In today's pic, I am showing some of Ms. Julie's Grade Two students at Roslyn Elementary School the little brass monkey charm I wear around my neck -- and telling them the story of the little monkey, which was given to my mum when, as a child, she was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. The monkey was a gift given to my mum on her thirteenth birthday by a stranger.
During Part Two of my workshops with Ms. Julie's students, I started by telling them this story, and then we spent the rest of our time together working on the students' own stories. This morning, I asked the kids, "What do you do when you find a story that feels very special?" Laurence said: "You spread it out!" I love that answer! Then Nora added, "Make a book!" (which is exactly what I did with the brass monkey -- I turned his story into The Brass Charm, a picture book illustrated by Marie Lafrance).
Mostly I do writing workshops with older students, but there's a special joy for me in working with younger ones. That's because students in Grade Two tend to have a wonderful sense of confidence in their storytelling abilities. Older kids are more worried about whether their story is "good" and of course, they are often focused on grades.
So today I'll share some of my favourite lines from the students' stories. (Don't worry! I asked for their permission to do so!)
I loved Rory's description of a family member: "She never likes anything." Rory's words are simple, but we readers know exactly the kind of person she is describing. Benjamin's opening line made me laugh (it's great -- and challenging -- to make a reader laugh): "I had a dream, in it I was just born and the next day I turned into a billionaire." That was quick, Benjamin, but in stories and imagination, anything is possible! Vivian wrote about her first birthday party during which the chocolate on her face "turned into a chocolate monster"! Very fun and playful, Vivian! Graydon used the word "tangled" in his story about a magic tree. Don't you find the word tangled even sounds tangled when you say it?! And Dominique came up with my favourite title: "The Walking Oreo." In Domionique's story the walking Oreo befriends an ice cream.
See what I mean about kids in Grade Two's having confidence in their storytelling abilities?
Last week, a student named Gabriel cracked me up when he put down his pencil and called out, "Finished!" I called back, "No, you're NOT!" Then I went on to explain that writing is a lot about REwriting. Just because you finished your first draft (though admittedly that does feel good) you are NOT DONE. Next up is the REwriting. Which is why, this morning, when Mehria showed me her work and explained, "I'm not done!" I nearly hugged her!!
So if you're a slightly older writer like me (haha), I think we can find excellent role models in Ms. Julie's students. We all need to keep a little of that Grade Two spirit with us -- no matter our age.
Thanks to Ms. Julie for inviting me to work with her students, and thanks to the kids for being so fun, creative and hardworking. Ms. Julie has an amazing plan -- when her students have finished REwriting their stories they are going to read them to the Grade Three students at Roslyn. They'll be, to borrow Laurence's words, "spreading it out"! How great is that?!