Hi everyone. Have tried to contact you all but in case I missed anyone, tomorrow's session has had to be cancelled as the coffee shop is being used for a private function. I only found this out this morning or I'd have let you know sooner. Next session will be (weather permitting) Picnic Session In The Park on Sunday 14th July - watch this space for details. Once again - huge apologies.
Jilly
Saturday, 15 June 2013
Friday, 14 June 2013
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Session 21 - Feedback (and a suggestion ...)
Nice session at PMT today. Great to see Teva and Oliver back and to welcome three possible new members - Eloise, Issi and Ella (I hope I have spelt those correctly). I understand some of you are away because of Half Term so will hopefully see you at the next session which is Sunday 16th June (yes Dads - your big day) 3 - 4 as usual.
Today we were writing about our dads and the assignment was to take those ideas and put at least some of them into a poem. No prizes for this one - but don't forget, all completed assignments count towards the next Certificate, so still worth having a go. Since the next session actually falls on Father's Day, of course, I know you may not be able to make it, but even if the Young Writers have family commitments, they are still welcome to take part.
One of the things I suggested today was one of the July sessions being held in a local park (weather permitting, naturally), because sometimes, being in the fresh air, in different surroundings, heightens the senses - and to make it a special occasion, we could take drinks and snacks along and have a mini picnic. And once the writing's done, there is always the swings etc to let off steam with. Perhaps 14th July would be a good one because summer holidays will have begun by 28th. And hopefully by the 14th, the weather will have settled down.
Now mums and dads I have been very seriously thinking about the best way to keep the momentum going with this group. I am not prepared to give it up after everything the Young Writers have achieved and one of the possible ways forward would be to compromise on sessions. Since we started doing the Sunday sessions, several new members have come along because they cannot make it during the week. This is encouraging. It means we are reaching even more youngsters than before. But I also know Sundays are, by tradition, family days, with visits to grandparents, or days out planned, which makes it difficult for some of the Young Writers to attend.
I have settled in well enough at my new job to perhaps wrangle it so that one session per month can go back to a weekday afternoon, and the other session each month can stay on a Sunday. I know you are all rather shy and not over keen on being vocal, but it would sooooo help me out if you could come back to me with feedback on this idea ASAP. You can text me, email or phone, or, if you prefer, pop a comment on at the end of this post. Once I have your feedback, I will see what I can do and let you all know. This may be the best way forward - ensuring that those youngsters that have been missing out since the Sunday sessions began, can once again get involved - and also that those youngsters unable to attend midweek because of other after schools activities, can stay with us and continue to develop their skills.
Did not get the chance to chat with Amanda yesterday, by the way, so still cannot confirm about the Guest Speaker but I will get back to you on this, at least, before very much longer.
Still have the prizes for the poetry competition to give out, so please let me know when you'll be there so I can make sure I bring them to the session. And I completely forgot, today, to give back the work I have accumulated over the past few months, so please let me know when you will be around so I can make sure I have got it with me.
Don't forget you can contact me anytime and, in the meantime, Good Writing!
Today we were writing about our dads and the assignment was to take those ideas and put at least some of them into a poem. No prizes for this one - but don't forget, all completed assignments count towards the next Certificate, so still worth having a go. Since the next session actually falls on Father's Day, of course, I know you may not be able to make it, but even if the Young Writers have family commitments, they are still welcome to take part.
One of the things I suggested today was one of the July sessions being held in a local park (weather permitting, naturally), because sometimes, being in the fresh air, in different surroundings, heightens the senses - and to make it a special occasion, we could take drinks and snacks along and have a mini picnic. And once the writing's done, there is always the swings etc to let off steam with. Perhaps 14th July would be a good one because summer holidays will have begun by 28th. And hopefully by the 14th, the weather will have settled down.
Now mums and dads I have been very seriously thinking about the best way to keep the momentum going with this group. I am not prepared to give it up after everything the Young Writers have achieved and one of the possible ways forward would be to compromise on sessions. Since we started doing the Sunday sessions, several new members have come along because they cannot make it during the week. This is encouraging. It means we are reaching even more youngsters than before. But I also know Sundays are, by tradition, family days, with visits to grandparents, or days out planned, which makes it difficult for some of the Young Writers to attend.
I have settled in well enough at my new job to perhaps wrangle it so that one session per month can go back to a weekday afternoon, and the other session each month can stay on a Sunday. I know you are all rather shy and not over keen on being vocal, but it would sooooo help me out if you could come back to me with feedback on this idea ASAP. You can text me, email or phone, or, if you prefer, pop a comment on at the end of this post. Once I have your feedback, I will see what I can do and let you all know. This may be the best way forward - ensuring that those youngsters that have been missing out since the Sunday sessions began, can once again get involved - and also that those youngsters unable to attend midweek because of other after schools activities, can stay with us and continue to develop their skills.
Did not get the chance to chat with Amanda yesterday, by the way, so still cannot confirm about the Guest Speaker but I will get back to you on this, at least, before very much longer.
Still have the prizes for the poetry competition to give out, so please let me know when you'll be there so I can make sure I bring them to the session. And I completely forgot, today, to give back the work I have accumulated over the past few months, so please let me know when you will be around so I can make sure I have got it with me.
Don't forget you can contact me anytime and, in the meantime, Good Writing!
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Sunday Session ...
Hello everyone. Don't forget - the next AYW Session will be this Sunday (2 June) 3 - 4 and we will be talking about DADS - whose Big Day is on 16 June - plus Uncles and Grandads. I will be giving out some Certificates and Prizes this Sunday plus - hopefully - returning lots of amazing work to your talented offspring, so please try to make it if you can, it would be brilliant to see you! I will be giving out a new Update Sheet as well (watch out for an exciting announcement) so lots of good reasons to pop in for a coffee as the Young Writers get stuck in.
Need a favour from someone on Sunday, too. The editor who is going to publish my article about AYW has asked for an accompanying photograph, so I will be bringing my camera along, so someone can take some shots as the group progresses. Once I know when the article is going to appear, I will pass on the news.
Am hoping to catch up with Amanda on Saturday to clarify a few things but should hopefully have a couple of other announcements to make soon - all good stuff; nothing to worry about - and will of course let you all know as and when.
Looking forward to Sunday. Good writing, everyone!
Need a favour from someone on Sunday, too. The editor who is going to publish my article about AYW has asked for an accompanying photograph, so I will be bringing my camera along, so someone can take some shots as the group progresses. Once I know when the article is going to appear, I will pass on the news.
Am hoping to catch up with Amanda on Saturday to clarify a few things but should hopefully have a couple of other announcements to make soon - all good stuff; nothing to worry about - and will of course let you all know as and when.
Looking forward to Sunday. Good writing, everyone!
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Session 20 - Feedback
Although it was a somewhat reduced Session on Sunday, all the enthusiasm shown by the Young Writers was still there in abundance. To follow on from the sessions on Description and Character, we continued along the short story route and looked at all the different types of story there are. I came up with six or eight themes and the children came up with at least five more so all credit to them for giving the subject so much consideration. The Assignment is to write a short story using these themes, to be given in at the session on 2nd June, so if your children couldn't make it but would still like to give it a go, here is the list of themes: Ghost Stories, Horse Stories, Adventure, Dance, Sports, Animal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Stories with a non-fiction theme (for example based on a real event), Mystery, Historic, Music and Spy. There is no restriction on length and I have told the Young Writers that they can even mix the themes if they want to. This is all good practice - and of course it allows the imagination full flow, so good luck to them with that.
Also on Sunday I was very proud to present a number of Young Writers with their Red Band One certificates for four completed assignments and I have a number if these still to give out, along with some Rainbow certificates for Word Magic. If your Young Writer is unable to attend the Sunday Sessions because of family commitments, I really do understand, but I would be grateful if you can let me know ASAP so that I get their certificates (and quite a lot of their work as it turns out) back to them. Naturally, I would rather see them at the Sessions - even if it is only one a month, but as I have said all along, I know Sunday is not good for some of you.
The next session is on Sunday 2nd June, and the next few Sessions are pencilled in as follows: 16th June, 14th and 28th July. We will probably hold just one Session in August like we did last year because of the peak holiday season - and then get back to the fortnightly ones once the new school year commences in September.
From 2nd June, we will be heading back to poetry for a while because I know it is what some of them find the easiest and most enjoyable subject and we haven't really done much since the Limericks at the beginning of the year.
Finally I would just like to mention that I have quite a lot of copies of Word Magic still available so please see if you can sell some. Are there any spring or summer fairs coming up? That might be a good opening. Please let me know the dates and I will even see if I can come along. I got 200 copies done and would really appreciate any help to shift at least some of them so if you think you can, please either email me or leave a comment. Don't forget you can always call my mobile, too, with any other suggestions or ideas.
Look forward to seeing you on 2nd June and, until then, Good Writing!
Also on Sunday I was very proud to present a number of Young Writers with their Red Band One certificates for four completed assignments and I have a number if these still to give out, along with some Rainbow certificates for Word Magic. If your Young Writer is unable to attend the Sunday Sessions because of family commitments, I really do understand, but I would be grateful if you can let me know ASAP so that I get their certificates (and quite a lot of their work as it turns out) back to them. Naturally, I would rather see them at the Sessions - even if it is only one a month, but as I have said all along, I know Sunday is not good for some of you.
The next session is on Sunday 2nd June, and the next few Sessions are pencilled in as follows: 16th June, 14th and 28th July. We will probably hold just one Session in August like we did last year because of the peak holiday season - and then get back to the fortnightly ones once the new school year commences in September.
From 2nd June, we will be heading back to poetry for a while because I know it is what some of them find the easiest and most enjoyable subject and we haven't really done much since the Limericks at the beginning of the year.
Finally I would just like to mention that I have quite a lot of copies of Word Magic still available so please see if you can sell some. Are there any spring or summer fairs coming up? That might be a good opening. Please let me know the dates and I will even see if I can come along. I got 200 copies done and would really appreciate any help to shift at least some of them so if you think you can, please either email me or leave a comment. Don't forget you can always call my mobile, too, with any other suggestions or ideas.
Look forward to seeing you on 2nd June and, until then, Good Writing!
Friday, 10 May 2013
See You Sunday!!
Hello everyone. Here is my usual reminder about the next AYW session which will be held this Sunday 3 - 4 as usual. I know some of the boys are on a Cub Scout event but it would be nice to see as many other Young Writers there as possible.
Looking forfard to seeing you all.
Looking forfard to seeing you all.
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Session 19 - Feedback
Hello everyone. Wow! What a thumper of a session we had at PMT today! I was over the moon to see so many Young Writers there - fifteen in all - including our newest member Isabelle. There was a real buzz in the air and the children worked their socks off!
Today's topic was creating Characters. I used H C Andersen's Thumbelina and my own Yucketypoo characters to help the Young Writers get to grips with the subject. I gave out some new Session worksheets which featured the following character names - Mr Quackers, Miss Clever, Billy Band and Debby Donut. I suggested they think carefully about what - and who - these characters might be, including in appearance, habits, any family or pets, whether they were animal, vegetable or mineral - or indeed human. In fact I gave the children completely free reign and then suggested they pass them to the person next to them to look at. Finally I told them to keep the Session sheets today so they could take them home and, for the assignment, write a story featuring at least one of the characters plus a character of their own imagination.
In looking through the records, I am so pleased to see that, almost one year to the day since our first meeting (2 May 2012), we have covered the following subjects and topics - Story Ideas, Working With And Developing Those Ideas, Poems That Don't Rhyme, Book Reviews, Letter Writing, Holiday Diaries, Stories - length, the three key rules (beginning, middle and end) and subject matter, Self Awareness, Using Our Imaginations To Invent Recipes and Monsters, Character Identification, Limericks, Description, Fairy Tales, Stories For Boys/ Stories For Girls and Character Creation. That is an amazing amount of info for these youngsters to absorb but absorb it they have - in abundance. And I am so so SO proud of them. Plus they have seen their work published, had some Local Paper Coverage - and even got a back-stage theatre tour out of it. And virtually all of them have worked their way right through the Certificate Trail so a huge well done to each and every one of them.
Over the next few months - as long as the Sunday Sessions prove successful - I am hoping to cover some - if not all - of the following: Nature Poetry, Haiku, Dialogue, Sports Writing, Titles, Historic Fiction, Food Reviews, Plays, Story Poems and Science Fiction - so we have a bumper summer coming up. I am also hoping to firm up at least one guest speaker, I just need to confirm some dates.
Finally - I was thrilled to be able to present two out of the three Prize-winner Certificates for the Mother's Day Poetry competition, and a whole bunch of Runner Up Certificates as well. Actual prizes will be awarded over the next couple of sessions. I will also be awarding the next bunch of Achievement Certitifcates the RED BAND ONE certificates, to those youngsters who have completed the last four assignments - so I have my work cut out for me.
Thanks are due to those of you today who asked how my new job is going, I really appreciate your support.
And thanks are due to EVERY one for helping to make the Addiscombe Young Writers' first year such a massive, MASSIVE success.
Good writing everyone - and here's to the next year.
Today's topic was creating Characters. I used H C Andersen's Thumbelina and my own Yucketypoo characters to help the Young Writers get to grips with the subject. I gave out some new Session worksheets which featured the following character names - Mr Quackers, Miss Clever, Billy Band and Debby Donut. I suggested they think carefully about what - and who - these characters might be, including in appearance, habits, any family or pets, whether they were animal, vegetable or mineral - or indeed human. In fact I gave the children completely free reign and then suggested they pass them to the person next to them to look at. Finally I told them to keep the Session sheets today so they could take them home and, for the assignment, write a story featuring at least one of the characters plus a character of their own imagination.
In looking through the records, I am so pleased to see that, almost one year to the day since our first meeting (2 May 2012), we have covered the following subjects and topics - Story Ideas, Working With And Developing Those Ideas, Poems That Don't Rhyme, Book Reviews, Letter Writing, Holiday Diaries, Stories - length, the three key rules (beginning, middle and end) and subject matter, Self Awareness, Using Our Imaginations To Invent Recipes and Monsters, Character Identification, Limericks, Description, Fairy Tales, Stories For Boys/ Stories For Girls and Character Creation. That is an amazing amount of info for these youngsters to absorb but absorb it they have - in abundance. And I am so so SO proud of them. Plus they have seen their work published, had some Local Paper Coverage - and even got a back-stage theatre tour out of it. And virtually all of them have worked their way right through the Certificate Trail so a huge well done to each and every one of them.
Over the next few months - as long as the Sunday Sessions prove successful - I am hoping to cover some - if not all - of the following: Nature Poetry, Haiku, Dialogue, Sports Writing, Titles, Historic Fiction, Food Reviews, Plays, Story Poems and Science Fiction - so we have a bumper summer coming up. I am also hoping to firm up at least one guest speaker, I just need to confirm some dates.
Finally - I was thrilled to be able to present two out of the three Prize-winner Certificates for the Mother's Day Poetry competition, and a whole bunch of Runner Up Certificates as well. Actual prizes will be awarded over the next couple of sessions. I will also be awarding the next bunch of Achievement Certitifcates the RED BAND ONE certificates, to those youngsters who have completed the last four assignments - so I have my work cut out for me.
Thanks are due to those of you today who asked how my new job is going, I really appreciate your support.
And thanks are due to EVERY one for helping to make the Addiscombe Young Writers' first year such a massive, MASSIVE success.
Good writing everyone - and here's to the next year.
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