As a public school teacher in New York City, I loved teaching writing to my first graders. Like thousands of elementary schools across the country, we used the Writer’s Workshop curriculum developed by Lucy Calkins of Teachers College at Columbia University. With the Writer’s Workshop model, writing time in an elementary school classroom isn’t much different than a college or adult creative writing class. Kids are encouraged to come up with their own ideas, to find their own story, to notice and remember the little details in their life. Nobody tells you what to write anymore!
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| Illustration copyright © 2012 by Abby Hanlon |
For little kids who are just learning to form letters, who are making critical connections between letters and sounds and who are figuring out which direction the letters go on the page, writing time can be scary! But watching my students rise to this enormous challenge always amazed me. In Ralph Tells A Story, the book follows the structure of a Writer’s Workshop; the story starts off with some inspiration from the teacher, then the children go off to work on their own to write true stories about their lives. They come together at the end to share. In the book, I wanted to use this structure because it is familiar to kids. I hope that the book helps children to reflect upon their own experiences and fuels new story ideas.
Writing Tip
Kids get really excited about very little things. Think about how many times a day your kid says, “Guess what?” “I found a bottle cap on the street!” “I heard about a lollipop with bubble gum inside of it!” “I beat Daddy in Candyland!” These are all great topics for Writer’s Workshop. No story is too small! In fact, small is perfect.
Thank you Abby for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and sharing writing tips and ideas about writing with young children.
Thanks to Blue Slip Media for hosting and organizing the blog tour, and to Amazon's Children's Publishing for hosting the giveaway.
Mon, Oct 1 - Momma Drama http://blogginmommadrama.blogspot.com/
Tues, Oct 2 - KidLitFrenzy http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Wed, Oct 3 - Susan Heim on Parenting http://susanheim.blogspot.com/
Thurs, Oct 4 - There's a Book http://www.theresabook.com/
Fri, Oct 5 - Lille Punkin' Reviews http://www.lillepunkin.com/
Mon, Oct 8 - A Mom's Take http://www.amomstake.com/
Tues, Oct 9 - Just a Little Creativity http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/
Wed, Oct 10 - The Children's Book Review http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Thurs, Oct 11 - Adventures in Mommydom http://adventuresinmommydom.org/
Fri, Oct 12 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com/
Abby Hanlon has a master’s degree in early childhood education from the City College of New York and bachelor’s from Barnard College, Columbia University. Abby has taught creative writing and first grade in the New York City public school system. Inspired by her students’ storytelling and drawings, Abby began to write her own stories for children. Determined to illustrate her stories, Abby taught herself to draw after not having drawn since childhood. Ralph Tells a Story is her first book. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their two children.
Please complete the form below to enter to win a copy of Ralph Tells a Story.
Giveaway ends on Monday, October 8, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.
