From teaching first grade to college, Marni Kay, Associate Instructor of Reading Education at the University of Central Florida’s School of Teacher Education, has been working in education for 23 years. 

“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to inspire the next generation of educators,” she explains. “Each one of the Reading and Language Arts courses I teach has a ‘little kid factor,’ meaning I partner my UCF students with K-6 students in the community during our class time in a variety of ways. 

Marni and her team incorporated FableVision Learning’s The Peter H. Reynolds Storybook Academy into their instruction. We recently chatted with Marni about her experiences using the online writing program. Read on to learn more!

Q: What were your goals in using Peter H. Reynolds Storybook Academy?

Marni: I teach an Elementary Language Arts methods course and as part of the course, the standards focus on teaching future teachers how to teach the writing process to K-6 students. [The Peter H. Reynolds] Storybook Academy’s focus aligns perfectly with these goals. 

The modules take students from brainstorming all the way to publishing with Peter guiding writers each step of the way. One part of teaching writing well is for teachers to also see themselves as writers, so I wanted my students to experience the writing process not only as future educators, but as writers themselves.  

I knew I also wanted to partner with one of the K-6 teachers, I work with in order to provide an opportunity to not only see how the modules would work with college students, but also in a K-6 classroom! I teamed up with one of my recent graduates, third grade teacher, Vicky Livorisi to try it out.

My UCF students and I started the program with Vicky Livorsi and her third graders at the end of the school year. Vicky and I met several times on Zoom to go over the modules, plan, and brainstorm what a virtual partnership might look like. Over the course of 5 weeks, Vicky led her students through the Storybook Academy modules and we came up with a few times that my students and I could support her writers throughout the process. 

During these virtual visits, my students and I were able to engage in writing conferences with Vicky’s third grade writers via Zoom. We were so excited to hear her amazing students share their ideas, drafts, and published stories with their “UCF Writing Buddies.” 

As I reflect on the experience, I appreciate that my UCF students were not only able to engage as writers (writing their own stories), but were also able to experience the writing process through the lens of a third grader. 

Vicki shared: “My kiddos have loved the program and they think it’s so wonderful to hear from Peter in his videos as well! They have become so motivated to brainstorm ideas for potential titles and write!”

And her classroom was abuzz with excitement. Her students shared": 

“It gives me an excuse to draw during class time. I also liked making up my own characters and using my imagination.”

“I enjoy Storybook Academy because it helps me learn how to become an author.”

“If you have a lot of imagination like I do, you can express it in a book and read it over and over again!”

Q: What was your favorite part? 

Marni: What I love most was that students (at all levels) were able to learn from Peter H. Reynolds and his two decades worth of knowledge and support. I appreciated the connections between his published books (which kids and teachers LOVE), the way he encourages students to write what they know, and the practical strategies that he includes to help along the way, like the one-minute story. 

Students from third grade to college were all able to write and publish their own book! The published books included stories about pets, friendship, a cookbook, a how-to origami book, and a few students even chose to collaborate on their creative stories, as well!!!!

Marni’s students at the University of Central Florida also  had high praise for the program. 

“Storybook Academy, I think is genius because I’ve always wanted to write a story, but never gathered the motivation to go through with it. To have a class and little buddies to do it with you, makes it inspiring and a great learning/motivational tool.” 

“Storybook Academy is a fun way to create books/stories. I appreciate the small goals throughout to make it feel attainable. The videos throughout about the writing process are an awesome tool! I can’t wait to try this out in my future classroom!” 

Q: What does Create Bravely mean to you?

Marni: Create Bravely means dreaming big, thinking outside of the box, and trying new things. For me, this looks like connecting the dots by designing cross-curricular content units tied to children’s literature, creating authentic learning experiences for my students and K-6 kids in the community, and providing real world learning opportunities that encourage my students to dream big, too. 

Q: What’s next?

Marni: We are looking forward to participating in Dot Day 2021!!! For the past two years we have participated BIG both in person and last year with a virtual event that included a special Dot Day themed Bitmoji Classroom. This year, I am also planning to take some inspiration from Storybook Academy and ask my students to write a one-minute story highlighting how they will make their mark in education! I can’t wait to see what we come up with next!

Curious about how to use the Peter H. Reynolds Storybook Academy in your classroom? Click here to learn more or email us at info@fablevisionlearning.com.