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Found Poems with Rebecca Behrens

Apr 18, 2019 | , , | 0 Comments

I’m so excited because today we’re going to look at how to create Found Poems with Rebecca Behrens, author of Summer of Lost and Found, When Audrey Met Alice, and the Last Grand Adventure. Why create Found Poems? Rebecca believes they help us understand what is happening in a story or book to help find the theme.

How to Create Found Poems

Found Poems is a creative way to reinforce the meaning of key vocabulary words and ideas and to explore a literary work’s theme(s).

1. Each individual student chooses and writes down at least ten words, phrases, and quotations from their book such as Summer of Lost and Found. Students should cite this textual evidence with page numbers from the text, although citations will not appear in Found Poems.

2. Organize those ten words, phrases, and quotations into an outline of a Found Poem. For this and each subsequent step students could work individually, or could engage in a collaborative discussion with a partner or a small group to “share” or “trade” words, phrases, and quotations and then to organize them. Ideally, Found Poems will be tied to key words and important ideas in the text.

3. Return to the text and collect additional words to fill in gaps in the outlined poem that they just wrote. Remember, in Found Poems students can only use words that come from the text!

4. Resume and finish writing their Found Poems about Summer of Lost and Found.

5. Students share their Found Poems with the class. Students may do so by volunteering to read their Found Poems to the whole class, or sharing them with another student. Another option for sharing is to ask all students to write their Found Poems on large posters, which can be hung up throughout the classroom. Afterward, students can walk around between Found Poems as if in a gallery.

6. Through reflection and paraphrasing, students review the key words and important ideas expressed in the shared Found Poems. In doing so, students are able to identify a literary work’s theme(s). Students may do so through oral discussion or written reflection.

The activities contained in this section particularly address the Common Core State Standards: (RL.4– 7.1, 2, 4) (SL.4–7.1) and can be found along with more resources in this Educator Guide. 

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form. 

How to Raise Funds to Host an Author Event or Book Festival

Apr 16, 2019 | , , | 0 Comments

Nothing makes teachers and librarians happier than to get their students excited about books. Last week, we got to learn how to put on an incredible book festival with Reba Gordan and Georgia Parker. But how do we make those dreams become a reality. Jamie Ayres, author and high school English teacher at Cape Coral High, has answers for you. She put on her own book festival and not only did she get 12 authors to come to her school, she raised $6000 to purchase books for her students. Today she’s here to give you tips on how to put the funds to your dreams.

Tell us about the Cape Coral Festival and the inspiration behind it.

Back in 2014, I did my first school visit as an author after my first book, 18 Things, was published. A month later, I received all sorts of letters from students who said my book was the first they’d read for fun and wanting to know what kind of books I’d recommend. I realized reluctant readers might pick up a book if they had the chance to make a personal connection with the author. The next school year I planned author visits at my school and then expanded it to a festival once more resources became available.

This year we hosted events each class period in our auditorium. Author Teshelle Combs was our opening keynote speaker, then we hosted two different panels of five authors with each panel lasting 30 minutes, and then Lynne Matson was our closing keynote. At noon, all the authors and students moved to the football field for the outdoor festival. Students participated in a scavenger hunt which includes interacting with the authors and other games/activities. The more points the students earned through their scavenger hunt, the more entries they received for prizes such as Starbucks gift cards. We had 40 gift cards for prizes! 

You raised $6000 in books to give out to students and brought in 12 authors. That’s incredible! How did you make this possible? 

We received $5,000 in grants from The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, a non-profit charitable education foundation which enhances and enriches the quality of public education in Lee County for students and educators through programs, resources and experiences made possible through corporate, individual and educational partnerships. We also received a $1,500 grant from Kiwanis Club of Cape Coral to purchase books by these authors. This is our third year hosting the festival and every year the grants are harder to attain because educational grant funds continue to be cut and competition has increased as the word gets out. In the past, we’ve also received grants through Dollar General, Target, Florida’s Suncoast Credit Union, and our local Chamber of Commerce. All twelve authors donate their time for the day; they are as excited as the students to talk about the power of books! And I think the fact that they’re guaranteed sales through our grants helps our cause too! 

When writing grants, do you have any advice for teachers and media specialists? 

Do your research! You could also reach out to your Grants department at your school district to see what’s available locally. It’s always easier to get local grants versus the big national grants because there’s less competition for those funds. Of course, the grants are also smaller. Some people may think the paperwork isn’t worth the time for just a $100 grant, but every little bit adds up! Each grant is unique with their paperwork, so unfortunately there’s  no template to start with.

One thing I plan on doing for next year’s festival is writing a grant on DonorsChoose.org, which supports classrooms all over the US. I’ve already utilized that site twice to fund my Classroom Small Group Book Clubs and both were funded successfully. My one word of advice is to start early! I just wrapped our festival on March 14th, but my work isn’t over. Now I’m wrapping up my reports from that festival and applying for grants for next year’s event. Sometimes it takes up to six months to hear if you received a grant. 

About Jamie Ayres

Jamie Ayres writes young adult coming of age stories by night and teaches young adults as a high school English teacher by day. When not at home on her laptop or at school, she can often be found at a local book store grabbing random children and reading to them. So far, she has not been arrested for this. Originally from Michigan, she now resides in Florida with her prince charming and two daughters. She loves lazy pajama days, the first page of a good book, stupid funny movies, and sharing stories with fantastic people like you. Her books include the three novels in her trilogy, 18 Things, 18 Truths, and 18 Thoughts. Visit her online via Twitter or Facebook.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Mad for Mad Libs with Sheila Turnage

Apr 11, 2019 | , , | 0 Comments

Mad libs are so much fun, especially when Newberry honor, Sheila Turnage, is involved. She is the author of two nonfiction books, one picture book, and four middle-grade novels. Today Sheila is here to have a little writing fun with us by playing Mad Libs.

How Does It Work?

In groups of four, have students write a short summary of one of the chapters they have already read.

  1. After the teacher has approved the summaries, the students will erase at least 10 words and replace them with blank lines.
  2. Underneath each line, students should write the part of speech of the missing word.
  3. Groups will trade summaries and play Mad Libs.
  4. Students may read them aloud to class.

Integrate this activity with technology! Use this site to generate Mad Libs on the computer. Most importantly, have fun with writing!

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

How to Put on a Killer Book Festival

Apr 9, 2019 | | 2 Comments

One of my favorite book festivals I’ve attended is the Trinity Prep Author Festival organized by Reba Gordan and Georgia Parker.
The TPS Author Festival has become an anticipated event in Central Florida! Not only do these ladies know how to get a school and community pumped up about books, but they know how to make it just pure fun. After attending the 4th annual festival this past February, I reached out to these super stars, asking if they could share with you tips and tricks on how you can put on an author book festival at your school or community.

What inspired you to create this event and open it up to the public?

Georgia: Our inspiration came from YALLFest a huge author festival in Charleston, SC. Four years ago we took a group of 30 students who bought books, met with as many as 60 authors, and attended panels on publishing, writing, and the varying approaches to both. The students were so inspired to read and actually enthused to try their hand at writing that we wanted to bring something similar to our school.

Reba: We realized that nothing provided the same sort of inspiration as meeting authors in person for our students. Something magical happened when the kids met the authors, and we wanted to bring that magic back to Trinity.

What are some first steps you would recommend to someone who would like to start up a book festival themselves?

Georgia: I would suggest attending a festival to get a feel for the flow. Take notes on what you like and don’t like and start out small. Find authors that are local and are willing to share their time and talents.

Reba: I agree with Georgia, especially about finding local authors. I know we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support and participation of the OG YA Glitterati! I’ve also met authors over the past four years who are dumbfounded when their community does not reach out to them as a resource. And use social media! We’ve gotten quite a few authors to join our festival through Twitter engagement.

What is one tip or piece of advice you have to get students excited about literacy and come to an event such as this festival? You had a huge crowd!

Georgia: I don’t know that it’s one thing but a compilation of several. We post what we are reading and book talk constantly. In my English classes I often create a grammar exercises based on teasers to books I have recently finished reading.

Reba: Model what you expect! I love talking about the books I’ve read, and the kids know that I look to them for recommendations, too. We are also lucky to have a very supportive English department and administration. The English teachers promote the Fest in their classes, and some of them even incorporate it into their curriculum through extra credit “scavenger hunts.”

About These Super Stars

Georgia Parker teaches 8th Grade English and Young Adult Literature at Trinity Preparatory School. She has taught English in grades 6-9 at various times in her 27 year career. In 2006 she won the Ellis Award for Excellence in Teaching, in 2009 she was designated an eInstruction Classroom Champion, and in 2013 she was awarded a DeWitt B. & Vera M. Hooker Fellowship Grant. She has presented several times at the Florida Council of Independent School’s yearly conference in the state of Florida. She has also shared presentations on the national level at the Lausanne Learning Institute, Florida Educational Technology Conference, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Assembly on Adolescent Literature, International Reading Association, Association of Independent School Librarians, and the National Council for the Teachers of English.  In 2012 she had an article on the importance of promoting the love of reading published in The ALAN Review, and in 2015 she had a book review published in The ALAN Review. During 2017 and 2018 she was a contributing writer for the Teach Write blog. In 2019 she began hosting a monthly author Twitter chat for ALAN that takes place at 7 p.m. on the last Thursday of each month.

She is a member of the National Council of English Teachers, the Assembly on Adolescent Literature, and Delta Kappa Gamma, an International Society of Women Educators. She is an advocate of YA Literature,  is Co-Director of the Trinity Prep Author Festival, and holds the Diane and Michael Maher Endowed Chair of English.

Reba Gordon has worked as a librarian for over 19 years with experience at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Her current role as the Director of the Rich Library at Trinity Preparatory School allows her to teach research skills, promote reading for pleasure, and help students find the information they need to complete their studies. Reba has her B.A. from Vassar College and a Masters of Information and Library Science, along with being an Archivist.  Along with colleague Georgia Parker, she is instrumental in bringing a YA and Middle Grade Author Festival to Trinity Prep for the past four years, and coordinates numbers author visits throughout the year. She is a guest blogger with AISL. Reba’s recent conference presentations include FAME, NCTE, AWP, FETC, FCIS, and AISL.

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

YA Scavenger Hunt- Win Big!

Apr 2, 2019 | | 0 Comments

Hello, friends! I’m Christina Farley, your hostess for this leg of the hunt. I wrote the GILDED series, contemporary fantasies about a Korean-American girl with a black belt and a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows who discovers an ancient Korean demigod has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of her family for generations. And she’s next.

My newest novel, THE PRINCESS AND THE PAGE, is set in a castle in France (yes you can visit it here) about a girl who is a Word Weaver with the power to bring stories to life by writing with her Word Weaver pen.

To celebrate, I’m giving away a $20 gift card to the book vendor of your choice (open internationally). Enter at the bottom of this post!

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win awesome prizes!

At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive a book from each author on the hunt in my team (that’s 20 books)!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are NINE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all to win tons of books! I am on TEAM BLUE!

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on TEAM BLUE, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, Apr. 7th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today I’m hosting TERA LYNN CHILDS!

Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning young adult author of the mythology-based Oh. My. Gods. series, the Forgive My Fins mermaid romance series, the kick-butt monster-hunting Sweet Venom trilogy, and the Darkly Fae series. She also co-wrote the Hero Agenda and Creative HeArts series. Tera lives in Las Vegas and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

Find her on Twitter here.

Crushes collide at a magical underwater dance.

As best friend and emissary to her mer kingdom’s princess, Periwinkle Wentletrap juggles many responsibilities. At the moment those include getting the princess (and herself) ready for the upcoming Sea Harvest Dance.

When a trip to the Thalassinian marketplace for pearls and dress-making supplies leads to a reunion with her long-time crush, Peri is once again caught up in the swirl of emotions she feels for a thoughtful pearl trader who reminds her of a dashing pirate.

But things are never simple with Riatus Ballenato. The shadows of his past have come back to haunt him and he will do anything to keep those he cares about from getting caught in the darkness. Even if that means pushing away the girl he’s falling for.

With the dance fast approaching, it might take a little outside help to bring Peri and her crush together at last.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Today, Tera is sharing character collages from the Forgive My Fins series (of which Pretty in Pearls is a part). Check these out!


  • Lily Sanderson (a half-mermaid princess who goes to high school on the mainland)

  • Quince Fletcher (her biker boy neighbor who lives to press her buttons)

  • Brody Bennet (the superstar swimmer she’s been crushing on forever)

  • Shannen (her best human friend)

  • Dosinia (her bratty mermaid cousin)

Don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Tera Lynn Childs, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 7. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the BLUE TEAM and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! AMALIE HOWARD

ENTER TO WIN $20 GIFT CARD!

Enter to win a $20 gift card to a book vendor of your choice! May the odds ever be in your favor!

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Evolving Language with Jen Malone

Mar 28, 2019 | , , | 0 Comments

Today I’m excited to have Jen Malone, author of numerous books for young readers and teens, here with a fun writing activity inspired by her latest release, The Art of the Swap. This activity looks at how language evolves and what it means to students. After all, about 4,000 new words are added to the English dictionary yearly!

Evolution of Language Writing Activity

Discuss as a class how language and communication has changed over time. Then have students examine ways they communicate with others using a shorthand that comes from sharing the same moment in time.

  1. Group students and have them research the new words added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary last year.
  2. Have students denote whether their examples derived from a pop culture reference or were connected to a new technology or social movement.
  3. Students can also make predictions about what words they might expect to see added next year.
  4. Allow students to share their findings through a multimedia presentation that they can share with the class. Be sure they pair the words with the source material linked to its origin.

Check out this teacher guide for The Art of Swap for more great ideas! If you’re looking for some fun facts about the English language, check out this site. Be sure to follow Jen Malone on Twitter here and her coauthor, Kristine Carlson Asselin here.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Using FlipGrid to Connect Students to Authors

Mar 26, 2019 | , , | 0 Comments

I met Ginette Garrity on Twitter. She’s a 5th grade Language Arts teacher from Bryam Schools who goes above and beyond to get her students excited and motivated about literacy. One of her many endeavors that I was able to be a part of was her Get Fired Up About Lit FlipGrid channel. It’s pretty incredible so I reached out to her to share her thoughts, challenges and successes in setting it up.

GG

How do you use FlipGrid to connect authors to your students?

I’m a fifth grade Language Arts teacher who recently discovered a way to allow authors to enter into the classroom and connect with their readers by using Flipgrid. For me,  Flipgrid was a way to connect teachers, librarians, authors, and students to create the perfect culture for a love of reading. By utilizing Flipgrid, I found an easy platform where authors could create a short video from the comforts of their own home to tell students all about their novels. I started by setting up a grid and contacting authors on Twitter, to try to spread the word. Shortly after reaching out, middle grade and young adult authors from all over the world started to create personalized videos on my “Get Fired Up About Great Lit!” Flipgrid page. This video platform allowed authors to promote their own writing, develop a connection with their readers, and build a community that shares a love of reading and writing. Students are able to access the grid at anytime on any device to see what authors are writing and what literature is best for them. All they have to do is go to flipgrid.com and enter the flip code d6e229.

Flipgrid has been a game changer this year! This grid has helped not only my students but me connect with authors and discover new literature. Not only have authors been kind enough to leave videos for my students and our district, but they have offered to Skype in about their books, give writing tips to our students, and even work with them through the revision process. Getting great literature into the hands of my students has never been easier.

How has this impacted your student’s interest in literature?

FlipgridThe author Flipgrid has had an enormous impact on my students and has made them eager to explore novels. They are amazed that published authors take the time to share their books and connect with them on such a personal level.  It really does mean the world to them! There is now a remarkable interest in the books written by authors featured in our FlipGrid because they are connecting directly with our children. Students want to try new books and explore new genres because of the author videos. In addition, I have never had so many students recommending books to one another. Students will ask me for a book recommendation and another student jumps right into the conversation with, “Have you watched the flipgrid video on this book?” They have the book in hand and are eager to share with their peers. The author videos just spark a whole new level of excitement in middle school. My fifth graders, a class of eighty-two students, have almost read 1,000 novels this school year thanks to this new project. We talk about, celebrate, and discuss books more than ever, and for middle school students that is a big deal!

Furthermore, Flipgrid has changed the way our students interact with authors. This particular Flipgrid site has allowed students to see authors in a way that otherwise would not have been possible.  Now, students can feel more connected than ever with the talented men and women that have created the stories they all love. Previously, authors were highly regarded people who existed in a world of their own.  Through technology, I have been able to bring the “real person” into the lives of my students and that has made the biggest difference.

What were your lessons learned from this experience?

gg3This new project has taught me that stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new opened up a whole new world for my students as well as myself. The connections I have formed, the books I have learned about, and the students who have found a true love of reading this year, would not have been possible if I did not start this Flipgrid page. When I first started out, I hoped to get one author video because I was not sure how this idea would go over. I quickly learned that most authors were eager to have the chance to connect with students, and they were excited to try to create a video. Currently, the author flipgrid is close to hitting fifty videos! To be honest, I am just as excited when a new author video appears on our grid as the students.

Another lesson I have learned is that you want to have the books authors are sharing available to your students. In my school, which consists of 5th-8th grade, we no longer have a school library. I have started a centralized book cart in our cafeteria, filled with the books by the authors that have been generous and caring enough to share their messages with our students. This allows the students easy access to our Flipgrid Collection, and they can sign them out during lunch. I was able to write a grant and our Education Foundation at our school has been generous enough to purchase a copy of each book written by the authors who leave a video for our students.

I started this Flipgrid page for my district because I wanted students to be just as passionate about reading as I am, and for authors to have the opportunity to talk to the students whose lives they touch with their stories. My plan is to keep the grid open and build it for as long as possible. I hope other districts will share it with their students and that authors will continue to tell us all about the fantastic books they write and the stories they love as readers too. Please feel free to use my Flipgrid page to help promote a culture of reading in your school or library, and get students excited to meet authors and discover new literature. If you want to set up your own grid and need help, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to help Garrity.Ginette@byramschools.org or on Twitter @GinetteGarrity1.

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form. 

The What If & Revision with Amy Christine Parker

Mar 21, 2019 | , , , , , | 0 Comments

Writing is tough and sometimes we don’t know where to begin or where to get ideas from. That’s why I’m thrilled to have Amy Christine Parker, thriller author of GATED, ASTRAY, and SMASH & GRAB, here today. She has some excellent writing tips on where to get ideas for your writing and how to start revising.

Amy gets her book inspirations from documentaries and current events that peak her curiosity and get her asking one vital question: What if? For GATED, Amy was inspired by the three things: the impending (at the time she was writing) Mayan Apocalypse, a documentary on doomsday shelters, and the times she watched Scientologists walking the streets of Clearwater en masse (all wearing the exact same clothes) as she took her daughter to story time at the Clearwater library. Her “what if” for GATED was: What would it be like to grow up with parents who strongly believed in an impending apocalypse?

The What If Writing Assignment

1. Have students scour current news (could be from a show, magazine, newspaper, etc.) for real stories they find interesting.
2. Have students brainstorm ways that they might be able to use their real life story to brainstorm their own fictional short story. It can be from any genre: fantasy, science fiction, horror, romance, or mystery.
3. Using the story board techniques shown here and here.
4. Once they have brainstormed what scenes they will need, have them draft a rough draft of their story then follow the process most writers use to revise their work (before they send it to their agents/editors for even more revisions).

Revision Activity

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

Bookflix. It’s better than Netflix.

Mar 19, 2019 | , | 4 Comments

Unless you got sucked into a portal and have been spending your days riding unicorns (I’m totally jealous of you BTW), you most likely have heard of Netflix. But you might not have heard of Bookflix. That’s why I’m so excited to have Emelia Fleck here to get us in the know of this incredibly fun and relatable resource that’s getting her students (and adults!) pumped about reading.

What is Bookflix and how does it work at your school?

Bookflix is an engaging book promotion tool that mimics Netflix. Students can access Bookflix from out library website (prhslibrary.com) to discover a wide variety of new and exciting titles that are available in the library or through the Sora app (OverDrive) in audio or eBook format.

Bookflix

How did you creat your Bookflix?

I used Google Slides to create my Bookflix. First, I created a homepage to mimic Netflix, featuring 27 titles from a new book order that had just arrived. The second step was to create a page for each title and link the book cover to the corresponding slide. When users are in present mode and click on a book cover, they are brought directly to a slide featuring a variety of information and links, including reviews, author blogs, quotes, book trailers, a book request form and more! If users would like to go back to the home page, they simply press the home button. Some links are not obvious. For instance, there is a link embedded in the profile photo that leads to a page featuring books that the library staff are currently reading (so fun)!

Feel free to copy my template here and use it to create your own. There are also other varieties from animated powerpoints to bulletin boards created by amazing, innovative librarians. Search Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #bookflix

Bookflix2Have you found it useful to getting teens excited about books?

Yes! Bookflix has generated a lot of excitement within my school and has provided me with the perfect opportunity to attract new readers! I shared Bookflix with the entire school community through email and immediately started receiving replies from students and faculty to save books for them to pick up later in the day (they wanted to make sure that they got the book they wanted first)! I also set up a New Arrivals shelf for the physical collection, and several of the books were checked out within the first hour of sharing the Bookflix. By creating and promoting books in a digital format that students could visually relate to and explore, I was able to reach more of the population in a short amount of time (rather than waiting for students and faculty to discover them on the New Arrivals shelf). The word spread fast, and the excitement was contagious!

Meet Emelia Fleck, media specialist extraordinaire

Fleck_LibGuide_PhotoEmelia Fleck is a certified Library Media Specialist and Technology Integrator at Plymouth Regional High School in Plymouth, New Hampshire. When she is not promoting a passion for curiosity within her school community, she is traveling, working in her apiary, hiking in the White Mountains, discovering a new book, or dreaming up her next adventure (which might be baking a fresh batch of cookies, or traveling to Egypt, who knows)!

Twitter: @EmeliaJane_ | Website: prhslibrary.com

Teachers/Media Specialists: Do you have an inspirational story, survival tip, organizational tip, engaging material, or a way to connect with students? If so click here to sign up.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

Tying Emotions to the Senses with Elle Cosimano

Mar 14, 2019 | , | 0 Comments

Edgar Award finalist, Elle Cosimano, author of the Nearly Gone duology, Holding Smoke, The Suffering Tree, and upcoming When We Wake is sharing a writing exercise today. Elle is the master of incorporating emotions in her writing. Because 50% of human communication is nonverbal, knowing how we can use our senses to explain emotions is a powerful writing tool.

Emotion Writing Exercise

Imagine you have Nearly’s ability from Nearly Gone. Choose six emotions and assign each one a corresponding taste and a smell. Be sure to take into account each emotion’s overall quality, as well as varying degrees of intensity. What tastes and smells did you choose and why? How might they change when blended with other emotions? Then take time to describe them in detail. 

Be sure to check out Elle’s Nearly Gone teacher guide here and Holding Smoke here. Follow Elle on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Authors: Showcase a reading skill through your novel or a tip that develops writing skills. Click here to fill out the form.

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