Celebrate National Day on Writing with a free Google Hangout for students

This year’s National Day on Writing is October 20. And what’s a more fitting way for students to celebrate than by talking with a real author about the process of writing a book?

Your 3rd-5th grade students are invited to a free Google Hangout with award-winning children’s author Kate Messner!

Kate Messner is the author of The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z (which was the winner of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers), and other books which have made the New York Times Notable, Junior Library Guild, Indie Bound, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. On top of that, she has 15 years of middle school teaching experience! You can learn more about Kate and her books here.

Kate will host the talk via a live Google Hangout session on October 20 at 12 pm EST. Students in grades 3-5 are welcome to join. During the session, Kate will talk about how published authors go through the same writing process that students do, including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. She’ll also provide insight on how authors, editors, copy editors and illustrators work as a team to publish a book.

The goal of the session is to leave students feeling inspired and confident about telling their stories!

Classrooms around the country will be participating in the session, and two of them will even be live on cam. In addition to the inspirational talk, there will be a Q&A time for students to share questions they have prepared.

Get your students ready by downloading this free writing activity which focuses on generating story ideas. You might also want to have students read one of Kate Messner’s books (preferably the Ranger in Time historical fiction chapter book series, which will be the material used for the hangout.)

After the hangout, this follow-up activity can reinforce what students learned and help them get started with planning their own stories.

This virtual event is a fantastic way for 3rd-5th graders to learn about the real-world writing process with a published author! Save the October 20th date and get registered! You’ll be automatically entered to win a class set of Kate’s book, Rescue on the Oregon Trail.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you in partnership with WeAreTeachers, a site that has been a longtime supporter of The Cornerstone. WeAreTeachers has compensated me for helping them spread the word about these wonderful free resources for teachers and kids.