Tell us a story!

Everything childhood-related we've done so far (including this post) needs to be finished by the end of class Wednesday, 6 November to count for points--so we can be ready to put our books together.    

Please draft a children's story (300-500 words?) in the next few days, maybe first in your journal and then in a New Post on your blog.  You'll need your story to be finished and proofread by the middle of next week so we can put together our children's books. 

Give your story a great title and think about how your book will be illustrated (kids' stories are often all about the pictures!)

Children's stories aren't usually all that long, but because of their brevity, each line and word needs to count.  Try to make strong and effective word choices and eliminate any unnecessary rambling.  

Also, decide on an age group to target with your story and keep that in mind as you craft your piece. What would a kid that age know, want to know, think about, be scared of, find funny, etc.?  (I'm planning to send your books to my friend's 3rd grade class at Portland Elementary for the kids to review).

You may want your story to rhyme--seems like many kids' books do--but it's certainly not required. Your story could be funny or serious, silly or sentimental...

You are welcome to write about whatever you want, but there are a number of ideas for stories at this website if you're looking for inspiration, or maybe you could try the brainstorming process explained on this website.

I personally like the feel of Mac Barnett's work.  Check out his blog and ever-growing collection of children's titles. I also love his TedTalk.

If you'd like to use Book Creator to make your book our class code is 5QJRBCH. You are welcome to create a comic book on this site if you'd rather.

You could also use Storybird or StoryJumper (Password: fraserfras).

Remember the librarians posted their presentation to the Library page on Canvas for you to consult for ideas and tips.  

Or maybe consider these activities from Children's Book Writer:

Select one character, one character trait, one setting, one problem, and one magical element from the lists below and write a 200-250 word scene or story. To complete the exercise, eliminate the magical element and rewrite the scene/story. What had to change? Does the magical element make your main character, and the story he tells, any stronger?

Main Character (select one from list or create your own)

Cassandra

Joey

Lizard

Ardvark

Gollup

Character Trait (select one)

Shy

Curious

Loud

Slippery

Sad

Setting (select one)

Cruise ship

Hot air balloon

Zoo

School playground

Beach

Problem (select one)

Forgot lunch

Lost

Make a new friend

Bullied

Cold

Save the planet

Magical element (select one)

Skateboard

Bubble

Jumprope

Elephant

Dollar bill

...........................................................................................................

Select a beginning, a main character, and a moral to convey. Imagine yourself telling your tale to a rapt group of children... Keep interest high by using active verbs and phrases, use conflict to create tension, and try lots of dialogue. To complete the exercise, read it aloud!

Beginning:

My friends! Gather around, close to me. We are about to embark on a strange journey...

Once upon a time, in a land nearly forgotten...

I'm as old as the trees, as old as the stars in the night sky. Only I am old enough to remember what happened a long time ago...

Long ago and far away...

Character:

The Bovine King

Quiet Leopard

The Boy in the Moon

Two Sisters 

The Dancing Rabbit in the Moon

The Lonely Princess

Warty Frog

Moral or Lesson to be Learned:

Always practice kindness

A good deed can make a difference

Only you can control your attitude.

Sometimes things are not as they appear to be.

Don't be afraid to challenge authority

About the Author

Please post a brief but interesting bio of yourself as a children's author to your blog today.  

These bios are written in 3rd person and at minimum generally include where the author lives (city and state) and who he or she lives with (family and pets).  

You might also include some lines referencing your own childhood passions and preoccupations, or your inspiration for writing the story, or what else occupies your time besides writing great books.  

These also usually include a picture of the author, so post either a picture of yourself or an avatar or some other image to represent you.

Here are some tips for writing an effective bio.

Here are some notable authors of kids books today.

My example:

Hayley Fraser spends most of her days at school working with teenagers, which keeps her feeling both young and old all at the same time.  She lives in Springfield, Missouri, with her husband, son, and a funny cat named Skinny.  This is her first book for young readers.

Books for Kids

Please type up the information from the folded white sheet regarding a children's book in the library as a New Post on your blog.  Include a couple of images.  Glue the half sheet in your journal to count as an entry.

Also, leave a comment on this post naming something interesting or cute or inspiring you took away or noticed during the librarians' talk about kids' books.

Also: Finish and turn in the Children's Lit Online Search packet from Friday if you haven't already...be sure to leave a comment (worth 20 points) on that post, too.

Be thinking about how these books might inspire a story of your own!

Children's Lit Online Search

Hi there. I'd like you to do a guided search to see what's out there in the world of children's literature. I've put in links to the web addresses listed on the worksheet here on this post for you to make your search easier. A couple of the sites are interactive and have sound, video and other activities, and you're welcome to scroll around on those in addition to just answering the questions.

1. First stop: Cyberbee

2. Next stop: Pigeon Presents

3.  Ian Falconer's Olivia

 4. Walter the Dog link

5. Top 10 of 2013 by Breezy Mama

6. Top 35 "Classic" Children's Books @ Real Simple

7. Current Trends in Children's Lit article

8. No link for this one--look for a review of your own favorite

9. Skippyjon Jones Home Page

10.  Leave a comment on this post about one of your favorite books when you were a kid.  Include: 

• a brief summary of the story
• why you liked it/what it meant to you

Add another few sentences to your comment to answer either one of these:

• who/what/where/etc. you might want to write a kids' book about OR 

• why you think it would be fun (or difficult) to write a kids' book

Turn in your completed Children's Lit Online Search packet to the basket on Mrs. Fraser's desk for points today.  If you're not able to finish the comment on this post about your favorite book during class , please find some time to do it on your own.  

s 

Here's lookin' at you, kid

Please read the following pieces on the blogs of your group members (see lists below) and leave a friendly, supportive, specific comment naming something you think is done/said well and maybe what it reminds you of in your own life, your own work, or the world.

Copy/paste/publish your comments in a New Post on your own blog by the end of the block.

1:  Childhood Questions
2:  2 Narrative Poems inspired by artist/profile
3:  Hopper-Inspired Piece

Anne 
Michaela
Solenne

Kat
Hannah P
Sarah

Victor
Theo
Dante

Parker
Noelle
Kristin
Zak

Donna
Hannah O
Shawn
Braden


Any work connected to ART/ARTISTS as inspiration needs to be posted before class tomorrow to receive credit.  We will be focusing on our next theme of CHILDHOOD moving forward.  

You should have 10 new full pages in your journal by the end of this week.  Use the Childhood Prompts I gave you for some ideas...

Hope you're having a nice week! Thanks!😊

Childhood Questions

In childhood, 

we press our nose to the pane, looking out.  

In memories of childhood, 

we press our nose to the pane, looking in.    

                                                                                                                  ~Robert Brault

Let's use CHILDHOOD as our theme this week and next and do some thinking about children's stories--both your own and fictional ones you might write for kids. 

Please choose some of these questions to answer in a New Post on your blog of at least 500 words.  Rather than answering many of them with short, surface answers, go into more detail about just a few.  Include images, too. You could also write a longer answer to some of the questions from the dice game if you'd rather.

You could answer others in your journal, too.  You should have at least 10 new pages by the end of this week.

1. What is your most poignant childhood memory? The one that sticks out the most? Write out as much as you can remember and then fill in the details with elaborate description.

2. Who was the most important person to you during most of your childhood? Your mom? Your dad? Another relative? A friend? An imaginary person? Show some examples in which you see how much influence this person (or imaginary person) had on you while you were growing up.

3. It seems like when you are a kid growing up you can't wait to get there and when you are a grown up you wish you could be back. Imagine one day in which you are granted adulthood as a child, and one day in which you are granted childhood as an adult. How do you utilize these 24 hour periods?

4. We all have that friend we had in childhood who later moved into a different popularity scale in middle or high school. Who was that friend and what did you two enjoy so much together when you were little?

5. What did you and your family do for entertainment when you were little? Did you play board games together? Go to movies? Go into extreme detail of a family fun night of some kind. 

6. What cartoon from your childhood is the most memorable for you? What made it stick in your head so strongly? Would you see a movie of it now if were made into a big blockbuster for the nostalgia purposes?

7.  What action makes you the most nostalgic for your childhood? Is it seeing old pictures or going through old clothes? Something else entirely? Write a story of you going through those nostalgic actions and having various memories of your childhood. 

8. How do you recall getting along with your family during your childhood? With your parents, siblings, and other relatives? Go though a typical reunion or holiday with your entire family in attendance during your childhood. Have fun going into excruciating detail. 

9. Is there something you know now you wish you knew when you were a kid?  Is there something you’ve come to know that you wish you didn’t?

10. It's your birthday! Pick a party that you had during your childhood or create an ideal birthday party for yourself at any young age and write a story about it.

11. You have been given the opportunity to go backwards. You can pick an age and start over again from that age. Do you pick one or not? What age would you go to? Describe your first week with your "old person" memories in your younger body. 

12.  Describe any childhood ailments or injuries you had. 

13.  Describe your favorite toy. What did it look like? How did it feel? 

14.  Describe your favorite books growing up. What made them special to you? 

15.  Describe your favorite game growing up. 

16.  Describe your nemesis growing up. Who made your life miserable and what did he/she do to make your life so rough? 

17.  Describe your favorite foods as a child. What did you eat then that you no longer eat?

18.  What was the biggest trouble you got into as a child? Describe what you did or didn’t do to deserve what happened to you. 

19.  What was your greatest childhood accomplishment? How did it make you feel? What influence do you think it has had on your life since? 

20.  Describe what you did or where you went as a child when you wanted to feel safe.

21.  Describe your personality as a child. In what ways has it changed as you’ve gotten older? In what ways has it stayed the same? 

22.  How has your opinion of your parents changed as you’ve grown older? 

23.  Describe your most interesting relative.

24.  Describe something that people would be surprised to know about your childhood.

25.  Describe some of the cultural influences in your childhood.  Do you know your heritage?

26.  Describe the home you grew up in. If you lived in several different homes, describe one or discuss the reasons for the frequent moves. Were you moving up or working your way down?

27.  Describe one of your first away-from-home experiences.

28.  Describe a smell that you remember from growing up. 

29.  What was your favorite family dinner as a child? 

30.  Talk about a time when you were grounded. 

31.  At what age did you learn to ride a bicycle? 

32.  What did you want to be when you grew up? 

33.  When you were a child, how did you imagine your teenage life?  Your adult life? 

34.  Describe someone who taught you to believe in yourself. 

35.  What frightening dream do you remember from your childhood? 

36.  What did you not like about your childhood? 

37.  Recall one of your favorite childhood movies. 

38.  What did you collect as a child? What did you like about these items

39.   Write about a photo of yourself as a child...

Inspired by your artist

In a New Post on your blog please choose 2 pieces by the artist you profiled last week and write a narrative poem of at least 8 lines for each. 

A narrative poem is one that tells a story.  It doesn't need to rhyme.  You could tell a made-up story inspired by the painting, you could tell a story from your own life the piece makes you think of, you could make up a story about the subjects in the painting...You could connect your two 10-line poems or let them stand on their own. Try to include vivid, sensory details and rich, interesting word choices.  You might even try to include a poetic device (like alliteration, simile, repetition, etc.) if you're comfortable doing so.  

Please include an image of the piece of art you are writing about in your post.  Give the post a creative title.

Inspired by Edward Hopper

Nighthawks

Gas

Soir Bleu

Choose one of the 4 paintings (above) by American artist Edward Hopper we studied in class this week (his painting "Nighthawks" is referenced in the insurance commercial we watched) and write a piece of at least 250 words inspired by it.  You might do a short fiction piece or a personal narrative or maybe even a narrative poem.  You can refer to your lists of sensory details and other thoughts in your journal entry completed in class for ideas.  Please create a New Post on your blog with your writing and include the painting, too.  Thanks!

Window Poem

In a New Post on your blog, please share the Window Poem you created in your journal during class on Thursday. Add an image--maybe a painting or other artwork that goes along with what you've written. Thanks!

Here are the prompts:

Imagine you are standing, looking out a window you know well, one you look out often.  It might be your own bedroom, a classroom at school, your kitchen window, a car or bus window, a window at your job, a friend’s house or a relative’s house…

Next, I’m going to ask you to respond to some questions about what you see out that window.  Don’t number the questions. Respond in short phrases or sentences, like lines of poetry…

• What do you see straight ahead of you?

• What is on your left?

• Something is different today—what is it?  It needn’t be of great significance.

• Write any line that follows on here, but include the word “sometimes” or the word “always.”
  
  

• What else can you see?  A detail. In these lines, suggest the time of day or the time of year.
  
  

• Look harder.  Add two more details, one of them so far in the distance you can hardly see it…or maybe you can’t see it at all

Artist Profile

Grumpy Cat works in oils

Please profile the artist you chose to study in a New Post on your blog.  Please all include the information from your brochure, but instead of listing it, write the information more like a life story in paragraphs.  

Include an image and/or self-portrait of the artist as well as 2-3 images of the artist's most famous works.  

Title Your Post Artist Profile: ______ (name of artist).  Thanks!

Thank you, Harris Burdick

Using the artwork, title and sentence you selected from the Burdick book as your inspiration, please draft a creative piece of your choice.  Spend some time on this one and shoot for at least 500 words, more if you can to really develop your story.  Use plenty of vivid details and consider using dialogue.  You might create a fictional short story or maybe adapt a narrative from your own experience that connects to Burdick's picture or words. 

You'll have today and tomorrow to draft and polish your story and then create a New Post on your blog by the end of class on Tuesday that includes both your writing and the Burdick image (looks like most of them are on Google images if you search "harris burdick").  Use the title that went with your image as the title of your post.  Use the sentence that went with your image somewhere in your piece--put that sentence in bold.

You can read more about The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (and submit your story if you'd like!) here.

Art/Therapy

Mandalas are important to a variety of cultures, faiths and schools of thought...I hope you enjoy coloring one (or two) for your journal...

You can create some interesting mandalas at this site.  If you click on the asterisks, there is more information about the different elements.

Leave a brief but thoughtful COMMENT (150-200 words or so) on this post answering one or more of these questions:

• How or why do you think art could be used as therapy?
• Can you think of other pieces of or types of art that are connected to certain faiths, disciplines or movements?
• What role does art play in your own life?
• If you could be any kind of artist, what would you be?  Why?
• What do your doodles say about your personality?  Check this site or others for reference.
• Why do you think Adult Coloring Books are so popular right now?  This article has some ideas.

Read everyone else's comments, too, and reply back if you'd like!

That went quickly!

It's the end of first quarter!  You all have been wonderful to work with so far, and I'm looking forward to trying new things and seeing what you come up with in the next half of the semester.  I have been working to leave comments on your posts--thanks for your patience with me. The end of the quarter is a busy time for all of us, and you might be feeling as frazzled as this kitty.  It will all be okay... Just a couple of reminders:

Your journal is due today with 15 new full pages.  

All catch-up work (for BOOKS/TEXT and MOVIES themes only--the window for work on other themes has closed) needs to be posted to your blog by 10 am Friday morning to receive credit on your grade for 1st quarter.  

Enjoy the long weekend! We will be working with ART as inspiration to start quarter 2!