Howard B Wigglebottom

Another adventure thanks to Skype and WeDoListen.org! 

We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with author Howard Binkow via Skype. Mr Binkow is the author of the children's books revolving around the lovable and very relatable Howard B Wigglebottom.   

Mr Binkow talked to the class about when he realized he wanted to be an author, the steps he followed when following his heart, as well as what they could be doing right now to become better at writing.  He showed the class a movie of his book Howard B Wigglebottom: Learns to Listen where Howard discovers that listening is a really good choice to make.  The kids love the video. Mr Binkow also said they were working on a tv series for Howard, which the kids all thought would be a great idea.

He even gave them a little bit of Wigglebottom Dance Time! 

The Skype session lasted about 40 minutes. The class got to ask Mr Binkow questions such as: "What's the next book going to be about" or "When did you start writing" or "Have you ever written about trains?"  One of the best bits of advice he gave them was that if they wanted to be a better writer, they should be writing...and writing some more.  He showed them where on the WeDoListen.org where they could use his illustrations to create a story of their own. (I have put this link on our blog page for sites we use). 

After the Skype session, the classroom was a buzz and excited to write.  I quickly started stapling story packs together (just stacks of white copy paper stapled on the side, maybe 6-7 pages).  And quicker than I could staple, they were snatching them up and writing.  WRITING! and they were excited.  What more could a teacher ask for?!?!  They wrote, and wrote, and wrote and then when we had to stop they asked if they could write later on during our Daily 5 time! 

This was a great adventure that continues to have an impact on our classroom. The class still has packs of story paper in their writing folders, always writing a new story or adding more to an old story.  I love it!