
end. I then reached out to the Weirton Christian Center to see about going into a classroom there
but the day that worked for my schedule was the day that they had closed due to the death of
former President Bush. So in a last minute attempt I reached out to Mary Seat of Wisdom
Montessori school and was able to get into the upper classroom! It was such a beautiful
experience. I have not had much experience with Montessori classrooms and was a little nervous
but had a wonderful time! I arrived right after their snack time and was introduced to the kids.
After reading the story I got to know the kids’ names and was able to discuss the story and
habitats with them. They were all so eager to talk and share that the teachers and I had to remind
them to talk one at a time and raise their hands. I was then asked to come back and visit any
time. The teachers absolutely loved my big book and loved meeting me! It was a very interesting
experience to have my shoes off and see the kids doing different activities and chores as I
gathered my things up and got ready to go. I would love to learn more about the Montessori
school setting and visit again soon!

In-Class Presentation
For the in-class presentation I had to write my lesson and create my activities. This was
so much fun and really allowed my creativity to flow. I decided to use science as well as english
standards and had the idea of doing two mini lessons as a part of a whole unit study on habitats
and world geography. I decided to use my big book and the big book given to me by my
grandmother for a compare and contrast lesson on fiction vs. non-fiction writing. I thought that
the activities in my lesson would be a great introduction to habitats and loved the idea of creating
a unit in which every day of the week is a continent and the various habitats of that continent as
well as the cultures and traditions associated with each continent. Obviously, this was not
something that time would permit and it was not required that I create a whole unit so I decided
to create the introductory lesson. During my in-class presentation my peers really enjoyed the
concept and activities that I presented as well as my story and the illustrations.

Conclusion
This project was by-far my favorite education project so far. It really sparked my
creativity and allowed me to share my love of literacy with various groups of people. I really
loved the process as a whole and although I thought that doing three presentations was a little
unreasonable at first, I am so glad that I had the opportunities I did. This project was not only fun
but challenging. I love big books and can’t wait to incorporate them into my future classroom!