Thank You ...

What a GREAT session we had yesterday! I am really liking the buzz that seems to come whenever the Young Writers get together.  They are all getting more confident; some are happy to read their own work, others are happy to throw in ideas. That's what it's all about guys!  It is their group; not mine.  I just facilitate it!  It was lovely to welcome back our seven regulars and to say hello to new member Holly.  We have a list of names for our bear and by the next session, with some outside help , her - or his - name will be announced.  Because so many ideas for names were being thrown into the mix, I did not even get the chance to write down whose ideas were whose - so I will have to come up with something for all of the members for helping us to choose.  And I will, have no fear of that!

We carried on with poetry yesterday.  I am seeing some truly amazing work here.  Some of their poems have a depth and insight that defies their tender years and it kinda makes me think how easy it is to underestimate children.  They are little people who think and work things out for themselves and - because they tend to tell it how it actually is rather than how they think it should be (which is what we tend to do as grown-ups, sad as that may sound), their work really strikes a chord.  And with out exhibition in October, I am seriously on the look out for some good work to show.  Oh - and talking about the exhibition - I am so sorry I didn't get round to doing the letters in time for yesterday's session.  I promise they will be done by the next one.

We looked at poems that don't rhyme and poems that tell a story.  I read a couple out and mentioned some others, then I gave out session sheets and reminded them about what we'd covered with story-writing at the beginning - how to get and develop ideas, bearing in mind characters and character names etc - and I told the members they could just as easily apply all that to writing a  poem that tells a story.  So the assignment for next session - which falls on 12th July - is to try to tell a story using either one poem , or a series of shorter ones.

Red certificates were handed out to Alessandro, Namoshi and Amber - a Red Band Two for Alessandro because he earned the first one at the previous group - so well done to all of them.  Fatima will receiver hers next time.  And Phoebe received her second membership certificate, so well done to her as well.

Finally, I want to thank all you mums and dads for your continued support, the library for their input and, of course, your talented children for helping Addiscombe Young Writers to succeed.

Good writing everyone.  Se you all on the 12th.

Next Session ..

Looking forward to seeing you at tomorrow's session and to finding out our bear's name!  Have certificates to award and work to return tomorrow (and I will try not to forget this time!), so see you there 9.30 - 10.30, Ashburton Library....

Name Our Teddy ...

The session held at the library on 7th June went really well.  We continued looking at poetry - limericks, this time - and spirits seemed high.  It was nice to welcome back Phoebe - who was a member of the original group - and it was reassuring to see how easily she slipped back into Young Writer mode.

At the start of the session, I introduced everyone to our new mascot - a very special little bear bearing the group's name on her tee-shirt - and I threw out a challenge to find her a name.  Something to do with either the group or writing would be suitable (and thank you, boys, for suggesting Jilly - that was very sweet) - so please help your young scribes to put on their thinking caps and come up with something original.  There will be a special certificate for the winner.

The assignment was to write a poem that doesn't rhyme, just for a little more challenge, and to try and have them in for the next session on June 28th.  Congratulations to Mateus and Sophia who were presented with the red certificates last session. I will be presenting a couple more of these next time so well done to everyone for working so hard.  Don't forget to keep the certificates safe - if possible put them up on display, so that the Young Writers can see them and feel proud of their achievements.

As mentioned, the next session will be on 28th June - same time, same place.  I should have all the letters available by then re the exhibition in October.

In the meantime, do get in touch if you have any feedback, comments or suggestions.  See you soon.

See You Saturday...

Back from a smashing week in picturesque Devon which breathes inspiration at every turn!  Getting ready now for the next session which is this Saturday, same time, same place.  I have spoken to my library contacts and it looks as if our exhibition of work will run in conjunction with the Family Learning Festival that commences on 10th October.  I think it is for a week.  I just need to double check all this then I will confirm in a letter that I will provide to all the members as soon as possible.  This means that I can start planning the sessions so that we can get a good mix of  the members' work to display.  I will also produce a Permission sheet for the parents to sign which will allow me to exhibit their work.  I produced a similar sheet when we were compiling Word Magic.  So keep an eye out for those; they'll also be with you very shortly.

I have been thinking it would be really nice to display some of the childrens' work on this blog so I am inviting some feedback from you,  Would you be happy for their work to appear?  Copyright will obviously remain with the Young Writers - and it means you can show their work to friends and relatives.  I would eventually like to get a website set up for them but I have neither the time nor the money to even think about that at the moment.  If you know anyone who would be prepared to help with this please let me know.  I have tried in vain to set up several websites but I just don't have the technical know-how and have failed miserably.  Any assistance gratefully received!

I bought a mascot for the group whilst in Devon, by the way!  I will bring it with me on Saturday to show everyone.

Well that is it for now.  I have some assignments to read and some Red Certificates to prepare.  See you all Saturday - and Good Writing!

Exhibition Latest ...

Hello everyone.  I must say that things have really changed since Addiscombe Young Writers began having sessions at the local library.  And - even though there is only between six and eight members at each session - I have to admit, the changes are very positive.  Being in such a conducive setting really seems to help the children to focus - PLUS it means I can give them more one to one attention, which I think, helps to boost their confidence.  On top of that, at the end of the two most recent sessions, I have had enquiries from interested parents who were just passing through and happened to catch a session in action.   This is great news.  It means that not only are people hearing about us, they are actually seeing how we work!

Another thing that seems to be working really well is the introduction of the new style worksheets.  These little gems are giving the sessions real structure and I only wish I had thought to introduce them sooner.  All this positivity of course, takes absolutely nothing away from the way the sessions used to work.  It was great having twelve to sixteen (and sometimes twenty or more) children turning up to each session - but it did mean I could only really work effectively with the group as a whole, rather than on the more individual basis enjoyed by the members now. In those early days back in 2012, it was all brand new, unknown territory to me.  I had no guidelines to follow, there were no how-to books available.  All I really had to work from were a few comprehensive courses I had run for adults, half a dozen workshops I'd run for children and a junior reporter club, from when I was running a weekly column in the local paper.  Two years on, I have learned a great deal about how to get the best out of this group and these young writers and I am so proud of how far it has come!  So thank you very much for your continued interest and support.  I really could not do this without you in the background; you are an amazing bunch!

This week we started looking at poetry, from its very roots hearing nursery rhymes as toddlers.  I gave the members a sheet with a dozen or so words on and asked them to think of as many rhyming words as they could for each one.    I was taken by complete surprise - and, if I'm honest, a healthy portion of humble pie - when I saw some of their suggestions!  And the one word I thought would be most difficult for them to contend with (horse) turned out to be the one that sprouted the most rhyming words.  The assignment was then to write a brand new poem using some of their suggestions. If they can do this by the next session that would be great.  But - if they would rather stick to a story for the time being then that is okay too.  Whatever they are writing, the very key lies in their enjoyment of writing.

I have finally got a date for the exhibition of work.  This will be in October and I will tell you more about it in the next blog-post.  In the meantime, the next session is on 7th June and I very much look forward to seeing you there.

Onwards and Upwrads

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!

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!