Last Friday our Kids’ Writing Workshop welcomed author Kirk Scroggs, who wrote the Wiley & Grampa’s Creature Features series, the Snoop Troop series and the Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet series. He gave us a presentation about his books and characters, and then we did activities where we took a […]
Creative Writing for Beginning Readers: Imaginary Friends
Published on :On July 1st, we had a program for early elementary school kids from ages 5-8 years old to encourage them to do creative writing. Miss AnnMarie prepared the materials and Mr. Nick did a wonderful job presenting it. Mr. Nick read two books: The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: Writing Engaging Beginnings
Published on :This month our workshop focused on that cardinal rule of writing: hook ’em with your first sentence! The activities we did got the kids writing actual first sentences and getting feedback from their peers. Here’s the handout I gave the kids. I’m a big believer in drawing inspiration from current, […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: Revising!
Published on :On Friday, May 8, we focused on revising using a multi-layered approach I playfully call “Miss AnnMarie’s Thirteen Steps to a Perfect Final Draft.” Is any final draft ever perfect? I don’t know… but if you follow these steps you WILL get about as close to perfect as is possible for […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: Blackout Poetry!
Published on :April is Poetry Month, so last Friday our Kids’ Writing Workshop focused on blackout poetry. First I gave each kid a famous poem, by authors such as Shakespeare, Keats, Byron, Shelley, Dickinson, Poe, Kipling, Frost, and Silverstein. The kids had to read their poem first and get a feel for […]
The Cost of Freedom by Kaitlyn Chiu
Published on :One City, One Story 2015 “Tell Your Story” Contest Category: Grade 6-8 1st place The Cost of Freedom by Kaitlyn Chiu, Grade 6 He sat on the neatly tiled roof, his long hair blowing in the crisp, cold wind. Hao watched in horror as his older sister was questioned […]
A Young Girl’s Journey: Mexico to America by Eva Lindholm
Published on :One City, One Story 2015 “Tell Your Story” Contest Category: Grade 6-8 3rd place A Young Girl’s Journey: Mexico to America by Eva Lindholm, Grade 6 Why can’t I be normal? Maybe even be like the others. Mama says that being special and extraordinary is better. In my case extraordinary […]
Where I Belong by Evelyn Chen
Published on :One City, One Story 2015 “Tell Your Story” Contest Category: Grade 3-5 1st place Where I Belong by Evelyn Chen, Grade 3 “ Miki! Your English teacher’s here!” I sighed and put down the book I was reading. Ever since I was five years old, I had been taking […]
The Letter by Gwendolyn Lopez
Published on :One City, One Story 2015 “Tell Your Story” Contest Category: Grade 3-5 2nd place The Letter by Gwendolyn Lopez, Grade 4 In the 1950s, my grandfather Rubén was a young man in México. He and his twin brother Salvador were working as miners in the small town of Hostotipaquillo […]
My Family’s American Story by Andrew Smithwick
Published on :One City, One Story 2015 “Tell Your Story” Contest Category: Grade 3-5 3rd place My Family’s American Story by Andrew Smithwick, Grade 5 My name is Hugh Henry Smithwick. It is the year 1642 and we are setting sail on the Good Ship Globe from England. I am traveling […]