FAQ
1. What's special about these workshops?
A collaborative drawing process that generates unique and wacky characters, settings, and situations with colorful details that make student stories fun to write and read.
Four students per group. The games and drawing activities are designed for groups of four. This allows ample time for each student to contribute ideas at every stage of the process, as well as to benefit from the ideas of others.
Grawless
Seasick
Elfian
Grawles sat still on his roting cot in the corner of his sell ecsept the constint drip of water from pipes and the ocational sqeel of rats in the walls it was silent. The dungon was cold but the stone walls and the dark iron gate made it even colder. acros the hall from his cell his legs sat in a similer cell. They had goten used to the constent cilence. Grawles was about to fall asleep when he heard a clang! Then a long cilence then a creek. The hinges to his cell dore scweeld then Seasik and Elfian burst in. . .
You don't have to be a great speller to be a great writer!
A focus on the joy and craft of story creation, as opposed to spelling, punctuation, etc.
Students learn strategies for crafting stories that capture a reader's attention, keep the reader turning pages, and make the reader feel like the story is really happening.
Amy writes, too! While students are writing, Amy writes a story or scene too, based on the drawings and brainstorming generated by students during the workshop. Towards the end of the workshop, Amy reads her story aloud, to model the story-crafting skills discussed in the workshop - in the form of a story based on students’ own ideas and interests!
2. Are students grouped by grade level?
In general, students are grouped with others of the same age, though parent requests for multi-age groups are easily accommodated - for example, when siblings/friends/cousins in different grades want to be in the same group. The workshops are very open-ended, so having students of different ages or skill levels in the same group is not a problem.
3. How does scheduling work?
Groups are scheduled based on the availabillity of each student, as well as the availability in Amy’s schedule (Returning groups are generally given priority for scheduling). Amy will ask whether your child requests to be with another student(s) and what your child’s schedule is on weekdays. Then she will work to find a group that fits your child’s schedule, or to find common availability in the case of students signing up together.
4. Do students need to prepare anything, or complete anything between workshops?
No. There is nothing for students (or parents) to prepare, and nothing to follow up on. Students get to just show up each week and enjoy creating stories! They may also choose to send Amy what they wrote and collect compliments from her, but this is optional.
