Ryan Eckell of Columbia likes to read books, especially Civil War books, and sometimes writes his own. Reading them aloud is a different story.
Unnerved by the thought of sitting before an audience on "Authors' Day," the 10-year-old could not read his latest work last week. So he allowed his Dasher Green Elementary School special-education teacher, Alaina Beth-Young, to read his six-page untitled book about Christmas at his "Nana's."
As his teacher read, Ryan sat beside her with his right hand partially covering his face.
"This is the first time he's gone up voluntarily," his mother, Loretta Eckell, said Wednesday. "I'm really impressed because before he couldn't read at all and didn't want to try."
That's why Ms. Beth-Young holds Authors' Day in her classroom pod quarterly: to give her students a chance to read their original stories and shine. She plans the day usually near a holiday to give students a topic about which to write. She also can measure their progress during that time.
"A lot of the kids are not successful in school," Ms. Beth-Young said. "This is a chance for them to get successful."
So one by one, the nine novice authors got up and shared their wallpaper-covered books that Ms. Beth-Young bound with dental floss and glue.
Topics ranged from original Christmas stories to embellishments the movie "The Mighty Ducks" and Stephen King-like books -- "Knuckles vs. Santa" and "Christmas 9," a tale about a murderous leprechaun.
Some books had illustrations.
Ryan said he chose to write about his family's Christmas "because lots of fun happens on that day. You get big gifts and eat dinner."
Scared by "all those people," he said he couldn't read it to them.
The exercise gave him and the other students with learning disabilities an opportunity to improve their writing skills.
Though fifth-graders, they have second- or third-grade reading levels.
"Instead of having them struggle with books, I had them write their own," Ms. Beth-Young said. "They take pride in what they are doing."
Shana Hinton, new to the class, worked hard to complete her book, "Merry Christmas to All," and improved her spelling, Ms. Beth-Young said.
"I don't believe in pretending they don't have differences. They know it, and I teach them to be proud of their differences," Ms. Beth-Young said. "They are learning it doesn't make them bad or stupid. They just have differences."
All year long, she said, she praises them. On Authors' Day, -- a concept she learned while teaching in England -- the students get compliments from their family, friends and others.
Wednesday's event tickled 11-year-old Derek Everette. As he read aloud his "Christmas With Mighty Ducks -- D-3," his eyes were glued to the words. When he reached the end, his head popped up and he had a wide smile.
"Your book is good," a boy on the front row told him.
And though Ryan was the last to go up, he was proud, too.
He had reason to be: "I liked Ryan's story because it's about real things," Ms. Beth-Young told Ryan and the others. "Good job."