This learning to be a "real writer" is a process. I've been teaching for 13 years now and I've always said that I learned way more as a teacher than I did as a student. For example, do you really know when to double the final consonant before adding a suffix? Well, I didn't until I had to teach kids how to remember it.
Anyhow, I go through the writing process with my kiddos and they hate revising and editing. Don't we all? I've tried to explain to them that everybody hates it, even "real writers." There are lots of great resources out there where authors show how much revising and editing is involved.
I know I've got a lot to learn but going through the process with them has definitely helped me learn a thing or two. I'm considering having my 8th graders participate in NaNoWriMo. There are some pretty cool resources out there for that too.
The main thing I want to teach them is that they are "real writers."
Friday, October 7, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Supporting Who?
What supporting character from a YA book would you most like to see star in their own novel?
There are so many characters in books I've read that I would love to know better. These characters only got to share part of their stories, but I would so love to know more about them.
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) I would love to know Haymitch a little better. What exactly happened to him in the games? What's going through his head?
The Iron King (Lisa Kagawa) I would definitely like to know Puck better too. My daughter and I argue. She's Team Ash and I'm Team Puck. I always prefer the best friend to the mushy, romantic man-of-her-dreams types.
What about one of The other Outsiders? Maybe Sodapop could tell his story? What happened after the big rumble to Pony's brother? (SE Hinton)
OK, I have to go with Twilight too. I personally want to know why Leah is the only girl who became a wolf. There's got to be a story there. (Stephenie Meyer)
If I had to pick one though, just one supporting character that gets to have his own story?
Cam from Fallen by Lauren Kate. I love this story. Past-lives, destiny, fallen angels..... who wouldn't, but I'm sure being in bad-boy Cam's mind would be intriguing.
1st 6 weeks: Science Fiction
In my 8th grade language arts class each six weeks we will study a different genre. The first six weeks was fantasy, focusing on science fiction. Why science fiction? Because I have this goal for them to actually like to read and read for fun. AND because The Hunger Games movie is coming out in March and I love it when students realize that the book is usually better than the movie, we read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins the first six weeks. The kiddos loved it of course and have fought over every copy of Catching Fire in our little school. (Success)
After reading the book, I assigned them to write the first page of a science fiction story. We went through the writing process of course. I handed them a graphic organizer with the setting filled in: the year 2212, in what was once North America. I let them complete the rest.
The hardest part for them? Show not tell. Many of them described to me what life would be like, but some actually put me in the story. Yeah!!! I have some good little writers on my hands. There were underwater worlds, talking pizza, and boyfriends who were fine one day and crazy the next. Suspense.....
To give them an example I wrote my own first page with that setting. This is what I came up with.....
I plopped down into my chair, and curled my feet underneath me. Time for school. I pushed the button to turn on the holographic classroom. My avatar looked much better than me, at least she had taken the time to comb her hair. I yawned loudly and pulled my giant t-shirt down over my pajama pants. Thank goodness I didn’t actually have to get dressed for this. A vibrating sound caught my attention as a message scrolled across the bottom of the holographic screen.
“Good morning students. Today is Tuesday, September 27, 2212. Welcome to One Earth Academy.”
I used the touch-screen device to move my avatar into a desk. The teacher’s avatar showed up on screen, as other avatars began to show up. An adorable boy was sitting next to me. He had brown, scruffy hair and a cute smile. Unfortunately, I knew that this avatar looked nothing like its owner. My next door neighbor, Mathias, who had died his hair purple last week, thought it was hilarious that he was able to fool the superficial girls at One Earth. He would get to know them at school, then scare them to death when he met them in person. I had known Mathias since we were six. He didn’t scare me, no matter how much he tried. I made my avatar stick her tongue out at him.
The teacher began to speak. “Welcome to History class. Today we will be learning about how One Earth began.”
Like I hadn’t heard this for the last nine years. The fourth world war had created one nation. Before that apparently there were all these different places here called countries. People had spoken different languages and everything. It sounded so cool. One Earth was so boring. I decided to check my news feeds while I heard the historic story for the billionth time. Hmmm, One Earth Profiles was going to start charging. Yeah right, some people will fall for anything. Bethany liked the re-make of some really old movie called Breaking Dawn. Aliyah checked in at McDonalds. I decided to update my status. “Stuck in History Class.”
Something caught my eye and I looked back up to the screen. A strange object flashed by, right in front of the teacher. Then the screen went black. I just stared. Nothing like this had ever happened before. We had learned just last week that people used to actually lose their internet connections and some people didn’t even have internet. Seriously! The whole planet was connected through One Earth Cyberlink. The internet had not disconnected for a hundred years. What was I supposed to do now?
After reading the book, I assigned them to write the first page of a science fiction story. We went through the writing process of course. I handed them a graphic organizer with the setting filled in: the year 2212, in what was once North America. I let them complete the rest.
The hardest part for them? Show not tell. Many of them described to me what life would be like, but some actually put me in the story. Yeah!!! I have some good little writers on my hands. There were underwater worlds, talking pizza, and boyfriends who were fine one day and crazy the next. Suspense.....
To give them an example I wrote my own first page with that setting. This is what I came up with.....
I plopped down into my chair, and curled my feet underneath me. Time for school. I pushed the button to turn on the holographic classroom. My avatar looked much better than me, at least she had taken the time to comb her hair. I yawned loudly and pulled my giant t-shirt down over my pajama pants. Thank goodness I didn’t actually have to get dressed for this. A vibrating sound caught my attention as a message scrolled across the bottom of the holographic screen.
“Good morning students. Today is Tuesday, September 27, 2212. Welcome to One Earth Academy.”
I used the touch-screen device to move my avatar into a desk. The teacher’s avatar showed up on screen, as other avatars began to show up. An adorable boy was sitting next to me. He had brown, scruffy hair and a cute smile. Unfortunately, I knew that this avatar looked nothing like its owner. My next door neighbor, Mathias, who had died his hair purple last week, thought it was hilarious that he was able to fool the superficial girls at One Earth. He would get to know them at school, then scare them to death when he met them in person. I had known Mathias since we were six. He didn’t scare me, no matter how much he tried. I made my avatar stick her tongue out at him.
The teacher began to speak. “Welcome to History class. Today we will be learning about how One Earth began.”
Like I hadn’t heard this for the last nine years. The fourth world war had created one nation. Before that apparently there were all these different places here called countries. People had spoken different languages and everything. It sounded so cool. One Earth was so boring. I decided to check my news feeds while I heard the historic story for the billionth time. Hmmm, One Earth Profiles was going to start charging. Yeah right, some people will fall for anything. Bethany liked the re-make of some really old movie called Breaking Dawn. Aliyah checked in at McDonalds. I decided to update my status. “Stuck in History Class.”
Something caught my eye and I looked back up to the screen. A strange object flashed by, right in front of the teacher. Then the screen went black. I just stared. Nothing like this had ever happened before. We had learned just last week that people used to actually lose their internet connections and some people didn’t even have internet. Seriously! The whole planet was connected through One Earth Cyberlink. The internet had not disconnected for a hundred years. What was I supposed to do now?
Monday, November 1, 2010
13 to Life
I haven't done too well on my Debut Author Challenge.....
But......
13 to Life by Shannon Delany was good. I thought it was better than some of the books by well-established writers I've read recently. The plot was kind of predictable, but YA usually is. I thought the characters had intriguing personalities, which made up for that and there were a few surprises along the way too. I didn't expect how the car accident happened, and though I think Jess, the main character, is way too self-less when it comes to Sarah, I know there has to be more to it and I'm looking forward to reading the next book to find out what it is. I also liked that Pietr's true identity wasn't revealed until the end, though I did expect it. I also like how the Russian Mafia tied in. That was a new twist too. Overall, I think this was a good book. My 14 year-old-daughter has already read it and is passing it on to her friends. She's already asked me to buy her to next one when it comes out! That's a good sign, Ms. Delany!
But......
13 to Life by Shannon Delany was good. I thought it was better than some of the books by well-established writers I've read recently. The plot was kind of predictable, but YA usually is. I thought the characters had intriguing personalities, which made up for that and there were a few surprises along the way too. I didn't expect how the car accident happened, and though I think Jess, the main character, is way too self-less when it comes to Sarah, I know there has to be more to it and I'm looking forward to reading the next book to find out what it is. I also liked that Pietr's true identity wasn't revealed until the end, though I did expect it. I also like how the Russian Mafia tied in. That was a new twist too. Overall, I think this was a good book. My 14 year-old-daughter has already read it and is passing it on to her friends. She's already asked me to buy her to next one when it comes out! That's a good sign, Ms. Delany!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Banned Books Week
It's Banned Books Week. Check out the ALA's Banned Books Page to learn about banned books and tips on how to celebrate the week. I am surprised by some of the books on the list. I hope one of my books gets banned some day :)
This site is in PDF version and has a list of recently banned books and ways to get involved.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
But the words get in the way....
I keep hearing that Gloria Estefan song in my head:
"But the words get in the way
There's so much I want to say
But it's locked deep inside"
Only it's not the words, it's life. Teaching full time, raising four kids, but those aren't the only things keeping me from writing, life is. I haven't watched tv in three weeks, (except the weather when a tornado was heading our way). So I can't use that as an excuse, but I do have a really good excuse right now. I always seem to, unfortunately.
My father-in-law, a wonderful man named Tommie Morse, who I have had the pleasure of having as part of my life for over 18 years, only has a day or two left. Sadly, his cancer returned and spread. He is awesome and strong and it is so sad to see him like this. It is just as sad to see my husband and children as upset as they are. I'm being strong for them as much as I can, as well as trying not to bring it to work and upset my students.
Life keeps getting in the way, but I love my life and I'm glad Tommie has been a part of it. We're going to miss you Papaw. Love you.
"But the words get in the way
There's so much I want to say
But it's locked deep inside"
Only it's not the words, it's life. Teaching full time, raising four kids, but those aren't the only things keeping me from writing, life is. I haven't watched tv in three weeks, (except the weather when a tornado was heading our way). So I can't use that as an excuse, but I do have a really good excuse right now. I always seem to, unfortunately.
My father-in-law, a wonderful man named Tommie Morse, who I have had the pleasure of having as part of my life for over 18 years, only has a day or two left. Sadly, his cancer returned and spread. He is awesome and strong and it is so sad to see him like this. It is just as sad to see my husband and children as upset as they are. I'm being strong for them as much as I can, as well as trying not to bring it to work and upset my students.
Life keeps getting in the way, but I love my life and I'm glad Tommie has been a part of it. We're going to miss you Papaw. Love you.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
There's Only One Way You Can Turn Into A Giant Wolf....
Or so my main character says. She keeps telling me that and I keep listening to her, but I haven't quite gotten down how to do it. Of course, she's learning shape-shifting from her grandfather, and it is something you learn, not a "gift you're born with." That's what Grandpa keeps telling her anyways.
I need to hurry up and get her story out there, but I'm so dang critical of myself that Ican't seem to stop changing things and just write it down and let go.
Let go and let God, they say.... Guess that's just what I need to do. People keep asking me what's going on with that book I've been writing. Tweaking.... that's what I tell them. I wrote it, now I'm tweaking it. They think it just gets written, sent out, published, done deal. Movie on the way.
Whatever!
I need to hurry up and get her story out there, but I'm so dang critical of myself that Ican't seem to stop changing things and just write it down and let go.
Let go and let God, they say.... Guess that's just what I need to do. People keep asking me what's going on with that book I've been writing. Tweaking.... that's what I tell them. I wrote it, now I'm tweaking it. They think it just gets written, sent out, published, done deal. Movie on the way.
Whatever!
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