We Are Growing!

Kids Write 4 Kids seems to be picking up a little speed. We are growing! Thanks to all the young writers who have contributed their creative energy to our reading pleasure!

Check out budding mystery writer Bit's latest postings. They are short, but so nicely written. We are looking at a real talent when we read her work. I can see her character racing out the door to solve a crime with her dog Goldie at her side.

Keep the work coming, Bit.

Of course, that goes for everybody else, too. I have many new friends in Mound, Minnesota, and hope to see even more stories coming from them. Thanks to Joe and Evan. I enjoyed working with both of you.

We are still waiting for a few essays about where some of our readers live, though. Kate gave us an excellent start. I'm sure she'd enjoy reading about life in the United States.

Thanks, Kate!

Parents, teachers, and kids--check out Kate's essay about her life in New Zealand. Just click on the Word Castle and go to Essays.

We have readers all over the world, so wouldn't it fun to have essays about life where you live? Here's a list of some things you can tell us about where you live:

Do you wear a uniform to school?

What games do you and your friends like to play?

Where do you like to go for vacation? Kate likes to go to her dad's boat, which I'd love to hear more about.

What's really special about your country or city or state? Do you get huge rainstorms, snowstorms, or some other drama in the weather?

What do you do at your favorite holiday?

These are just a few ideas. Please add to them as you write about your home. Oh, and you don't have to be from outside the USA to write an essay about where you live. I'm sure Kate would like hearing about other places in the world!

By the way, here's a little about me: I love to dance tango. My sweetheart Sandra (that's her in the picture) and I take lots of lessons and go out dancing a couple times a week. It is sooooooo much fun!

New Good Fun on KidsWrite4Kids.com

Check out the new writing from kids on KidsWrite4Kids.com. Fourth grader Bit has been especially busy lately and has published not only poems, but also a series of stories about her character Katie Kirk. I look forward to reading more entries of her story about the teacher wanted by the FBI!

Check out the essays, too. Even if you don't agree with the writer's point of view, you will have to admit these are strong, strong voices. Colliegirl's comparison/contrast essay is a model of loaded language.

Parents and teachers, keep working with our young writer friends, and show them the way to KidsWrite4Kids.com. Don't be afraid to help them with editing, stressing the importance of clear, consistent, conventionally correct writing. Let's work together to help them become better and better writers.

Residency at Wadena-Deer Creek Elementary School

This was a good bit of fun. The school got a grant a few years ago to develop a reading program, I am told, and as a result their reading scores have shot up dramatically, and—surprise!—The reading shows up improving the writing. I was impressed by much of what I saw. The kids were wonderful to work with, as were the four teachers. Everybody was flexible and upbeat. On Thursday, they started making noises about having me back next year. I certainly hope that works out.

Tuesday they called school off because of the snow storm. Bummer. Then, double bummer, we had a two-hour late start on Wednesday. Okay, I said we were all flexible. This is when we bent. Wednesday we only had to double up one class, meaning we had two sections in one room for one of my contact hours. I taught on Wednesday what I would have done on Tuesday, Story Bones/Dramatic Structure. Oh, and I handed back the stories they had started on Monday with my comments in speech bubbles coming out of the mouths of my hand-drawn cartoon characters. This always pumps kids up. They fell right into the program and went on with those stories. Many of the kids took their stories home to work on over night. (One little girl stayed up until 2 working on hers.)

Thursday all four contact hours were double sections, meaning I saw all the kids twice that day. The morning's lesson was the Character on the Board exercise, where I lead the group through the creation of a character and get them started writing a second story. I encouraged them to change the character as much as they wanted, to think of what we did on the board as a starting off point. In the afternoon I introduced the idea of antagonists--troublemakers I call them--to rock the story along. Again, many kids took their stories home to work on. Friday was a normal day. The kids read stories and asked me questions. I gave them my usual parting sermon about how they can now continue growing as writers.

As always, the magic is in the stories I tell to illustrate the concepts I introduce.