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!

Write Your Own Picture or Comic Book - Week Three

This is week three of a four-week writing program for tweens age 8-12.
Week One

Week Two
Week Four

We only had six participants today, which was a large drop from last week's twenty. Even though the drastic drop was surprising and disappointing, I found that the smaller group was easier to manage in an instructed program like this one. Today's session was also the most regimented so far, and it's much easier to get six kids to listen to you than it is to quiet and focus a group of twenty. 

For today's ice breaker/warm up activity, we did another Wacky Web Tale. Today's was called "Summer Fun," and I asked that their own names appeared in the tale. After the 15 minutes to fill out the Mad Lib-style tale, I had each child share theirs since the group was so small. 

As I said above, today's lesson was the most structured we've had so far. Since they will be creating their own books next week, I wanted to make sure all the kids have a strong grasp on the concepts of character, setting, plot, etc. The best way to do that, I think, is to have them relate these elements to stories they already know. So, I actually made and presented a short PowerPoint today. I made sure it had a lot of places for the kids to interject their comments and questions, as well as read aloud to me. 

As you probably noticed if you saw the week two entry, I used the same green chart again this week to teach them the plot diagram. 

Each time I clicked to a new slide, I picked a couple of readers to read the info from the slide aloud to the group. Then, I asked a different child to name that element in a book they had read lately. For example, "Who are the main characters in Alice in Wonderland?" "Alice, the White Rabbit, the queen, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare," etc. 

I left the final slide, "Now it's your turn," up after we were done discussing all the story elements. I wanted it to serve as a reminder as they broke up to work on their individual stories. At this point in the session, I let the kids choose if they would rather type on the computer or write with a pen/pencil and notepad. I asked them to make up the story they wanted to "publish" next week, using the story elements and plot diagram we just talked about. I made myself available for questions, and they had lots! Each child left today having worked on something, so I can't wait to see the final products next week!

Write Your Own Picture or Comic Book - Week Two

This is week two of a four-week writing program for tweens age 8-12.
Week One
Week Three
Week Four

Last week we had four extra kiddos who didn't sign up, and today we had five more! While we can technically turn people away from an event when they have not registered, I hate to tell anyone they can't participate in a library program. Counting some parents who wanted to stick around and watch, we filled our tiny room with twenty people not including myself! All twelve laptops were out and running, with sibling sets sharing again.

Our icebreaker today was another Wacky Web Tale from Eduplace. Today's puzzle was called "Could it Really Happen," and since we used it as an ice breaker, I asked that each child fill in their own name for "friend." They worked on it for 15 minutes, then had a chance to share with the group.

After everyone shared, I brought attention to how different every single story was. Even though they all filled out the same form, the adjectives and nouns and verbs they chose made them completely different stories! This point segued nicely into the next activity of the day, learning about plot structure.

I doctored up this image to include definitions, and then shared it with them on a PowerPoint:

I picked five readers, and had each one read a different definition out loud to the rest of the group. Then, I asked each of them to think about a story they had read lately, and fill in the plot points to each definition. One of the kids was really excited about the book Wonder by RJ Palacio, so I asked him to go through each point in the plot diagram and tell me which parts of the story match up. He came up with:

Exposition: Augie has had a lot of surgeries because of a facial deformity, and has never been to real school.
Rising Action: His parents decide to send him to school, where he meets some kids who are nice and others who are bullies.
Climax: He finds out that one kid who he thought was a friend is actually a bully, and makes fun of Auggie behind his back.
Falling Action: With the help of his friend Summer, Auggie thinks about how everyone should just choose to be kind to one another. His "bully" friend apologizes and they become friends again.
Resolution: The school year ends, and some of the kids show they have learned to become a little kinder through their made-up precepts assigned by their teacher.

After this completely stellar example, I set the kids free with laptops, pencils, and notepads, with instructions to come up with their own story that fits into these five plot points. It could be a true story, something that has happened to them, or something they made up. A couple of the kids had some trouble getting started, but for the most part they were able to fit the happenings of their story into these boxes. I'm excited that they all seemed to understand the concept as they worked on their stories!

Write Your Own Picture or Comic Book - Week One

This is week one of a four-week writing program for tweens age 8-12.
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

I required registration for this program, because there is a limited amount of space where we held it. Also, I decided partway through the planning that we would be using laptops, and my library only owns twelve laptops.

As of yesterday, the registration was full at twelve participants plus two on the waiting list. Ten of the registered kids showed up, plus four that I was not expecting. Even though two were without laptops, there were chairs for everyone so I invited them all inside.

Our first activity was on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website Eduplace, and was basically an online version of MadLibs called Wacky Web Tales. With two sets of siblings sharing a laptop, I challenged the kids to find the website and then fill out the tale entitled "The Box." Since we used this as an ice breaker activity, I told them that their own name had to appear somewhere in their tale. They had 15 minutes to fill it out, then we went around and shared.

For the rest of the session, I let them work on their choice of two websites: Story Jumper or Storyboard That. Story Jumper presented the unexpected complication of needing users under 12 to go through a long and involved process to get parent permission to use the website, so most of the kids ended up on Storyboard That for today. They had a great time making their own comic strips, and exploring the website. Here is my example strip that I created on Storyboard That:

I feel that it's important to let tweens and even older elementary schoolers explore the internet in an only somewhat structured environment. This way their activity can still be monitored, but they figure out how to browse and make things happen on their own. I originally had a more regimented lesson plan for today, but because it was the first session, I thought it would be fun for them to look at character and setting options without putting too much pressure on the session.