School Visits
Author visits have loads of benefits!
When I visit a school, my goals are to:
- Motivate students to read widely
- Encourage kids to write their own stories
- Provide insights into how an author works,
- Highlight the value of research (and communicate my love doing it, even when writing fiction),
Q & A
Every visit includes time for questions.
Questions allow me to form a personal bond with students, which I hope builds their enthusiasm for reading and writing. I’m often amazed by the questions students ask: how do you avoid “writer’s block”? where do ideas come from? what do you plan to write next? what should I do if I want to be a writer? One first grader baffled me by asking how I get the pictures to stay on the pages of my picture books. (I later learned that the glue the first grade was using for their stories had lost its stickum.) The question gave me a chance to talk about book illustration and publishing in first grade terms.
Possible Programs
With over 150 published books, I can create a unique program designed to support your current curriculum needs.
Grades 3-6: A KIDNAPPING IN KENTUCKY, 1776
This presentation delves into regional history: The story of the kidnapping of Jemima Boone and two friends provides insight into what was happening on the Kentucky/Tennessee frontier at the time of the Revolutionary War. I discuss what life was like for white settlers and its impact upon native people. I emphasize the importance of considering history in the context of the times. It’s also an opportunity to explain the differences between fiction and nonfiction portrayals of an event. Students learn how I came to write the book and about the research behind this middle-grade novel.
Grades 3-8: Storm Warning
When the flood of the century hits, 12-year-old North must make life or death decisions. This programs includes information on floods, why they happen, and what to do. Students will learn the difference between fiction and nonfiction, how an idea becomes a book, and how to turn use their own experiences into stories.
Grades PreK-2: Cedric and the Dragon
This gentle picture book about a young boy who chooses kindness over violence makes a great read for younger children. I read the story (showing the pictures on the screen), and then ask students how they can show kindness to others. They can help name the dragon, who is not named in the book. I supply a coloring page for use in the classroom or at home.
Grades 2-6: Life in Colonial America
What was life like for American colonists in the 1600 and 1700s? This program includes information on clothes, home, and daily life, as well as science and medicine. There is a certain yuck-factor that students enjoy, and then comparing life in the past to life now makes for a fun event.
Grades 2-3: The Crossroads Series
These interactive novels that take readers to the Holy Land in the 1st century. Programs include information about life in the 1st century, how the first people to encounter Jesus reacted, and the ways in which people then and now are the same and different. This program is geared to Christian schools and Christian homeschool groups.
Grades 6-8: The Big, Bold, Adventurous Life of Lavinia Warren
This presentation provides the opportunity to discuss how an author discovers a topic, does research, and uses the research to write a biography. Lavinia Warren never grew taller than 36 inches, but she did not let her size keep her from living life large. She traveled the world and entertained thousands at a time when people travelled more than five miles from home. It’s a great opportunity to consider the ways we are all alike despite our apparent differences. Q & A provides a great opportunity for student involvement.
Grades 6-8: You Choose Books
What is interactive fiction? I provide examples, and then guide students as they begin writing their own “you choose” adventures. This can be an actual writing workshop where students work in small groups to create their own “books” with reader choices. The program is ideal for individual classes. The projects will be finished with classroom teacher’s guidance and supervision.
COMMENTS FROM TEACHERS AND KIDS
“Having Elizabeth at our school definitely inspired our students to be young authors and love books!”
“When our student hear from an expert, it is so much better than just hearing us say the same thing.”
“It would be nice if you would come again!”
“Thank you for showing us how to write a story and for showing us how to know what a setting is.”
“Thank you for your wonderful presentation. Our reading students are very excited to read your books.”