Dear Followers of Teaching Authors,
Happy Poetry Friday!
I need your help.
I have been an instructor with UCLA Extension's Writing Program for ten years. I adore teaching there, love the students, love the challenges. Following the example of master teacher Myra Cohn Livingston (with whom I studied for twelve years), I am a big believer in homework for adult learners. Lots of it. I've found that the more work they do and the less dancing-on-a-table-top-in-the-front-of the-classroom I do, the better the teacher they think I am.
In Myra's Master Class, we basically shoved the rest of our lives aside for ten weeks to write poetry for children. Myra taught so many now well-known children's poets, I call her the Johnny Appleseed of children's poetry. My classmates including Monica Gunning, Janet S.Wong, Alice Schertle, Ann Whitford Paul, Tony Johnston, Joan Bransfield Graham, Madeleine Comora, Ruth Lercher Bornstein, Sonya Sones and many others.
Sometimes, though, critiquing each student's story every week wears me down. (Can you relate?) It's a fine line between thoroughly critiquing each story in order to help the author get it into shape...and spending more time critiquing it than the author spent writing it.
I don't know how you teachers with six classes a day, thirty students per class do it. I think you may be magicians.
I wanted to change my universe. I wanted the playfulness back in teaching. So I proposed a new class. It was accepted and I'll be teaching it this summer (yippee!). Here’s a draft of the course description:
Chockful of short and longer in-class writing exercises, this workshop is designed especially for children's picture book writers. By focusing on recurring subjects such as Tell the Truth, Less is More, Quote-Unquote, and The Power of Observation, you have the time and creative space to delve into a range of fresh approaches to these universal themes as you engage in stimulating writing exercises and constructive give-and-take with your instructor and peers. In addition to inspiring new work and points of view on it, this workshop loosens up your tight fists, unwrinkles your worried brow, and reminds you how satisfying and fun writing can be. All writing and critiquing is performed in class; students are given the opportunity to read their work aloud if they wish. Enrollment limit: 20 students
NO HOMEWORK for me OR for the students! Doesn't that sound great?
Each of the six classes is three hours long, so I’m collecting fun, inspiring writing exercises.
Of course there are wonderful books that include all sorts of writing exercises. Among them: Ann Whitford Paul's terrific WRITING PICTURE BOOKS (s 6 Comments on Question Poems for Poetry Friday, last added: 3/1/2010
Hi April,
I love the idea of exercises that require you to move or go outside. Some of my favorite exercises are in FINDING YOUR WRITER'S VOICE by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall. They suggest some interesting rituals (some requiring props) in their section on "Rituals for Cultivating Voice." I haven't looked at the book in a long time, but I think one exercise had you singing something you'd written.
Good luck with the class! And thanks for sharing the Questions poem--it looks awfully polished for a "rough" draft.
Thanks for the suggestion, Carmela--really appreciate it.
Bruce Van Patter has a ton of ideas he calls Creative Writing Sparks:
http://www.brucevanpatter.com/sparks_book1.html
http://www.brucevanpatter.com/funstuff.html
Take a look!
Best,
Tabatha
Am I drooling?
Do I wish that I were tooling
'cross the country for your class?
Do you have to ask?
I took a class on writing for children from Ruth Moose at Chapel Hill's extension program. She gave us each a large sheet of white paper and asked us to sketch the house and neighborhood we grew up in. This act of sketching helped us access memories about our childhoods from which to generate stories. I have used the exercise to good effect in classes I have taught at UNCG. Another option is to sketch the room layout of the house you grew up in and then tell a story about something that happened in one of the rooms.
In Peace,
Caroline McAlister
Author of
Holy Mole!
and
Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief
Thanks so much, Tabatha--I took a look at Bruce Van Patter's pages and especially like the idea of creating weird headlines. I could see bringing in newspapers and having students cut up words to make weird headlines...maybe putting them into a bowl and having them pick one to write about.
And Caroline--having them draw sounds good, too. It rings a bell somewhere in my brain...who did I hear did this before? Anyway, great suggestion. I wonder what else I could have them draw...?