Book Launch at Werneth School

We launched A World Away for Here last night form Werneth School, Stockport. It was a really lovely occasion. We started off with drinks and nibbles and general chat. It was so hot that no one wanted to eat much and most of the students and their families had already had their tea. Still, it was all just what we needed – fruit juices, raw vegetables and dips, tiny cakes and lovely fruit.
We then went into the hall where Nikki Heath, the school librarian and the find-raiser from Francis House, the hospice for children that the students had elected to support, and I all spoke about the book. Francis House does a fantastic job in providing family support and looking after children who are dying.
As always with my Build a Book in a Day workshop, we first of all decided on a charity and a focus for our book. Then we worked on poems – haikus, acrostic, opposites, we worked on writing with the senses and memory and also on retelling well-knows stories. We include an editing process and the students also work on illustrating and marketing their work. I do the final edit and voilà! – a book is born.
Next we went outside and really had a go at launching the books. There were three sizes of copies of the book cover for students and parents to make into paper aeroplanes or hubs for a rocket made from plastic bottles containing vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The makers of the planes and the rockets that went the furthest won prizes.
Then, we were back in the hall. Some students read form the book. Finally parents bought copies. All of the youngsters lined up to sign the books.
I was given a huge bouquet of flowers.
It was really a fantastic evening. And it stayed sunny and dry while we “launched” the book covers. Whilst the readings and signings went on, it rained and brought some relief form this excessive heat.

A Day at Woolwich Polytechnic School

I was impressed.
I worked with a group of Y8 boys on my Build a Book in a day programme at this school. The boys made up stories about superheroes that they had created. We crafted a story together first, then they planned their own, wrote them, word processed them, edited them and finally saved them to a collective area.
They did take a little while to settle. After break, though, it was quite magical. There was a real work atmosphere. I was pleased to see as I walked around and helped the boys that their stories were well formed and not just full of gratuitous spills and thrills.
At lunch time, they had to go out as other students wanted to use the library for private study. The bell went at the end of lunch and suddenly they were all their again.
Aha! Most of them had actually stayed in the library to carry on with their work. Some of them had asked their regular English teacher to get them into an early lunch so that they could return to the library.
The afternoon continued with much hard work. It was a little chaotic as they saved to the communal drive, but it worked. We ended the day with a huge group photo.
The title of the book? The Woolwich Poly League of Extraordinary Superheroes. Not bad, eh?

Build a Book in a Day

I did one of these sessions in a school on Monday and I’m doing another one on Friday. One learns and refines as one goes along.

Both of this week are in primary schools, Y5 and Y6.

It’s a hectic but very productive day.

The students do finish between two and four pieces of work. In the afternoon, they’re involved in editing, designing, marketing and illustrating.

Well, on Monday we did it. We produced enough material for a whole book and a good one at that. It was chaos, but chaos always does lurk behind beauty. And it isn’t chaos, really. It is just proactive cause and rewarding effect.

I have worked out how to make the writing part go more smoothly. I won’t expect full length stories. We’ll use the introductions to build plot driven and character driven stories to then write some flash fiction. I’ll ask the Y5 teacher if they feel comfortable introducing the acrostic poems. I’ll then introduce haikus to Y6. Then I go to Y5 to introduce plot driven stories. Back to Y6 to introduce character-driven stories. Then to Y5 to introduce Flash Fiction. Y6 to introduce Flash Fiction. Y5 then do opposite poems, going through the Gargoyles and Angels exercise. Y6 can do Flash Non-Fiction. Finally, default activity, crosswords for Y6, wordsearches for Y5. I’ll create a group story with each year group, which I’ll write up and can be included in the book.

But I haven’t yet got my head around the chaos of the afternoon session. Perhaps that is something which will become clear on Friday.