New Writing and New Writers

Welcome Sterling and Caitlyn from Gordon Bailey Elementary School. Both of these new members have written great stories this week, but have given us the gift of poems today. Thank you.

I really love that Caitlyn has written some rhyming poetry. Writing in rhyme is a special thinking skill, so I am sooooo happy to see you doing it, Caitlyn.

Sterling is such an original person! I have enjoyed his wonderful imagination and sense of fun all week. Now I discover that he is a poet! Wow! Cool stuff!

I hope both of you keep contributing to www.kidswrite4kids.com.

Also, Bit continues to contribute. There is no end to Bit's imagination. Take a look at Bit's "The Lost Goddess." She continues to grow as a writer. I am very proud to have her work on kidswrite4kids.com.

Note to Adults: Read to Relax! Kids Will Notice

If we want our kids to be readers, and we do, we need to model a love of reading.

We too often fool ourselves into thinking we are too busy to sit down and relax with a book. We instead zone out in front of the television, convincing ourselves that we need the mindlessness offered there. Okay, sometimes we DO need it! Just not as often as we think.

Let's face it. There is too much noise in our heads, and a good book is one way to silence some of it. Screaming commercials and inane happy talk won't do. I have an old friend who rereads Little Women every time she is sick in bed. The familiar story comforts her, silences some of the worry that comes with being ill.

Every couple of years I reread David Copperfield. It's like visiting an old friend who offers me more with each reunion. Dickens teaches me about life and about writing. At the moment, I'm reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre for the first time, and I'm pretty sure I've made another lifelong friend. I am sitting at Bronte's feet--just as I sit at Dickens'--and I am listening. All the other noise of my life fades into silence.

If we want our kids to be readers, and we do, we need to model a love of reading. If we want kids to grow up balanced and wise, and we do, we can begin by showing them the rewards of becoming lifelong friends with a few good books.

A Recent Victory for Writing in the Schools

This happened in a fourth grade classroom a few weeks ago.

Monday I went into one of the classes and noticed right away a boy who seemed oppositional with his teacher. I filed that observation away and went on with my usual shtick—introduced myself, got the 5 senses out of them, drawing a cartoon character on the board as they gave me the info. This holds their attention, draws them in, and wows them all at once. Okay, then I told a funny story using the senses and simile, processed it with them in a high energy q and a. Now it’s time for them to write. I gave them a started, set down the rules, and launched them.

As I walked back by the teacher’s desk, she whispered to me that the kid I had noticed when I came in would not write anything. Well, excuse me, but the way I set things up it’s really hard to NOT write. The kid was writing. I looked over his shoulder and asked if it was okay to look at what he’d written. I think he didn’t know how to say no to me, so I looked at it and noticed the detail. He had a kid looking out a window to a new neighborhood. There were broken sidewalks and three burning garbage cans.

“Cool,” I told him. “Great detail.” Then I walked away.

I stopped by another time and encouraged him and let it go at that.

Tuesday, though, he got stuck, so I helped him get going again, then let him alone. That night I took the stories home, looked them over, put my comment/cartoon/speech bubble on each one, and gave them back to the kids on Wednesday. That’s always a big moment, so I give them a bit of time to walk around and show each other their cartoons.

The kids start a new story usually on Wednesday, but this little guy wanted to continue with the first story. I let him do that and I mentioned to him that I wanted him to be one of the readers at our reading in the library on Thursday. He got a tiny, tiny secret smile on his face and said, “Yeah, I guess so” like he didn’t REALLY want to do it.

His teacher told me he wouldn’t do it. Not a chance. The next day, when it looked like he might just do it, she told me his mother would have to sit right next to him and help him get through it. He couldn't, wouldn't read aloud. I said I’d do that instead if need be. His mother could watch.

Well, the time came, he read, I sat next to him as he read, his voice--I'm not kidding!--getting stronger as he went along. Then I watched the astonishment on his face when the audience applauded. The next day in class he could barely contain his smile.

Hey, folks! Storywriting touched another life!

Gotta Love Bit's Beginnings!

Check out Bit's stories on Kids Write 4 Kids. She's only a fourth grader but already knows how to hook a reader. Bit has created interesting characters and situations.

We will be watching as she continues to develop these stories following the Story Bones we talked about at her school. She has an eye for detail in a scene and a good ear for dialogue. I hope we meet some wonderful antagonists--villains, taskgivers, tricksters, and maybe even some very, very bad choices her characters make to spice up the middles and ends of her stories!

Keep writing, Bit!

Showcase Coming In Late June

We've collected a good bit of fine writing from kids in the last couple of months. This new material, combined with some excellent work from before, has given me ideas.

In the next couple of months I will be picking out the best work from Kids Write 4 Kids to showcase in a publication. It will be available as a print-on-demand book through a link on this site and on the home page of www.kidswrite4kids.com.

Look for this in late June.

My friend Rodney is so excited about this that he's running for his computer right now!

In the meantime, keep those stories, poems, and essays coming!