MAKING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
              Lunch Crew or the Kate Waters Letter Writing Club

AUTHOR KATE WATERS had just moved to Huntington Station from New York City, and, like everyone else in Suffolk County, she received a copy of Suffolk Life in the mail. Much to her surprise, staring up at her from her copy of Suffolk Life was a second grader (Dominique) dressed in a pilgrim girl's costume. The little girl, from the Riley Avenue School in Calverton, NY, was holding the book Sarah Morton's Day, a book she (Kate Waters) had written. Ms. Waters immediately wrote a letter to Mrs. Skrzypecki and her class telling them of her surprise and delight on seeing the picture.
     "Dear Ms. Skrzypecki and class," she wrote, "I was so surprised and pleased to see your picture on the cover of Suffolk Life. I have just moved to this area and seeing you all dressed up and wearing coifs, and Dominique holding Sarah Morton's Day, made me feel right at home. Even though Thanksgiving is over now, I hope that you will enjoy the books I've written about pilgrim and Native American children. It is wonderful to get a glimpse of some else's life and compare it to yours. I wish you all very happy holidays. Sincerely, Kate Waters."
     Of course, the children were very surprised and delighted to receive a letter from an author of a group of books that they loved. Even though the picture was actually photographed the previous Thanksgiving, Mrs. Skrzypecki decided to use the children's excitement to offer a club for those second graders, who had been in her first grade class when the picture was taken. Several girls met with Mrs. Skrzypecki during lunch to form the Lunch Crew or the Kate Waters Letter Writing Club.
     Mrs. Skrzypecki explains, "One of the books we use in the district to teach the NY State Learning Standards in language arts is Debbie Miller's book Reading with Meaning. In her chapter on "Making Meaningful Connections" she explains "children . . . can become aware of their own thinking during reading, learn to give language to that thinking, and use it to understand any text more deeply."
     Using Miller's strategies, the Lunch Crew read Ms. Waters' books and linked their reading to their own lives. Four of the girls read Ms. Water's book Lion Dancer, about a Chinese family celebrating the Chinese New Year. They read the book prior to their own celebration of the Chinese New Year at school. Two girls, one of which is about to move to the South, made an association with the book Mary Geddy's Day, which is about a little girl in Williamsburg, Virginia. Another student chose a book about the White House. Dominique, the little girl in the picture on the front page of Suffolk Life, chose to base her letter on Sarah Morton's Day. (It was the book she had brought to her first Thanksgiving celebration on Long Island. Her grandmother from Minnesota had bought her the book and made a replica of the costume Sarah Morton wore. Dominique's grandmother was visiting for Thanksgiving and she came to school to read it to Dominique's class.)
     The girls have finished their letter writing project and have sent their letters off to Ms. Waters. Dominique's letter to Ms. Waters reads, in part, "I like the book Sarah Morton's Day. I can relate it to my life because when I was 6 years old we moved to Long Island from Minnesota, except I moved because of my Dad's work . . . In the morning Sarah has to do a lot of stuff. I brush my teeth, feed my bunny, get clothes on, make my bed, eat breakfast, pack my lunch and get my backpack and go to school. I don't have to tend the fire, milk the goat, pound the spices, or make cornbread, but I used to have to feed a kind of chicken called a guinea hen . . . . "
     "We loved her books," explained the girls, "and we thought it was very nice of her to write us a letter. It has been a lot of fun getting together to write the letters. We're hoping she'll enjoy receiving our letters as much as we enjoyed receiving hers."
     "I just couldn't pass up the learning opportunity," explained Mrs. Skrzypecki. "This project is almost tailor made for our new reading and writing program in the District."
     First the Lunch Crew read the books; then they made the connections by going into the computer lab where Mrs. Soika, the computer aide, helped them use a writing program called Inspiration. The program helped them organize their thoughts through a circle diagram, which then produced an outline for their final letter. They then wrote their sloppy copy. Next, they typed and edited their letters in Word and finally put a digital picture of themselves in costume on the page with the text.
     "Writing a reply," continued Mrs. Skryzpecki is also a good reinforcement of our emphasis on good manners, which is part of our Character Education program. This was an enthusiastic group of students, who used their love for learning to guide them beyond the classroom walls."
     IT IS ALSO a great example of BOTH teachers and students in the District, who are going the extra mile to "MAKE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS" in their reading, writing and teaching. (NOTE: Click on Pictures to ENLARGE!)

Would you like to make a meaningful connection with author Kate Waters? Check out her books on her website at http://www.katewaters.com/