Meet The Dooples

Today we had part two of our "Meet the Dooples" author's share. This wonderful duo of books brings to life a group of everyday writing tools. The characters of these stories are Pencils, Pens, Markers...Crayons and Chalk, not to forget Racer the Eraser, who helps out if the others "mess up". The children love these engaging stories of rhyme, rhythm and repititions. But best of all is the fact that the author of these two wonderful books, Dr. Lynn Hunter, hosts the videoconference. So they not only got to meet the Dooples but they also got to meet their creator. Dr. Hunter also works for the NYC Department of Education as a Distance Learning Coordinator. I met her a few years ago and we have collaborated on some very interesting projects together. When I learned she was also a children's literature author I couldn't wait for her to do an author's chat.
The first videoconference took place two weeks ago. Two second grade classes were paired up. One in one of Dr. Hunter's schools in Manhattan and one in one of my schools in Brooklyn. Dr. Hunter read the story to the children as a powerpoint displayed the illustrations.

After an animated chat with the students a surprise animation of the story was presented. This animation was done by a group of middle school students in a school where Dr. Hunter worked. To see the characters come to life in such a creative way was just great.

The videoconference ended with the children being asked to write their own Doople adventure. Today during our second meeting these budding young writers shared their stories with Dr. Hunter and the other second grade class.
Then Dr. Hunter shared her second story "The Dooples and the Shapes". The children really enjoyed participating in this videoconference. I really loved the fact that our "talent" was all so home grown. There is a lot in store for the Dooples in the future. A group of older students are working on a "sequel" and a musical component to the videoconference is being developed. If you're interested in learning more about the books or videoconferencing with the author contact drlynnhunter@aol.com or go to go to http://dooples.com