Write Your Own Picture or Comic Book - Week Four

Today was the final session of our four-week writing program for tweens age 8-12.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three

Much like our first session, today was very free form. Some of the kids who were absent last time came back (we took a week off since last Thursday was Thanksgiving Day and the library was closed) so we rounded out the class with a solid ten tweens.

As I promised last time, this week they got to physically make their own books! I was aware of these blank books at Michaels, and bought a bunch of them ahead of time. They were very reasonably pried, $2.99 plus tax for a pack of three books. (Warning, sarcasm ahead) And I definitely didn't spend my own money on them, because that would be crazy and is something no educator does ever, because they are always provided with an adequate budget (end sarcasm).

We did not do a warm up activity today, because after four sessions all the kids know each other and I have learned almost all their names. I wanted to give them as much time as possible to work on their final products, so I set out art supplies, passed out blank books, and made myself available for help!

Some of them brought the story ideas they started last time, and others made up a brand new story. I noticed that I got a lot of "Can I do this?" questions. I did my best not to say yes or no; instead my answer was, "You can do anything you want, it's your story!" After the seventh or eighth "Can I..." question, I realized that many of these kids had never sat down and tried to compose their own 100% original story before. Whether they had never thought of it, or there isn't enough time with school work, or no one in their life had ever suggested they try it, this was the first time they had ever had zero guidelines before! In the last session of this workshop, it hit me how important it was for the kids who came. Best of all, everyone left today having created something gorgeous and original. Here are some pictures of their books:

Most didn't finish their books completely, but I encouraged them to finish at home or come back to the library and use our supplies to finish them here. I had so much fun with this workshop. I will be running monthly drop-in Tween Writing Time programs in 2018, which I am excited to report on, and my partner Youth Services librarian and I might even be starting a tween book club for ages 8-12. It's such a fun age group to work with because of their creativity and willingness to try anything. That's why being a children's librarian is so much fun; you can have fun at storytime with the babies and preschoolers, then turn around and put on your classroom teacher hat for a tween educational workshop. When the paperwork and meetings get overwhelming, I remember that I also get to do amazing things like this. Programming for these kids makes the rest of the hard work completely worth it!