Which brings me to this point. Authors have a fan base today. Teen readers want to know about the men or women who write their favorite books. They want to know more about their favorite characters. Some of them want to write as well. The world wide web has made it possible to zoom in on authors, to humanize them and make them interesting and available to all readers. It has also helped to demystify the writing process for children and teens. Teachers in today's classrooms enjoy using authors as a valuable resource to promote writing and reading.
Recently, Courtney C. Stevens (author of Faking Normal- Feb, 2014), Kristin O'Donnell Tubb (author of Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different, Selling Hope, The 13th Sign) and Rae Ann Parker (The Devil's Backbone) participated in a Young Writers' Camp. Afterward, the following was published in the local paper.
Herald Citizen July 15, 2013
Camp helps students
develop writing skills
Students at Algood
Middle School had a chance to work on their writing skills and get creative
this summer at the first ever "Mini Mags, Memes and Memoirs: A Summer
Writing Camp."
Teacher Sara Thomas led the week-long camp for students in fifth through ninth grade.
A parent who has two children at the school knew that one of Thomas' hobbies is writing and asked if she knew of any summer camps going on for students interested in writing.
“I didn’t, but I had always wanted to do one,” Thomas said. “I just started talking to different teachers and was very blessed because many people volunteered to help.”
Twenty-one students enrolled in the camp, and a number of language arts teachers volunteered to teach daily lessons to the campers.
“We focused on creative writing, something that unfortunately there’s not as much time during the regular school year to focus on,” Thomas said. “We get to do a lot of writing and some of it is creative but this is specifically for creative writing, to get those juices flowing.”
The students also had a chance to hear from published authors Thomas knows through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Kristin Tubb spoke to the students about writing and her process and shared details about books she has written.
Courtney Stevens is an author whose first book will be released in April and she talked with the students about stretching beyond their comfort zone to create interesting stories and characters.
Campers also had a Skype session with Author Rae Ann Parker who talked about the process of doing research for her books.
“It is special when you get to have authors talk with the students,” Thomas said. “They have loved the opportunity to be enriched by so many different people.”
A favorite activity for the students was creating their own mini magazine. Each student got to select a piece of their own writing to go into the magazine.
Every day brought activities related to art or creative writing.
“It was very open, but every day we had some time to write whatever they wanted to,” Thomas said.
Every student said they wanted to take part in the camp again next year, and Thomas has already started plans to make it happen.
“I would like to expand it because I have had so much positive feedback,” Thomas said. “I would like to be able to include all of the middle schools next year.”
Teacher Sara Thomas led the week-long camp for students in fifth through ninth grade.
A parent who has two children at the school knew that one of Thomas' hobbies is writing and asked if she knew of any summer camps going on for students interested in writing.
“I didn’t, but I had always wanted to do one,” Thomas said. “I just started talking to different teachers and was very blessed because many people volunteered to help.”
Twenty-one students enrolled in the camp, and a number of language arts teachers volunteered to teach daily lessons to the campers.
“We focused on creative writing, something that unfortunately there’s not as much time during the regular school year to focus on,” Thomas said. “We get to do a lot of writing and some of it is creative but this is specifically for creative writing, to get those juices flowing.”
The students also had a chance to hear from published authors Thomas knows through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Kristin Tubb spoke to the students about writing and her process and shared details about books she has written.
Courtney Stevens is an author whose first book will be released in April and she talked with the students about stretching beyond their comfort zone to create interesting stories and characters.
Campers also had a Skype session with Author Rae Ann Parker who talked about the process of doing research for her books.
“It is special when you get to have authors talk with the students,” Thomas said. “They have loved the opportunity to be enriched by so many different people.”
A favorite activity for the students was creating their own mini magazine. Each student got to select a piece of their own writing to go into the magazine.
Every day brought activities related to art or creative writing.
“It was very open, but every day we had some time to write whatever they wanted to,” Thomas said.
Every student said they wanted to take part in the camp again next year, and Thomas has already started plans to make it happen.
“I would like to expand it because I have had so much positive feedback,” Thomas said. “I would like to be able to include all of the middle schools next year.”
The teacher reported a students' thoughts after the session with Courtney and Kristin ended. Something like: "Ms. Thomas, you sure have interesting friends!" I only wish I had had experiences like this when I was a pre-teen and older.
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