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Hello and welcome to today's Infopeople webinar writing boxes Library program that will inspire writing and support literacy and family engagement presented by Lisa Von Drasek . Lisa is the curator of the children's literature research Collections and internationally recognized resource in the field of children's literature. Formerly. She was the children's librarian of the bank Street College of Education while there she was a teacher librarian for pre-k through 8th grade as well as a teacher.
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Of children's literature storytelling and children's book publishing the students in The Graduate School of Education Lisa began her career in librarianship as a children's librarian at Brooklyn Public Library where she developed the original writing box program, and I am now happy to turn the webinar over to Lisa vondre sick.
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Thank you. Well, I'm excited to be here today and let's get started. So yes, I am a children's librarian and I'm a curator.
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And today we're going to be talking about writing boxes is a replicable easy not expensive program for teachers and Librarians and as was mentioned it was developed at the public library and you all have access to the Fighting box book, which is a free download from the University of Minnesota publishing. If you go to this website, that's where the download is, but you also have access to the slides. So I'm going to keep going now.
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Now, how did this begin?
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In this is my Branch. This is the Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and I was the librarian trainee to I was the lowest of the lowly I was in graduate school.
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And at that time we had a visit from the authors of this book kids have all the right stuff inspiring your children to put pencil or crayon or felt-tip marker or computer to paper and this Book was written by a second grade teacher Sharon Edwards and a researcher academic Robert Malloy and they discovered that students were paralyzed and unable to write they were unable to rate in college. So Robert Merle Malloy looked in high school students and then looked at middle school students all the way down to second grade and found that this paralysis began in second grade.
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But what he also discovered that if you give materials to kids if you give them writing boxes, if you encourage parents to write and model rating, there will be an explosion of writing at home and in the classroom.
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And when I say box, I mean any kind of box and an after-school tutoring center nearby my University they have a cardboard box. I like a nice clear plastic box with a lid.
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This is going to sound so simplistic a box and materials so markers colored pencils. If you have older kids, you can have sharp scissors. If you have younger kids, you can have one for five and under with rounded scissors.
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Post-it notes are great 3x5 cards, just so that there is material to write with When I was at the library, we just got big packs like this and put them in Ziploc bags.
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Each child could get their own bag in a rating box program or you can put them in the boxes and have them as checkout at the reference desk checking out for in-library use and I do say note the zipper closure bag and the 10 markers. So we label them and then each of those bags has a set of markers or crayons.
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Now I show you this because what happened was is I got permission from my Branch librarian to have a writing box program as part of our summer reading program. And at that point it was a six week program. We had writing boxes in the afternoon and the children's room and then there was the asbestos crisis in New York City in which the schools were closed while they were really well. They got rid of the asbestos in the school.
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And when the mayor was asked well where Shield the children go. He said the public libraries so we were inundated with kids, but fortunately we discovered this easy program. It's ready made and it's for all ages. So what you're seeing right now, is this random snapshots of kids and parents in our library. It's a Brooklyn Public Library children's room.
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And one of the things that Sharon Edwards and Robert Malloy discovered was and wrote about was the Bill of Rights and just as we consider freedom to read so essential to library Services, they talk about the freedom to write so on page 162 of your book, you'll see the bill of right.
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And they are as follows irate to please myself.
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I decide how to use the writing box.
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X I choose what to write and I know when it is finished.
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T' I am a reader and a writer right now.
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Now I have things to say and write every day.
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Day, I right when I play and I play when I right.
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I can write about my experience and my imagination I spelled way I can and I learned to spell as I write. I learn as I write and I write as I learn.
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And and what is the takeaway for the librarian to be able to articulate why writing is an essential part of literacy that supporting writing is part of our jobs. There are writing box program is an inexpensive easily replicable easily adaptable program for a range of Ages and community members and the right to read includes the right to create and communicate in a safe non-judgmental environment.
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Sherman When you think about it a rating box program is the perfect Makerspace program.
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Am so after listening to me for a while and looking at what I do. I want you to be able to select and evaluate Mentor texts for diversity age revelant Rel Levin.
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and as a text to inspire thematic independent writing by children and teens and adults so Also think about how you're going to create accessibility to these materials and to the program.
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And let's think about understanding writing as a facet of literacy This Little Child. This little girl has written something it may look like scribbles. But if you ask her what did you write she can tell you the story that is written on that piece of paper.
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/ and that is the beginning of literacy. It is not just reading. It's reading and writing and listening.
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And so this competency grows as children practice and we know as they practice reading they get better at it as they practice writing in a non-judgmental space.
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And in creating the space for children young adults and their families you are able to facilitate growth in literacy.
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So let's recognize the issues and challenges and be prepared for them.
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When we're thinking about writing there are many resources on the web and books about reading and writing and you can Google read right now for the basis of how writing and supporting your literacy program. But remember to include all ages. So even this very young child is about 2 and 1/2 10 right in a writing program.
9:04
And it might mean just giving a marker and materials and being on a floor. So when I talk about Mentor texts, I'm talking about a book that you might read aloud like how I became a pirate and then provide materials of so the children can create their own treasure map and these are all in the downloadable book writing boxes and here you see a child's map.
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Map x marks the spot now here's a picture of Edwards and Malloy and as The observed parents in their research, they developed a formula for successful learning and I just want to show you this right now play plus choice plus approximation plus risk-taking equals learning.
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Play the writing box program supports playful writing writing is not work. There is no right way to work right choice. We get parents and children the choice of prompts and materials. We know that competent writing like reading takes practice approximation. Don't get hung up on spelling ask the children. What do you think it is? We are writing now we are not editing.
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Revising and editing as for later.
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And risk taking many times. It might be the first time a child is doing this activity and a parent may never have made a map before so help model that risk-taking and overcome the Instinct for perfectionism.
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Here's an example Because of Winn-Dixie. This is the first page of the first draft of Because of Winn-Dixie and it's a god-awful mess. Look at that.
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She can't spell she can't punctuate poor DiCamillo, but what we do discover as we look later and later to the finished book that the essence is there but these misspellings they don't matter because revision is later, so Children to take off their editors had while they're writing.
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Here are some suggested topics and sources for ideas. You can do newspapers or plays or mazes or cartoons. I've set up an eight week program for you one hour a week is a formal program. And then the writing boxes are available at the reference desk at the convenience of the library and how your programming staff works.
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The workshops are in this order for a reason maps are easy and don't take a lot of writing cartoons have a finite space hieroglyphics are decoding menus and recipes. Everyone has a recipe or a menu that they might want to try newspapers giving information nonfiction postcards and letters poetry and handmade books.
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Each program each hour has common elements books related to the topic. So you saw how I became a pirate a sample created by the library to show that this isn't hard modeling the action of writing doing it right in front of the kids and a simple interaction with the children. Have you ever made a recipe? Can you tell me how to make grilled cheese and then five the materials? What did I forget the space?
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I just Look this picture off the Internet. So I thought wow that's an interesting Library space not every library has an incredibly beautiful space like this mine didn't I had a room? I had some soft Furniture. But what I did do have is clipboards, so I discovered that if you have clipboards and you are writing boxes, you can write anywhere and children are comfortable reading and writing not sitting up at a desk but on the floor.
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And all around so here's my repetition boxes materials. Maybe there's a writer's table that you can use for independent writing grown-ups parents caregivers special friends grandparents. We need to think about them. We need to think about how we're modeling Behavior towards kids, but we're also modeling for the parents that they too can be writing.
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This isn't a program where the parents that are all around and watch um afar we asked them to do their own writing to write letters to write menus to write recipes. This is a grown-up writing a postcard.
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a grown-up writing alongside her children Ian cartoons so books related to the topic creation of the sample by the librarian modeling the action of writing a simple interaction with the children and writing materials. Your Mentor texts, pull the books off the shelves and support the program. You want to talk about what am I looking for in these books? I'm looking for a riveting story whether it's fiction or informational. So here's some mapping math book.
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I'm looking for juicy language. I love poems for that. This is thank you poems of gratitude illustrated by Marlena miles and it is by more and appalled.
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I'm looking for a compelling art. I use picture books because you can read aloud a picture book in 5 to 10 minutes. And then you have the rest of the time for writing does the art reflect and illuminate the text age relevance. Does it engage and inform the intended audience? Not every book is for every hit so have a variety if you're doing cartoons.
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accuracy reflecting diversity of culture nationalities economy and abilities There's not one perfect book, but we do want to give children and their adults and young adults a window into other cultures than their own.
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We also want to reflect their cultures. Oh dramatic page turns the art of the picture book hinges on those page turns. So when you're reading aloud you are creating an engaging opportunity.
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Is there a consistent style is it excellent throughout is the voice consistent?
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Don't and if you're doing letter-writing, I can't recommend more highly dear Primo a letter to my cousin.
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Read aloud ability. Is it a joy to read aloud, you know a book is a joy to read aloud when it's one that you pulled from the shelves again and again and when looking at the art of the book, what is the media being used watercolor illustrations service story is the art accomplished or amateur and when we think about art like that this is when those award-winning like the the New York Times best Illustrated or the Caldecott. You can look at that art and inform your choices.
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Is it a serious biography do the visual elements add or distract from the text is the layout clean and communicative. Where is it confusing? It's especially important in informational books and are pieces of the pictures lost in the gutter. So here's a writing sample. Not very well reproduced by me dear Paul Maggie and I miss you. She waits by the door for you every night. Love Lisa. That's to my husband Paul.
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And then I just put that up so you can actually see it. So we have one side of a postcard. We have the template in the book so you can just print that off and then the other side is a picture. It's important when you're beginning a writing program to give children and young adults finite space. So they're not staring at a blank piece of paper. Here are some Mentor texts on mapping.
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It could be a map of a bedroom. It could be map of your neighborhood. It can be a historic map. It can be an imaginary map. You can read aloud A Book Like mapping Sam. You can have a short discussion and discuss where my house is with a fire houses and make a quick sample on a whiteboard or chart paper and then there are the materials. There we go. That's it.
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And then there's writing and the hardest part is In back and not saying anything this is not the opportunity to say. Oh, I like Jonathan's the best. This is the opportunity to let people write and have their time writing writing writing writing writing. We have no opinion about it. That's what makes it a safe space but children may want to share so you might want to give some time to share and this young man wants to share about his map of the digestive system.
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You don't want to go here. Look at the bottom.
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A map of forever in the past. That's Sophie. She wanted to share.
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So you don't take children's art, but what you can do is take pictures of it hieroglyphics decoding is part of literacy. Hieroglyphics a part of ancient Egypt many children are studying ancient Egypt. It's something they're familiar with but it's also something that's a lot of fun. This is the Librarians model and this is keep out in hieroglyphics.
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It's easy. I when I first did this we had hieroglyphic stamps. It turns out you don't need stamps and that nice you just need markers and the template the template is in the book.
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Look markers and template child writing child writing child sharing. I have no idea what that says.
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Is but she's explaining to me what that says or writing and this is just the examples that it's not that we don't even have a clipboard. All we need is paper a marker and a chair.
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Hi tunes cartoon. He's a great way. There's a cartoon template for you in the packet.
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It and you can see.
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See if you don't have a template. It just makes them Squares.
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Recipes how to you can read aloud the poems from Frankenstein makes a sandwich or you can bring in takeout menus and kids can make their own menus modeling how to do a recipe kids with Mentor texts, seeing what they might want to be writing about. So it's also the beginnings of how to do research.
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And there we have it how to make pancakes.
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Pasta meringues and you see without the editing and after revision newspapers. Oh, this is my slide that says please plan ahead. I was like, I knew we were doing newspapers that day. I was going to pick up the newspaper on the way to work.
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I like the tabloids side and this was the news of the day so plan ahead for your programs when you Picking your Mentor texts, or you might end up with this for your and I did not want to explain what was going on there.
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If you don't have a template you can make your own you can make your own you can make your own.
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But there is a template in the book and this is a young teen.
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And hearken behold him for it is the end time.
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And that's her newspaper the Minnesota mirror.
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Again, let's think about accessibility.
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T you might have a kid with cerebral palsy sometimes all you need to adapt is to tape down the paper ask the caregivers how best you can provide accessibility to kids is he?
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And remember that collaborating is a noisy business. We have piles of books and your papers. If you can have a separate room, then you're going to know that it's not going to be a quiet program.
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And I do enjoy but it's not a quiet program. This is mailboxes messages in the mailbox how to write a letter dear to, you know, you can have Mentor texts that are read-alouds and reference and here is someone writing a post card.
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Poetry I'm a big fan of poetry and juicy language one poem. You'd have to read the whole book read the sings from Treetops a year in color by Joyce Edmond.
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And here we have the poem bring in Spring red sings from Treetops Cheers Cheers Cheers each no dropping like a cherry into my ear return the maples feathery Sprouts rhubarb Spears red squirms on the road after the rain.
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And they right.
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And they write and share and share and you see not a lot of words going on there. But I stand back whatever they write. That's what they want to write. I have no opinion about it and sometimes it's a few words.
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And sometimes it's a lot.
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These are third graders.
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And the sharing part has become a very important part of the program to leave five minutes at the end if people want to share.
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I like writing so much as part of every program John sheska came to visit our school and we included writing as part of his presentation and sharing.
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The respect privacy if a child does not want to share.
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that back It's their right they have a right to read they have a right to write whatever they want. And should you have writing boxes in your library?
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When talking to administrators, it supports the goals of the public library. It is inexpensive. It supports literacy. It's multi-generational and replicable but most of all, it's fun.
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So we talked about a few things privacy spelling blocks inspiration. The best inspiration for writing blocks are more Mentor tax pile them around the room be a writer wait to be an editor parents.
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Sometimes you might even have to ask a parent who is leaning over child saying that's not how you make an are you know how to make an R is to maybe Ask them to go to another table to write their own letter their own poem their own recipe and remember to stand back not to comment, but you can describe. Can you tell me about what you're writing? What do you want to say and perfectionism?
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That's the hardest thing and that the letting go of perfectionism comes with understanding that this continues to be a safe space.
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They who make no mistakes make nothing the most significant outcome of a writing box program is a cohort a participant cohort of participants who gained confidence and competency in their writing and how do we evaluate writing box program?
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Are the children and young adults engaged in the work? Well, how do you know they're engaged? Well, are they noisy or they talking or they excited are they sharing their work with their peers? Are they giggling and laughing?
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Are they sharing with their parents is the attendance to the program steady or growing it is the writing going on. I was little petrified when I began the writing box program. I was first afraid nobody would show up and then I was afraid that they wouldn't listen to me and then I was afraid that they wouldn't be writing and none of those fears.
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Came to fruition. The other thing that was of a concern to my Administration my Branch library and she thought if we just gave them these boxes with these materials that one the materials will be Solon it didn't happen and to that they'll be writing on the walls and on the tables and wherever that didn't happen either.
26:50
I do provide washable markers and I don't, you know every once in awhile sharp be slips in and we take that back. So and are the adults writing. I mean, I do get a great sense of Joy when I present these programs and the adults are writing especially when we have migrant populations who are writing home to family and modeling that to their children.
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And do they seem to be excited to be there or are there adults making them attend and that, doesn't belong there. So I certainly was being a writer not an editor. There is the topic open enough to engage writers of different skill levels and ages and that's an important thing to give choice. So a person might want to write a recipe or person might want to draw their favorite food, or they might just want to make a menu.
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Gnu of an imaginary restaurant that has so when you look in the book we give you those choices so it can be very simple labeling or it can be more extensive writing.
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So in the outcome our participants barring titles that are on display and titles the tie-in with the sessions projects.
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What I have discovered is all of a sudden the cookbooks shows are cleaned off or the poetry shows are cleaned off or someone has discovered all the Ed Ed amberle books on cartooning, you know, I don't think any public library is a problem circulating graphic novels, but when Comes to providing Mentor texts, you do see an uptick in those categories have we had requests for expansion of the program? Yes, that's one of the things that happened to me is that it was a once a week workshop with the writing boxes available only in the afternoon for after school time and parents of younger children wanted the boxes to be available all day and we did accommodate that and have Community groups like the girls.
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Scouts of America asked to participate and yes, we had after school tutoring groups wanting to come in and preschool groups to come for story time and writing so Let me model how to do this. So let's say I'm going to read aloud this book what animals really like by Fiona Robinson.
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And I've reproduced part of the book. I'm not reading the whole book, but I'm reproduced part of the book to give you a taste of how I do this.
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Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls here for the first time. I present my new song what animals most like a one a two a one two, three. We are lions.
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And we like to prowl.
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We are wolves and we like to how we are pigeons. We like to KU we are cows and we like to dig.
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dig we are monkeys and we like to play we are horses and we like fresh. Hay we are worms and we like to wiggle we are warthogs and we like to blow enormous bubbles.
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Hello, enormous bubble. Stop. Stop. That's not in my song. We are frogs. We like to swim. We are shrimp. We like to ski ski ski, that's not in my son either. When have you ever been skiing? Well, we just got our photos back. And here we are in Switzerland say had great weather.
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Whatever order we will start again with the kangaroos A1 A2 don't expect us to to sing that we like to hop around. Actually we prefer ping pong.
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That's it. I give up don't give up. Just let us sing about what we really like. Not what you think. We like. Well, what do you think ladies and gentlemen boys and girls it's probably sounds very silly and it won't rhyme, you know, and I sure you want to hear what the animals really like. Okay, then from the top A-One a-two A-One two three, and we are lions and we like flower arranging.
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We are well and we like to perform magic we are pigeons and we like ballet we are calls and we like to dig and we are monkeys and we like all-you-can-eat buffets. We are horses and we like deep-sea diving we are worms and we like to vo we are warthogs and we like to perish it.
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You said you like blowing a Thomas bubbles before we changed our minds. We also like to change our mind we are frogs and we like tennis and most martial arts and our favorite food is pizza with extra mushrooms, but absolutely no tomatoes whatsoever. We are shrimp and we like to ski we are kangaroos and we like Ping Pong.
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Song and we are mice and we like cheese.
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so what do we know just by reading a little bit of this book?
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Look, we know that it's a book about someone who perceives what animals like Bess and we also know the animals are not very happy about this person's perceptions of them without really knowing them.
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So what we do as a writing response to this book after reading it.
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I might have chart paper or whiteboard and say, you know people think think they know me they think I like.
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Like books and libraries the best and I might draw a picture of a book and write libraries.
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He's and then I see but really the people who know me know I like dogs the best.
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Yes, and so we take a piece of heavy stock paper nine and a half by 11 and we fold it in half.
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and what people think I like best from my outsize is reading books libraries and teaching but when I lift up that flap, what I really liked best is underneath with dogs dogs dogs dogs puppies and I did this just recently with fifth graders 10 year olds.
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And here they are doing the writing about how people perceive them and what they really like best.
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best and that puts its at 234 or and I'm open for questions.
34:59
When's the end?
35:03
end Thanks, Lisa. Hi. Yeah, it's a weird thing not here. Okay, we don't have any questions yet will give people a few minutes to get typing. We do have a comment which was a smile someone commented a smile.
35:28
well, one of the things I'd like to talk about is you never know how long slides are going to take and things like that is that at if you have all ages and Brooklyn we did have older kids being writing mentors and they would be our teen helpers would help us keep the boxes straight and make sure all the markers had their Lids on them and that each bag had all the markers. It was supposed to have and prepare for our writing sessions.
36:07
Okay, so we have a question come in. Do you do the program solo?
36:14
Yeah, unless you know unless we have some teams around for the most part. I do do it solo because that's Staffing. We we never had enough staff to where we would have more than one person. I've done this with up to a hundred and fifty participants and the key to that is in the very beginning. I deputize older kids.
36:44
For passing out paper and markers and things like that. I don't keep the materials on the tables or the clipboards out until after the mentor text is read. And after I model the the product I and then I asked my helpers to put a box on each table or box for every three kids or we had big plastic boxes where each child would come up and just take a bag of markers. They could take skinny.
37:13
Chris for wide markers and the the writing prompt paper whatever we were having available that day. We we didn't police the paper. It's just this week last week when I had those ten-year-olds in it was you know, they were very hesitant to ask. So I always announce that there's no such thing as a mistake. You can cross it out. I usually don't have erasers.
37:43
Oil so you can cross it out or you can have a new piece of paper.
37:48
Whatever you want. Someone is asking I work with adult Learners to have you ever implemented the program just for adults. Yes, and thank you for asking that we had a literacy program in Brooklyn for struggling readers.
38:07
And I found that the letter writing was a fabulous tool for that because you don't want anyone to Feel that we're doing something that's childish. So cartooning is great for adult Learners letter writing is great for adult Learners and poetry. I've worked with our local Somali community members and people like that who are migrant communities and it it's terrific to give them the opportunity to express.
38:47
And how did you invite people to participate the first time any tips or ideas? Oh, yeah. Okay marketing. So if it if you're in a children's room or young adult room, I would start about six weeks ahead of time. If you start way way before people forget when you're having it the in the beginning we didn't have people register or right.
39:17
Down, you know we didn't have any registration. We just had this separate we had a separate room and provided the opportunity and it was a program that did grow so don't be anxious if you have 5 people or you have just a grown up in a kid and that's all you have. They wandered through the library and they found you and it and you would announce, you know, we have our writing programs.
39:46
Starting in 10 minutes. I do think that social media is a great place to provide information about it. Also having your Mentor texts and the program that you plan. So if you plan a summer reading program and this is part of it put that as part of your calendar today. We're going to be writing postcards and writing boxes will be available from 9 to 4.
40:16
30 or whatever your schedule is and have that very visible on a bulletin board or in a display so that people understand that this is something for them. That is something they will be doing. It won't be a passive program. Does that help? Yeah, someone was asking when you are reading a book like the one you just read which is super cute but a little bit long if the kids get antsy, would you shorten it?
40:46
I Okay, so here's what I would do.
40:55
Do because in the public library. Sometimes you don't know who's going to show up. I would always have three books prepared so that if I'm doing a picture book, like what animals really like and my prep is just a piece of heavy stock folded over I would have three books ready for that and the books I would have ready for that would be Bubba and Beau best friends.
41:25
You don't know that book that is about Bubba who is a little baby and bohu is a puppy and their favorite thing is their blanky and I think that runs around three and a half minutes to read aloud. And then I might ask the kids and the families. Did you ever have a comfort object growing up or do you still have one?
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For example, I have one and I I will write my pillow. I have a small pillow as big as a large picture book that came with me on my honeymoon and I have it to this day and that pillow I've had all my life and it's the Comfort object that I always have with me. Do you have something like that? And then that's that's what we would put as part of our writing. We would write about our comfort object and I would have them right on the cover and underneath when they lift it up.
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A picture that they've drawn of that object. So I try to be flexible. I don't usually I don't shorten books. You know, it's for me.
42:35
It's just the I don't.
42:42
Do you ever just I may have picked wrong I have I have started a book and stopped, you know, if the if it didn't seem like engaging to that audience. I have started a book and stop.
42:56
For if I had planned to read three poems, they how I ended up doing the joy Sidman as I had planned originally to read that whole read that book and it turned out we didn't need to read the whole book. We just needed to read that one poem.
43:12
Make sense. Do you ever just leave the writing materials out for a drop in DIY program sure, and and you can make those choices at the school libraries and there wasn't any there wasn't any barrier at all. They just knew they were writing boxes. They were always available.
43:34
Oil, there's someone else that serves adults and they'd like to develop this for low literacy adults. And do you think picture books as meant art Mentor texts would be offensive any other ideas for Mentor texts for adults? Oh, absolutely. Okay, so in I took off my glasses and I can't see. Okay.
43:56
So in in the downloadable book, I think Mentor texts for For for what we call cross over to that older age group. I want you to look at there's a great chart called meanness and unhappiness right down the list of people who are mean to you then write why you think they might be unhappy and how their meanness and unhappiness might be related. So that's something that adults can identify with so that's on page 136 another one.
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One is scaling up to young adult page 130.
44:41
One 235 if I was going to choose a mentor texts for low literacy adults, I would choose cookbooks. It is the perfect thing for people who want a simplified text but also want the opportunity to write you can also do Memoir as part of that.
45:06
Do you know there's a fabulous poem which I that permission to replicate in the book called where I'm from by George Ella Lyon and that's a great prompt for your adults to use very simple words to express themselves about where they're from and you can be from comfortable clothing and petting puppy dogs, or you can be from Philadelphia where Benjamin Franklin was the right answer to everything.
45:43
The other book as a mentor texts that I I I for all ages, it's George Georgia heard who has a book called heart maps and in your download its page 120 and you can use a lot of language or very little language to express yourself in a heart map. And it's it's something that you can feel competency and very quickly.
46:12
Lee And there was another kind of similar question about someone asking about resources for older kids middle and high school. So I guess some of those reasons. Yeah, I would go more into besides the Poetry in the book.
46:31
I talk about the poetry and Memoir that's perfect for older teens, and there's a list of Mentor texts that are not Your book so there's a book called Big ideas for curious minds. It's more philosophy the book of delights. If you don't know this book, it is a great writing prompt Ross gay is an English professor in Indiana. And he decided in the world is a is a it can be very depressing place and things in our lives may not be going the way we'd like them to go, but could he possibly challenge himself to write about something?
47:14
Being even something tiny that Delights him every day. And so I have that prompt on 135 and it's about it can be the tiniest thing like today. I had an amazing Apple that was crisp and delicious and juicy and the perfect lunch and I can write about that apple as the tiny Delight. Oh and that was the other thing.
47:44
Essays were page a page and a half. So it's a great writing prompt for older and for adults for the beginning of memoir writing. The other is as we're crossing over to that teenage group and adult you can have a Zine making workshop and if you're partnering with any school and you're doing anything that's an after school program or kids have to do research.
48:13
This is a perfect program for that. You could read aloud a book about bees.
48:20
An informational book about bees and then fact check that and you can do that on a chart. Like how do we know bees do a dance to say where the honey is how do we know these things and we can demonstrate and model looking in an index of an insect book to get facts about bees.
48:44
We've have a few questions about Marketing in general and someone specifically was worried that students would just see this as extra homework.
48:55
Oh, yeah, and so that's the key to having a program to separate it from from homework. It's very important that look back to the Bill of Rights. I've printed that out and hand it to everybody at the beginning of the first time that I do program. I know when you have a drop-in you might not have the same kids over and over but if you begin the program to talk about why you're doing it.
49:22
It and it doesn't matter if they're five where they're 15, you're doing it because just as we believe in yourself selection as your library, and I don't pull a book off the shelf demand your library card and insist you read this book and sometimes I I get a little silly and I'd say I do that I say hey you you have your library card give it to me right now. You're going to take out this book because I love this book and this is the book for you. I know.
49:50
You don't know me. I was like, I don't know you but I know this is the book you got to read this book Librarians. Don't do that the same thing with the writing program. If I if I say we're writing letters and you don't feel like writing letters don't write a letter.
50:06
Her but I have found that if this is the program I'm presenting and in terms of marketing II think II have fallen short in talking about that. So, how do we Market? How do we Market our services? We provide a space?
50:27
People know that they can come to the library it's free. So I think one it's free to you can ask the question does writing scare you do you break into a sweat when you're faced with a piece of paper and an assignment. Do you hate writing? This is the program for you. We've discovered the secret the secret is you're a perfectionist.
50:55
Just tell people diagnose the problem and say we have this program in our library. That's going to help you overcome that.
51:05
That fear of writing that anxiety and I'm telling you I was that person before these two people came to my library. I didn't know how I was going to get through graduate school. I was petrified. I couldn't I couldn't I just couldn't I just could not put pen to paper and write anything because I was so anxious.
51:29
And they taught me to take that editors hat off and just right.
51:37
so so that's that's I think the marketing comes as part of Word of Mouth just like anything else, but I think also in modeling it so if you have a bulletin board and you have a website to maybe even do a professional development thing with the other librarian and and right poetry or write a letter. There's a wonderful book called We rise we resist we raise our voices and if you don't know this book, it's short pieces. It's edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson and on page 69 of that book is advice.
52:28
And so the writer gives advice that can be a prompt for grown up to give advice. What kind of advice would you give this writer says your voice is precious and it matters know that you might have to remind me of that sometimes because I'm old school like that. Listen and listen again in the same book, which I found just a remarkable resource is a letter to her children from Jackie.
52:58
Woodson and she is just telling them how to go about the day. So this this very short want to three paragraphs on page 18 of We rise we resist we raise our voices dear Toshi and Jackson laroy each morning before you go to school. I say to you be safe be kind I think some days that because you are both still young.
53:24
You don't understand why I don't let you leave the house without looking into your eyes and saying these words So any adult what advice would you have? What letter would you write? That's the prompt?
53:38
and that's I think if there was a secret to this program it's that You want to get the bodies into the library? I never had a problem getting kit. We were wall-to-wall kids every afternoon. So the question is how do you get that was wall-to-wall kids to focus on what you want them to do, you don't you do it and then they may be attracted to it. I think that's its attraction rather than promotion.
54:11
And then even if you have only one or two ask permission Take pictures put that on your social media and and with the examples of the writing that you're doing in the library, and I think you will find the program grows.
54:30
We've had a couple people that are asking about if it's an issue to have different kids at each workshop and is continuity needed. No, it's nice. It's nice if you start with mapmaking and that's very simple moving on through the difficulty, but what you might find, is that a kid who was making Maps last week is ready to do.
54:59
The next thing you do the prompt with that you still have Matt books around you still have the map format if they would like to make maps you might want by the end of your eight weeks. You'll have folders with all these different prompts. So kids will know that they can still make maps but they can also do poetry or you might have a kid who only wants to do cartoons, but he might find himself making cartoons that are memoir.
55:28
Because you started talking about poetry and Memoir or poems in the form of cartoon. So things will meld together later part of it. Is that free choice so you can say we're going to and always announce what you're doing always, you know selling to the next ten minutes. So today we're doing writing today.
55:51
I'm going to be reading aloud these poems then I'm going to write a poem then I'm going to hand out the The mentor texts that I made and then we'll pass out supplies and then it will have 20 minutes to write and then we'll clean up the supplies and then will have five minutes to share at the end.
56:13
So it's and every time you do a program, that's what you say. You you tell them exactly what's going to happen and mention those of you who are with us last week and made Maps. If you would like to continue with your mat making you can do that. I will be available for both. Here's the materials.
56:36
My when I did begin this program in Park Slope Brooklyn, I was Miss rigid I was like and if you didn't finish what you were writing just will put in this folder and it will have your name on it boy. That was stupid and disastrous. Oh, I'm sorry. We don't use that language here.
56:54
That was an error in judgment because one they have the right to take their work home with them and what I forget I have the right to decide when something is finished or when it isn't.
57:11
You know, I don't say to a kid don't you want to write more? I say is there any more you would like to write or would you like another piece of paper or would you like to make a cartoon now, or do you want to make a menu?
57:24
So I build each week with the materials that are available because you don't know if a kid or an older kid rolling his eyes. He doesn't want to she or he or they don't know not want to make hieroglyphics.
57:40
Okay. Well, here's paper and markers and pens and Mentor texts. And did you see the new Rick Riordan?
57:52
That's you know.
57:55
part of it for me really is about Out understanding my role as a facilitator. I'm not a teacher. This is not a program to teach anyone to write. Well, I am a teacher but I'm not teaching anyone writing just as I'm not teaching his how to read I am merely providing access to materials so that they can grow in this skill which will support their literacy.
58:24
That was a great question. Yeah, and we just have two more minutes. But can you talk about someone's asking about a school library and have you met any school librarian to use this and this person that funny isn't that funny that you should say that I was a school librarian for 15 years and they did ask me to focus on public libraries, but I'm here for you.
58:52
Oh I did. It was an independent writing the the writing boxes were on the on an open shelf. The materials were on an open shelf all the time the programs that I've been talking about all.
59:14
Lend themselves to curriculum so I would work with the third grade teacher who was doing hieroglyphics. I'd work with the fourth grade teacher who was doing making picture books, I would and each of those things. I would be collaborating with the classroom teacher to understand what they're doing. We were there aren't graded but on it or anything like that, but I'm sure if you're a school librarian there is a class.
59:44
In your school that is doing following directions. And what is more following directions than cooking and recipes and things like that. And so we would model that with chart paper or on the Whiteboard. So what do I do next? Oh, you know how to make scrambled eggs. Oh, what do I need? You need eggs? Well, then, what do I do next? What do I do next? And that's how we start to learn how to create a recipe or a how to how do you make a paper airplane?
1:00:14
Plane equally valid to making recipes. So as long as the overarching theme of that session and that's one of the reasons it takes an hour because that's how much time I have with the kids.
1:00:31
so but what I did find is circulation in these areas, of course increase because these are the things we were interested in and they would bring their families after school.
1:00:44
Cool, so I think as as you read in the book, you'll see that that that I've been doing this for over 20 years and in various format.
1:00:57
Did that answer questions, I believe so and since we're at the top of the hour we're going to go ahead and wrap it up. But I know you said you were okay, if anybody we didn't get to your question it come with more questions. You're okay for them to contact you. My email is up there right now. And if you forget you can just Google Lisa Andres sick University of Minnesota, and that'll thank you so much. Thank you Lisa. That was really great. And it was fun.
1:01:26
I enjoyed the Story, I think a lot of people did very much. Well, thanks for coming.