Hello friends! Here in north Georgia our school year has just begun! This past Monday, my girls started 7th grade and 3rd grade. I can barely believe it! Our Summer (full of broken bones, birthday parties, puppies, swimming, fireworks, and a friend from Hungary) swirled by like a twister! But now I am ready for Fall.Every Summer, I give my school visit materials a facelift. And depending on my experiences/feedback from the previous year, I might add, adjust, or even take away a presentation. Sometimes prices need to be adjusted or maybe I want to implement a new logistical strategy in my school visit workflow. Each year is different! |
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What’s New For My 2022-23 Visits? |
| For this new academic year I was inspired to add some writing workshops to my school visit program menu, partly because I love seeing students streeeetch their minds to create a completely unique story of their own, and partly because I got the “writing workshop scoop” from my author friend, Lola. (See podcast below) |
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Photo: 11-year-old young author and I at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, 2022, UAE. |
| Two New Writing Workshops! |
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Thank You Letter Writing Workshop Best for grades K-3rd (45 minute session) NEW! This workshop uses LITTLE RED AND THE BIG BAD EDITOR to model how to write a thank you letter (complete with punctuation, capital letters, finger spaces, as well as a greeting and closing)! Shanda will read the book, brainstorm with students about who they could write a thank you letter to, walk them through writing it, and encourage them to actually deliver it! |
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Cheesy Comics Writing Workshop Best for grades 3rd-5th (2 or 3 one hour sessions) NEW! This silly educational workshop (part 1) starts with students imagining, drawing, and creating a main character (that also happens to be a slice of cheese :) with unique wants, fears, histories, and problems. The next session (part 2) will focus on telling the character’s story by creating a short comic with the cheesy character pitted against its greatest fear, whatever that may be! A third session (part 3) may be added for students to give/receive constructive feedback using the “critique sandwich” method then revising their stories to be even better! |
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New Podcast Episode! |
Educators: If you’d like to know more about bringing an author to your school for a writer’s workshop (and possibly even earn some PD), check out this latest podcast episode where I interview my author friend, Lola Schaefer, about just that!Authors: If you’ve ever thought about doing writing workshops with kids, this episode is a must! |
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Go to the episode |
I can’t wait to start visiting schools this year :) Let me know if you’d like to set something up! Visit my school visit info page for all programs, pricing, and available dates.As always, thanks for reading! |
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Posts Tagged ‘writing workshops for kids’
Special Virtual Presentations and Workshops with FIRE TRUCK VS. DRAGON creators: Chris Barton and Shanda McCloskey
We (Chris Barton and Shanda McCloskey) love hanging out with educators and their students, and welcome the opportunity to plan a special FIRE TRUCK VS. DRAGON visit for your whole school or individual class(es).
Build-Your-Own-Visit:
All visits start with a quick intro to the book and its creators (5 minutes)
Choose 3 or 4 more sections to be included in your presentation:
– Live reading of FIRE TRUCK VS. DRAGON (10 minutes)
– Let’s talk about “expectations” in/out of the book (10 minutes)
– A peek behind the scenes of FT vs D (10 minutes)
– Opposites! (10 minutes)
– Dragon or Fire Truck drawing demo for kids to follow along (10 minutes)
– Q&A session with prepared or on-the-spot questions (10 minutes)
Great for grades Pre-K all the way through 5th, as the presentations are tailored to the ages. If you can’t decide which parts to include, we can choose for you (based on our favorites) if you like.
Price: $450 (35-45 min). If your school is willing to promote a signed book sale (online), we are happy to take $50 off the visit!
“Friendly Opposites” Single-Day Writing Workshop:
In this single-day workshop, Chris will lead students through a collaborative process of creating their own “friendly opposites” story while Shanda illustrates it in real time! Best for small groups, grades 1st – 5th.
Price: $450 (45-55 min). If your school is willing to promote a signed book sale (online), we are happy to take $50 off the visit!
“Creating in a Team” Multi-Day Writing & Illustrating Workshop:
In this 3-day virtual workshop, students get to spend individual and combined time with Chris and Shanda, learn/practice storytelling techniques (in words and pictures), and get a taste of what it’s like to work on a story with others! Best for small groups in grades 3rd – 5th.
Price: $850 (3 sessions). If your school is willing to promote a signed book sale (online), we are happy to take $50 off the visit!
- Day 1: Students will create a short piece of writing with author, Chris Barton. (45 min)
- Day 2: With illustrator, Shanda McCloskey, students will create a single illustration for a fellow student’s writing from the previous day. (45 min)
- Day 3: Shanda, Chris, and the class virtually gather to see some of the collaborations that students made and any last Q and A. (45 min)
Have questions? Ready to set up a visit?
Contact Chris at https://chrisbarton.info/contact-me.html or Shanda at theshanda@yahoo.com.
Here’s a printable version of this info:
