How to use this Page

Are you all ready for a St. Patrick's Day celebration this weekend?

Try your luck at this Leprechaun puzzle.

Or if you'd like to discover how to write a Limerick, check out this information and write an example on a shamrock, no less.

And of course, there are always fun Irish stories to read. In A POT OF GOLD by Kathleen Krull, you'll be sure to find plenty of entertaining shenanigans.

Add a Comment

If you are in grades 3-6, you can enter the BE A SUPER HERO, READ! contest sponsored by Capstone Publishing and DC Comics. All you have to do is write about a super hero in your life--a real one, that is.

Winners get an exclusive tour of DC Entertainment Offices, a tour of Warner Brothers Animation Studio, and a set of Capstone Man of Steel chapter books.

Who is the Wonder Woman or Man in your life? Write about him or her and you may have the chance for some SUPER prizes.

Add a Comment

Poetry author, Ken Nesbitt, is ready to judge the 2013 TIME for Kids Poetry Contest. Write a funny poem and enter it for a chance to win a class visit by the author and also have your poem published at timesforkids.com.

But you must hurry! The deadline for entering is March 1, 2013.

Go to the link above to find out all the details and visit Mr. Nesbitt's website, poetry4kids.com, to find out more about the poems he writes. A good way to discover the types of poems Mr. Nesbitt likes would be to check out one of his poetry books from your school or public library. But if you can't do that, here is one from his website you can read--Learning to Fly. 

Good luck!

Add a Comment

Rich Davis is an amazing illustrator. On his website he demonstrates how to draw a leafless tree. In just over a minute, Rich--with his pen in one hand and his camera in the other--draws a beautiful tree. He brings the blank paper to life as if by magic. Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words then Rich's illustrations speak volumes. Check out the link above and see if you can keep up with his wizard drawing skills.

Then after you've created your own tree, try writing a story around it.
Leaf-it-out, so to speak.
Is your tree in your main character's front yard? Maybe it has a favorite swing attached to it.
Or perhaps your tree is in the middle of a cemetery. Will your main character dare to climb it in the dark at midnight?

Have fun writing and illustrating!

Add a Comment

I had two wonderful school visits in April.

 First, I met Mrs. Parham's 2nd grade class at Conway Elementary School where I shared DOGGIE DAY CAMP with the students. They enjoyed playing "Bubba Says" with me and discovering some verb and adverb adventures of their own.

 Next, I spent the whole day with the incredible students at Christ Community Lutheran School. I was amazed at all the creative projects the students and their teachers had made for me in preparation for my visit. They highlighted each of my books with poems and stories and inventive dioramas--Kitty Kerplunking Visits Doggie Day Camp! Why didn't I think of that? There was a video as well!

 First Grade teacher, Ann Schmidt who helped organize my visit, had this to say: Just to let you know about your influence on my classroom. There are 4 of them that have started creating their own books. They've shared their stories and now the rest of the class is all fired up about writing their own too. This is something that first graders should be doing, but this class has just realized how fun it can be, thanks to you. 

For me, it's great to write for children, but even better to help inspire them to do their own writing. Like I always say, Ready, Set, WRITE!!!

Add a Comment

Did you write a Christmas poem yet? Not sure where to start...

Here is a quick and easy poem to get you started--an Acrostic Poem.
An Acrostic Poem is simply spelling out a word, vertically--one letter on top of the other.
Then you need to think of a word for each letter that helps describe the word itself.

Let me show you:

S parkling
T winkling
A way up high
R adiant sky

Can you think of an acrostic poem for Santa or Elf or Toy???

Or pick any word you'd like.
Give it a try.
An Acrostic Poem doesn't need to rhyme--just spell the word, letter by letter with other descriptive words.

Ready! Set! Write!

Add a Comment

A call is out from APPLESEEDS magazine for ghost stories written by kids. Below are the details for submitting your own spooky story. One of my first published short stories was a ghost story written for a local newspaper contest. What fun it was to see my words in the newspaper for everyone to read.

So here is your chance. Scare the socks off some eager readers with your spook-tacular story!

BOO! AppleSeeds is looking for ghost stories from its readers! The October issue is all about ghosts and other spooky things, and readers probably have some great ideas for a story of their own. Have your child send us their ghost story (along with illustrations to go with it) by Nov. 15, 2011. Handwritten stories are okay, but make sure that we can read them. The winner will receive a copy of Robert San Souci's Dare to Be Scared. Send them to AppleSeeds Ghost Stories Contest, 30 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458.

Add a Comment

Today I read a short article by author, Anastasia Suen, about "Teaching Sentence Fluency with Wordless Books." She suggests using wordless picture books and letting the students write the story based on the pictures.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment