A big thank you to all the children who enrolled in my online ‘How to Build a Story’ workshops! They proved huge fun, and for me, very rewarding. There is some super talent out there and it was so inspiring to see the children enjoying each workshop and looking forward to the following week, often discovering potential they didn’t know they had! I had wonderful feedback, which is incredibly motivating.
My passion is the building of empathy in children through their reading to excite and expand their imaginations.
My school visits taught me that the more the children empathise with characters, the greater their imaginations are, facilitating a love of writing too.
Children often think they can’t write. Well, I can tell you they can! Making up games in the playground in school, or at home, is using their imaginations – that’s what writing is all about! A book is happening inside their heads!
Week 1 of the workshops starts with the children deciding on a place for their story – setting the scene. Then we decide on a character. It’s very important to make a character interesting, and there is more than one way to do this! In weeks 1 and 2 we talk about appearance, voice, the expressions on their face, catchphrases (things a character might often say) how they move, and how other people and/or animals react to them. The children are encouraged to come up with ideas, and it certainly gets their imaginations going! When they write, they are creating pictures in words!
In the last week of the course, week 3, we talk in depth about the plot which gives the children the opportunity for their imaginations to run free!
Throughout the course, I read excerpts of my latest book, reinforcing what they have learnt and hearing it for real, in a story. I also screen share illustrations when we are discussing characterisation. All this helps to bring it all to life for the children. It’s a different way of working than being in front of them in school, but I generate a lot of fun and interaction into the workshops.
After the course finishes, each child receives an overview of the course helping them to put their story together. There is a ‘Workshop Stars!’ page on my website for those children who would like their finished stories posted there! To make sure everyone gets their story on the website, they will rotate, so please don’t think I’ve forgotten you. I certainly haven’t! The children think it’s pretty awesome that anyone in the world can log onto my website and be able to read the ‘Workshop Stars’ stories!
(Please note, I never use surnames, only first names or even initials, whichever a parent feels most comfortable with.)
