On Wednesday, our 6th grade students had an exciting and meaningful opportunity to connect their learning beyond the classroom as they met award-winning author Lynda Mullaly Hunt through a live Zoom session. As part of their novel study on the inspiring book Fish in a Tree, students were able to hear directly from the author about her writing process, characters, themes and personal experiences that inspired the story.

This experience strongly supports English Language Arts (ELA) learning by helping students deepen their understanding of literature, character development, theme and author’s purpose. Throughout the novel study, students have explored important topics such as perseverance, empathy, self-confidence and the power of believing in yourself. Meeting the author brought these themes to life in a real and memorable way.

Students prepared thoughtful questions, practiced active listening skills and engaged in meaningful discussion during the virtual visit. This strengthened speaking and listening standards within ELA while also encouraging critical thinking and communication skills. Hearing Lynda Mullaly Hunt explain how she creates relatable characters and meaningful stories helped students better understand the craft of writing and inspired them to become more confident readers and writers themselves.

Experiences like this foster a love of reading, create authentic learning connections and show students that literature can have a lasting impact on their lives. The opportunity to interact with a published author made the novel study even more engaging and meaningful for our 6th grade learners.