Marcus Krum reads his story to Debra Root's mom, while classmates Kyarra Chavis, Isabella Ventura and Patrice Bunatal wait for their turn to read to Debra's mom Mockingbird Elementary students concluded their lesson on writing imatinative narratives with a publishing party on June 3, 2008. Prior to writing their stories, the students made a story map, created characters, and transferred the information to a flow map. The students were instructed to write a fictional story (it could be realistic, fantasy or historic) and they were required to obtain a classmate's permission before including that classmate's name in the story. The students typed their stories (which included a title page and an "about the author" page) and illustrated each page. Mockingbird PTO Publishing Committee members then bound the stories and then presented the stories and pens to each student at the party. At the publishing party, the students read their stories aloud to their classmates and autographed each other's books.