Author Visits: Workshops, Programs and Assemblies for Children
As a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and author of over fifty books for children, I love to be in schools, reading with readers, writing with writers, and talking with kids about things that interest them. Be it in a library, gym, or multipurpose room, each presentation is interactive, with a song and moment, and I bring along my guitar and talking drum whenever possible.
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Everyone’s a Writer Assembly 3-6 (45 to 60 minutes) In this assembly, I present my most popular books and my personal favorites. I talk to kids about choosing topics for writing, the process of writing, and persevering in the face of writing challenges. I give time for questions and answers, as well as a song and movement activity or two. For kids in grades 2 and 3, I do more music and movement. STEM-related Author Assemblies Grades 1-6 How Heavy? How Tall? Wacky Comparisons (for grades K-2) (30 minutes) Featuring two of my most popular non-fiction picture books, this assembly features music and movement and has a little STEM to it. Size is discussed in terms of standard units and non-standard units. Kids in PA (where I can travel by car) will see a giant bear and a banana board. Mr. Sounds and the Chocolate Donut (for grades 2-5) (45 to 60 minutes) This assembly is for schools in PA (where I can travel by car). After an overview of why I write about sound and science, this assembly moves to multi-voice poetry. It ends with a bit of sound science that features some instruments, lots of weird sounds, and a very loud gong. Along the way vibrations, pitch, frequency, and materials are discussed. I also give time for questions and answers, as well as a song and movement activity. Classroom-based Writing Workshops and Author Programs Author to Author: General Writing Workshop (Grades 1 - 6) As a teacher and an author, I'm well-suited for teaching a classroom of students how to think and write like an author. Discussion points include: * Brainstorming a list of topics; writing about what you know * Identifying your reason for writing; making a plan * Staying on topic * Describing "little moments" * Stretching sentences with prepositions and conjunctions * Varying sentence length * Leads and conclusions * Writing is revising * Writing for readers Writing, Speaking, and Performing Poetry Workshop (Grades 3-6) Read alouds, dramatic readings by actors, speaking and performing poetry, and writingyour own poetry STEM-related Program (Grades K-1) For young children, I sing a song or two, do an activity with the kids, and engage them with a selection of read alouds from two books geared for young children. Program length is 30 minutes; the books are: Gears Go, Wheels Roll Transportation, the science and work of gears and wheels A read aloud, a brainstorm activity, a song with movement Bubbles Float, Bubbles Pop Matter, gases, bubbles in nature A read aloud, a song with movement, and bubbles! I request that each assembly be held to 150 children or less. Classroom-based workshops typically take place in classrooms of 22 to 28 children. For availability, assembly prices and related travel fees, please contact me through the contact page on this web site.
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