Do you love stories and books?  Did you know that anyone can become an author or illustrator?  We are all full of stories, some from our real life and some from our imagination. In this self-paced class, we will grow as authors and illustrators as we take our story ideas and turn them into homemade books.

In each lesson, students will learn how to make a new homemade book and we will explore story elements to expand our creative writing ideas. The overarching goal of this class is to get learners excited about using current literacy skills to make homemade books that are meaningful to them.  This class leaves lots of room for creative expression and is great for learners with wide a range of literacy levels.  

Instruction will be provided through pre-recorded videos (2 short videos for each lesson).

Each lesson will include a book-making video.  In this video I model step by step how to make the homemade book and show how I used that book style to get started on making a book of my own.  

The video is easy to pause as you work and to watch again if you want to review a technique.  The book styles that were chosen for this class were especially selected for this age group.  Younger learners may need a little help at first, but with practice should be able to become confident in making the books independently.  

Each lesson also includes a video about a story element to help with brainstorming and story planning.  I will introduce the topic and how it relates to our homemade books and then model using the related graphic organizer which is provided as a PDF.  

Depending on the literacy level of your learner they may use drawings and/or writing with these graphic organizers – I will model both.  Learners can print out the PDF or just use a blank piece of paper to brainstorm some ideas about the story element discussed.  For some learners, this can also spark conversations related to books that you are currently reading at home which supports reading comprehension.

Lesson 1: Basic accordion books & thinking about characters

Lesson 2: Pocket accordion books & thinking about story sequence

Lesson 3: Basic pop-up book & thinking about the setting 

Lesson 4: More pop-up book ideas & thinking about non-fiction book making

You can find more details about each lesson in the syllabus. 

Although this class is completed on your own time, learners can still share their ideas and questions with me.  Learners can share by uploading a photo, writing a comment, or by using the Outschool platform to record a video message.  Twice a week, I will respond to work submitted in the classroom and will reply with a written response or a video message.