Had a really good session last Saturday. The Young Writers seem to be really getting into it now and it is great to see them working so diligently! At this session we were looking at how trigger objects can help to build story ideas and we recapped on different ways to open and develop stories as well as the various ways to finish them. I handed out Pointer Sheets which summarised everything we have so far covered. I think it would be a great idea to do these quite regularly because then the members have something tangible they can refer back to if they need to. The final assignment of the Writing Stories section is to write a story using one of the trigger objects, incorporating everything we have covered - how to begin, how to develop characters and plot and how to close. The next session is on Saturday 17th May, so if they can return these then, that would really help us to move on to poetry which is where we're going next. And don't forget every assignment completed counts towards their next certificate on the Certificate Trail! One young lady asked if she could write her assignment in the notebook I gave her and this is fine so long as she lets me know so that I can ensure it is read and registered towards the next milestone.
I will be emailing Cathryn and Lucy at the library shortly to see if we can look at possible dates for the proposed Exhibition of Work. I think October/November time would be about right so I will let you all know as soon as we firm up the dates. The children have also asked a couple of times if their work will find its way into "the yellow book" and this is something else I will be looking at, possibly for next year sometime, so again, I will let you know.
With Bank Holidays - and a number of other commitments coming up - I have decided that, for the time being at least, I will let everyone know the next session date as we end the current session. These will still run approximately every fortnight and I will try to ensure two sessions are fitted into each month (except for August), but some flexibility would be appreciated. Keeping an eye on the blog will also help so feel free to browse as often as you wish!
Finally I'd just like to thank you all for your continued support, the library staff for their enthusiasm and, of course, the Young Writers themselves for all their hard work.
See you in a couple of weeks - and enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend!
Wednesday 30 April 2014
Tuesday 15 April 2014
Have A Great Easter ...
Good session again last Saturday so thanks to everyone who came along. We are still pursuing stories and last week looked at how characters can sometimes actually move a story along with the help of their names. I gave the children a work sheet with four character names written on - Mr Clothbear, Fabulous Fiona,
Michael Rich and Miss Smart - and asked them to describe what the characters may be like from their name. This produced some interesting takes where not all members took the names at face value - describing Mr Clothbear as a bear-maker as opposed to a teddy, for example. The idea here was to illustrate the importance of character names and the children seemed to get into the swing of things quite quickly. We also talked about different ways to begin a story, so they were pretty busy really. The assignment set was to start a story featuring one of the characters. And of course it goes without saying that the chocolate eggs at the end of the session were well-received - and well-earned because they all worked so hard! At the next session - 26th April - we will look at different ways to end a story and then we will probably have some fun with poetry for a couple of sessions. In the meantime I'd just like to thank you all for your continued support.
I may have mentioned in a recent blog that the library staff has expressed an interest in having an exhibition of the children's work later in the year and I will try to get this finalised as soon as I can. Once we have a date, we can start working towards it and the members' work will get some recognition. All very exciting! And just to reiterate I am still looking for a guest speaker and I will keep you updated over the next couple of blog posts.
Finally, I have promised the Young Writers I will organise some Sessions and Assignment Sheets with lines across them having watched Namoshi diligently drawing lines with the aid of a ruler. I put it to them and all but one said they would sooner have lined paper so their wish is my command. I will have it in place in time for the next session. This is the kind of feedback I adore, so please do not be afraid to encourage the children to speak up - or indeed, come and see me at the end of the next session if you have any further comments or suggestions.
And I think that is about it for now. Don't forget to put the word out to your friends; let's see if we can build the group a bit more.
Have a great Easter break. See you on 26th!
Michael Rich and Miss Smart - and asked them to describe what the characters may be like from their name. This produced some interesting takes where not all members took the names at face value - describing Mr Clothbear as a bear-maker as opposed to a teddy, for example. The idea here was to illustrate the importance of character names and the children seemed to get into the swing of things quite quickly. We also talked about different ways to begin a story, so they were pretty busy really. The assignment set was to start a story featuring one of the characters. And of course it goes without saying that the chocolate eggs at the end of the session were well-received - and well-earned because they all worked so hard! At the next session - 26th April - we will look at different ways to end a story and then we will probably have some fun with poetry for a couple of sessions. In the meantime I'd just like to thank you all for your continued support.
I may have mentioned in a recent blog that the library staff has expressed an interest in having an exhibition of the children's work later in the year and I will try to get this finalised as soon as I can. Once we have a date, we can start working towards it and the members' work will get some recognition. All very exciting! And just to reiterate I am still looking for a guest speaker and I will keep you updated over the next couple of blog posts.
Finally, I have promised the Young Writers I will organise some Sessions and Assignment Sheets with lines across them having watched Namoshi diligently drawing lines with the aid of a ruler. I put it to them and all but one said they would sooner have lined paper so their wish is my command. I will have it in place in time for the next session. This is the kind of feedback I adore, so please do not be afraid to encourage the children to speak up - or indeed, come and see me at the end of the next session if you have any further comments or suggestions.
And I think that is about it for now. Don't forget to put the word out to your friends; let's see if we can build the group a bit more.
Have a great Easter break. See you on 26th!
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Going Forward ...
Lovely to see another new member at last Saturday's Young Writer session. This means we now have seven so things are definitely moving up and will hopefully continue to do so. I have noticed how much more structured the sessions seem to be now they are being held at the library. The children seem to work much better without any distractions - and - although we have done away with the We are the Young Writers, we love to write mantra that used to kick off the sessions in the group's first incarnation - they do still seem to enjoy being part of a somewhat select little group and they listen intently to everything I say, which is very rewarding for me and means that they are getting something out of it as well.
The topic last week was Stories - how to get ideas for them and what to do with them. The Assignment set was for them to take the notes they made at the session and develop a story with them, thinking about how to open it, ie with the traditional "Once upon a time ..." or description of some sort - ie "It was a dark winter's night and the moon was hiding behind a cloud..." Because of the close proximity of the next session (Saturday 12th to avoid clashing with Easter), I made it quite clear that I do not expect them to finish the assignment. Whatever they bring in with them will still count towards the Certificate Trail so please don't feel you have to push them. A week is not that long and I am sure the Easter Holidays are keeping them busy so I know they may not all have time.
For the remainder of April, we will be sticking with the theme of story writing. This Saturday we will be looking at how to introduce characters and then, on the 26th, we will be looking at how to tie it all together and create a good ending. I have told the Young Writers that the Library are keen for us to exhibit some of their work later in the year so I know they will do their very best - and at the end of the day, I can't ask for more than that.
Finally, I mentioned in the last Post that I may have to slightly alter the May dates so please bear in mind that we will not now have the session on 3rd May but we will have a session on 17th May. I will confirm all the other dates with you as soon as I can, so watch this space. I hope you will bear with me over this. It is largely due to the fact I had things booked from before group was re-launched last month, but the plan is to settle down to a steady two sessions a month (with the exception of August when there will only be one), I promise, and we will get there eventually.
Hope you all have a lovely week and see you Saturday.
The topic last week was Stories - how to get ideas for them and what to do with them. The Assignment set was for them to take the notes they made at the session and develop a story with them, thinking about how to open it, ie with the traditional "Once upon a time ..." or description of some sort - ie "It was a dark winter's night and the moon was hiding behind a cloud..." Because of the close proximity of the next session (Saturday 12th to avoid clashing with Easter), I made it quite clear that I do not expect them to finish the assignment. Whatever they bring in with them will still count towards the Certificate Trail so please don't feel you have to push them. A week is not that long and I am sure the Easter Holidays are keeping them busy so I know they may not all have time.
For the remainder of April, we will be sticking with the theme of story writing. This Saturday we will be looking at how to introduce characters and then, on the 26th, we will be looking at how to tie it all together and create a good ending. I have told the Young Writers that the Library are keen for us to exhibit some of their work later in the year so I know they will do their very best - and at the end of the day, I can't ask for more than that.
Finally, I mentioned in the last Post that I may have to slightly alter the May dates so please bear in mind that we will not now have the session on 3rd May but we will have a session on 17th May. I will confirm all the other dates with you as soon as I can, so watch this space. I hope you will bear with me over this. It is largely due to the fact I had things booked from before group was re-launched last month, but the plan is to settle down to a steady two sessions a month (with the exception of August when there will only be one), I promise, and we will get there eventually.
Hope you all have a lovely week and see you Saturday.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
See You Saturday ...
Just thought I would jot a little reminder about Saturday's session so hope you can make it. I have been looking at what themes and topics we will be covering between now and the start of the school break and should have compiled a list by Saturday. As with the last two years, I will likely as not hold one supplementary session during August, by the way, but I know numbers will be low because of the summer holidays. We will start up again in September when school begins, so watch this space for dates.
Don't forget the assignment set last session was to write a report about their hobbies. Hopefully it will appeal to all of them, but please don't worry too much if they seem to be struggling. I am always quite happy to take a look at any other writing they do but bear in mind that these will be for personal encouragement only and will not count towards their assignments or certificates.
In order to keep the interest I will be coming up with the odd exercise sheet for them to work from, which will (hopefully) tie in with any themes. And I will also keep my ear to the ground for any competitions open to young writers - and if you hear of any, please do drop me a line and let me know and I will try to incorporate them in the coming sessions.
And finally I may have to amend the May and June dates but I will come back to you once I have spoken to the library staff.
Very much look forward to seeing you there - so enjoy the rest of your week and keep in touch.
Don't forget the assignment set last session was to write a report about their hobbies. Hopefully it will appeal to all of them, but please don't worry too much if they seem to be struggling. I am always quite happy to take a look at any other writing they do but bear in mind that these will be for personal encouragement only and will not count towards their assignments or certificates.
In order to keep the interest I will be coming up with the odd exercise sheet for them to work from, which will (hopefully) tie in with any themes. And I will also keep my ear to the ground for any competitions open to young writers - and if you hear of any, please do drop me a line and let me know and I will try to incorporate them in the coming sessions.
And finally I may have to amend the May and June dates but I will come back to you once I have spoken to the library staff.
Very much look forward to seeing you there - so enjoy the rest of your week and keep in touch.
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