Local Writer Ciaran Murtagh is coming along to meet the Young Writers this Saturday, 5th December. I know it is unusual to have week-on-week sessions but as I said before, this was the only way I could schedule in two December sessions and Ciaran so pray excuse. After this week, it will be two weeks before the next on 19th December and we will be having a little party that day - with drinks and crisps and fruit so it would really help me out if you could confirm your Young Writer will be present on that day so I can make sure I have enough for everyone. Could you all be angels and either comment on here, email or call my mobile? At least then I can get some preparation in place!
Last week we were looking at haiku again. This remarkable little poetry form is always a huge favourite and I get so much pleasure out of it when the Young Writers actually grasp the whole syllable concept of 5-7-5 - especially when tackling it for the first time like most of those present last Saturday! I knew it made sense when new member Shaan proudly told his mum his name has just one syllable when at the beginning of the session he hadn't even known what a syllable was let alone a haiku. It made sense to him to call the format of 5-7-5 the code. Since that clearly helped him to understand who was I to argue? I congratulated him on his clever idea and called it a code for the rest of the session!
Don't forget their assignment last Saturday was to create two haiku of their own and I gave them all worksheets to refer to but if they do get stuck, don't hesitate to help them; this isn't like homework; it is just to help them progress through the Certificate Trail. And they are all doing incredibly well, I promise you!
Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday - don't forget to PLEASE let me know who will be there on 19th December.
Good writing everyone!
Monday 30 November 2015
Tuesday 17 November 2015
Amaaaazing!!!!
It was astonishing last Saturday when twelve children attended the AYW session at Ashburton Library! It was a bit of a squeeze, but we managed round three tables and the library staff later said maybe they should allocate us four from now on! The thing is of course that I don't know from one session to the next how many young writers will turn up! Sometimes I only have six or seven - in which case four tables taken out of library use would be a bit of a waste. Anyway, I think it is one of those things that has to be played by ear. If I start getting twelve children regularly, session on session, then I might take up the library's offer.
On the subject of poetry, we are looking at Acrostic poems at the moment. I passed round copies of a worksheet featuring the words FIREWORKS and BUNNY all set down the left hand side of the page and - as usual - the Young Writers delivered. Their different perceptions of a single theme never cease to surprise me and it is so rewarding to see so many unique pieces of work coming from one or two trigger words! The assignment set was to invent their own poem using the word BATHROOM so it'll be great to see what they come up with by next session!
After some collaboration with Sarah and Timothy, the new leaflet was finally handed round for the members to take along to their schools. One lad optimistically asked for a copy for everyone in his class so if any further copies are needed, please drop me a line and let me know and I will print off another batch.
The next session is on 28th of November and then - unusually - there is also a session one week later on 5th December with the final session of the year being held on 19th December. The dates immediately after Christmas are:
16th January
30th January
13th February
27th February
12th March and
19th March (to accommodate Easter)
But all dates will appear in the next edition of our new newsletter AYW ok which is out in January.
And speaking of Christmas - as one simply must at this time of year - presents this year will be designed to help with their writing aspirations - enough said; I don't want to spoil the surprise!
Think that's about it for now. Congratulations to those who were presented with certificates last week by the way! Good Writing all!
On the subject of poetry, we are looking at Acrostic poems at the moment. I passed round copies of a worksheet featuring the words FIREWORKS and BUNNY all set down the left hand side of the page and - as usual - the Young Writers delivered. Their different perceptions of a single theme never cease to surprise me and it is so rewarding to see so many unique pieces of work coming from one or two trigger words! The assignment set was to invent their own poem using the word BATHROOM so it'll be great to see what they come up with by next session!
After some collaboration with Sarah and Timothy, the new leaflet was finally handed round for the members to take along to their schools. One lad optimistically asked for a copy for everyone in his class so if any further copies are needed, please drop me a line and let me know and I will print off another batch.
The next session is on 28th of November and then - unusually - there is also a session one week later on 5th December with the final session of the year being held on 19th December. The dates immediately after Christmas are:
16th January
30th January
13th February
27th February
12th March and
19th March (to accommodate Easter)
But all dates will appear in the next edition of our new newsletter AYW ok which is out in January.
And speaking of Christmas - as one simply must at this time of year - presents this year will be designed to help with their writing aspirations - enough said; I don't want to spoil the surprise!
Think that's about it for now. Congratulations to those who were presented with certificates last week by the way! Good Writing all!
Wednesday 11 November 2015
Excellent ...!
Had a very good session with the Young Writers on 31st October. Three possible new members! And a brilliant atmosphere! A couple of days after that session, hubby & I went to Scarborough for a midweek break. Lovely! Very lucky with the weather. Felt surprisingly refreshed when we got back - specially since I came home with a brand new book idea fresh in my head!
Returned to the Day Job on Monday and spent two lunch breaks walking up and down the High Street looking for someone who sells multi-packs of exercise books (I am down to my last one out of the batch from The Works so huge thanks to them for keeping the group in notebooks for best part of a year!). Could not find anyone at first but then found Wilkos do pack of three for a pound. I bought three packs plus some new colouring pencils and graphite pencils for writing and went home feeling very pleased. Then guess what? Found Morrisons now stock packs of three so bought some more this morning. Should keep the Young Writers going for a couple of months at least! Fifteen notebooks, two lots of colouring pencils and one pack of writing pencils came to just under a tenner so felt extremely pleased!
PLEASE let me know ASAP if your child's school is planning a Christmas Fayre or Bazaar anytime soon. I have fifty copies of My Writer to sell! Or maybe your local church?
Don't forget - we have our next session this Saturday (14th), same time, same place. Look forward to seeing everyone there. Oh yes - the assignment for the Hallowe'en session was to write a poem about Hallowe'en - any kind of poem!
Good Writing everyone!
Returned to the Day Job on Monday and spent two lunch breaks walking up and down the High Street looking for someone who sells multi-packs of exercise books (I am down to my last one out of the batch from The Works so huge thanks to them for keeping the group in notebooks for best part of a year!). Could not find anyone at first but then found Wilkos do pack of three for a pound. I bought three packs plus some new colouring pencils and graphite pencils for writing and went home feeling very pleased. Then guess what? Found Morrisons now stock packs of three so bought some more this morning. Should keep the Young Writers going for a couple of months at least! Fifteen notebooks, two lots of colouring pencils and one pack of writing pencils came to just under a tenner so felt extremely pleased!
PLEASE let me know ASAP if your child's school is planning a Christmas Fayre or Bazaar anytime soon. I have fifty copies of My Writer to sell! Or maybe your local church?
Don't forget - we have our next session this Saturday (14th), same time, same place. Look forward to seeing everyone there. Oh yes - the assignment for the Hallowe'en session was to write a poem about Hallowe'en - any kind of poem!
Good Writing everyone!
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