School Visits

Last spring I took my And Then... manuscript to several third to fifth grade classrooms in the Sherwood schools, plus a Newberg elementary school. We had tons of fun creating stories together. A few teachers gave me copies of the stories the kids wrote, and without fail, the imagination they demonstrated amazed me.

The book I'm submitting to publishers is to be used as a teacher's resource book. It is a collection of short "cliffhanger" stories that build to a climax and are left unfinished so the children (and adults if they want) can complete them and make them turn out however they want. In the classroom, I read a story and a few kids come to the front and take turns adding on to it while the rest of the class watches. Then I read a story and small groups of children take turns adding on one sentence at a time. Finally, I read a story and they write the ending or draw a picture. They share them with each other, and we all share a laugh. It's so much fun!

I'm scheduling classroom visits for the fall now. If you would like to have me out to your child's school or to a homeschool group, email me to set something up. My email address (also in my profile) is t.klep@sterling.net. I hope to hear from you!

Update: My book, now titled "Cliffhanger Writing Prompts" will be published July of 2011. I'd love to visit your child's school with the book during the 2011-12 school year!