Before I tell you why I'm calling today's blog entry "An Enriching Day at Rosemere High School," you should check out the pic! Because it's funny! First, however, I should explain that the woman standing next to me is school librarian Madame Plante -- and today was her last day at Rosemere before her retirement! So I was there for the party (and there was cake!). Big congrats, Madame Plante!
So what makes today's pic funny is MY EXPRESSION. Check it out! The reason I look STARTLED is I was trying to lure Ollie, the school therapy dog, over with a small piece of cake (so that he would be in the pic too) and he jumped up and grabbed the cake right from my hand. (Which explains my expression)
Now on to today's writing workshop: I was invited to RHS by Mrs. Lawrence who teaches ENRICHED English to the Grade Tens. By the way, that's why my day was ENRICHING -- because the students are talented, and when I pointed out ways for them to tighten up their writing I could tell they were GETTING IT! Oh, does that ever make me happy!
I had nearly three hours with Mrs. Lawrence's class. I only spent the first 25 minutes on writing tips, partly because most of the students had met me when they were in Grade Seven. They're currently writing a short story, so I told them to: make their details work for them; think about writing in scenes; make sure their dialogue is crisp; avoid adverbs; use strong verbs, and write about what author-illustrator David Small describes as "the things that keep you up at night."
When I suggested it can be interesting to write about characters who are our opposites, a student named Alicia said that's what she is doing in her short story: "My character is the opposite of me. She's full of herself and tells others' secrets." Super!
I spent most of my time today skidaddling around the library (Madame Plante kindly shared the library with us on her big day!), helping groups of four students at a time. I explained that while I looked at one student's work I wanted the other to pay attention. Then I asked, "Why do you think that is?" I was pleased when a student named Paul figured out the answer: "Because we can learn from the advice that other students get." EXACTLY, PAUL! (And I hope my method worked!)
The students' work was already (I know I've used a few adverbs in this blog, but not all adverbs must be killed off!!) good -- so my goal was to help them make it even better! I loved how Elisabeth used a strong verb when she wrote "squinting at the photograph." Don't you agree that squinting is waaaay better than just looking?! Sofia's story demonstrated her great sense of humour, and I suggested she go a little wild, and make her story even funnier (she warned me it also gets dark -- funny and dark is a cool combination!). Sofia's story begins with a teenaged girl addressing a turtle: "You seem to like French fries. Does this mean we're going to be friends?" I hope that made you laugh too! And Delia has a great premise for a story. Here's her opening line: "The government had found a solution to one of humanity's oldest problems: people who refuse to apologize." Now that's a story (and perhaps even a book) I want to read!
Speaking of books, I want to tell you something about Mrs. Lawrence. She's been working hard on a novel and I've had the honour of reading it and making some notes as I go along. And I'm LOVING IT!! In fact, I have to stop writing this blog entry now so I can go and read another chapter. And I have a feeling, blog readers, that in the not-too-distant future you'll be reading Mrs. Lawrence's story too!
Thanks, Mrs. Lawrence for the invite; thanks to the students for being amazing -- I'm sorry I had to rush in order to look at everyone's work this morning. Keep writing and rewriting, and reading, and ... well ... realize your talent is a gift, but you'll need to work hard to make the most of that gift. I have a feeling there were more future books brewing in the RHS library today!