Tag Archives: schools

Debate Club, Elementary School style!

The kids at my daughter’s elementary school are keen on starting clubs. Handwritten notices show up all the time on the main bulletin board.

Last fall a Debate Club started in this way. A group of grade 4 and 5 girls began meeting in the library during lunchtime recess. They were inspired by the CBC Radio show “The Debaters”, in which comedians debate topics for laughs. Not all the girls had heard the show, but the few who had were in possession of the basic format: you have a topic, you are assigned a position ‘for’ or ‘against’, and you take turns stating your views. At the end the audience applauds and picks a winner.

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Forest of Reading Trip: the final chapter

The day after the Harbourfront hoopla (or was it more of a hootenanny?), I hopped on the GO train to meet more students in Ajax… Another fun day with wonderful authors and fabulous readers.

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Forest of Reading trip: On to Toronto!

After London we all traipsed into Toronto. I visited a couple of libraries and chatted with students… a very lively group at the Danforth/Coxwell branch had a ton of great questions for me, grilling me mercilessly about how I wrote my book, and about the cartoon shows I’ve worked on.

Then it was time for the Main Event – the big big big Festival of Trees at Harbourfront.

IMG_6687A total zoo. In a good way. And here was the most astonishing thing of all… Continue reading

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Forest of Reading Trip, first stop London!

Wow, what a week I’ve had! From my quiet country life to the raucous, celebratory hullabaloo that is the Forest of Reading Festival! And now that I’m back home, on my sunny deck listening to the wee birdies twitter (actual birds, not the 140-character ones), I’m ready to share my adventures.

First stop was the mighty city of London, Ontario, and their first-ever Festival of Trees event.

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Kevin Sylvester (author of the Neil Flambe series) and I arrive at the Progress Building fully caffeinated and ready to go. (photo by Kevin)

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Travelling! Next week’s events…

forest+logo+framedSo on Sunday I’m off to Ontario for the OLA Forest of Reading Festival events! Here’s what I’ll be up to…

May 12 – Forest of Reading, London

May 13 – school talk at the Danforth/Coxwell library branch, Toronto

May 14 – school talk at Northern District branch, Toronto

May 15 – Forest of Reading Festival at Harbourfront, Toronto

May 16 – Forest of Reading, Ajax

Holy marimba, by this time next week I’m going to be tired! But it will be a good kind of tired, the best kind, after meeting about a zillion eager young readers and talking about storytelling and books. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this!

Unfortunately, however, preparations for my trip have left little time for other things, like posting on this blog… sorry! I promise I’ll have lots of photos and stories when I get back. Until then, keep writing!

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We Have a Winner! Eldritch Contest Results

IMG_0156 - Version 2Thanks to everyone who entered the Eldritch Contest! The winner of the contest is… drum roll please…

Sarah (Gr 6) from Lackner Woods Public School in Kitchener, Ontario! Sarah sent me a wildly imaginative story called “The Curse of Agatha’s Knife”. Congratulations, Sarah!

Among other prize items, Sarah will have a character named after her in the sequel to Eldritch Manor!  More details on that to follow…

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School Talks, Day 3!

IMG_3257I’m finally putting up photos from last Monday and my last batch of school talks. First stop was Allenby Public School, where we had a VERY full house! An extremely enthusiastic bunch, these kids sure LOVE  to talk about stories! Thanks for a fun morning, Allenby!

Next I made my way to another stately old library – the Bloor Gladstone branch, which has undergone a beautiful update and reno…

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And there I talked to kids from two nearby schools, Pauline and St. Sebastian.IMG_3306

Some terrific questions from this group, about graphic novels, and book series, and self-publishing, among other things. I’m pretty sure there are some future authors in this bunch!

I really enjoyed talking to all the school groups on this trip. I can’t tell you how great it is to meet so many kids who get excited about books! These kids LOVE to read!

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School Talks, Day 2

IMG_3254Yesterday I visited Warren Park School, a smaller school with a lot of spirit… even on the day after Hallowe’en!

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Even after a late night the students showed no signs of being tired, in fact they were abuzz with their love of stories. And after we talked a little about characters and the basic elements of plot, I heard that they went right off to their classes and busily started on their own stories!

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Thanks for your enthusiasm and terrific questions, Warren Park!

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School Talks in Toronto, Day 1

I hit the ground running on this trip – on our first full day here I did 3 talks at our old school, Runnymede P.S.

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I spoke to three massive groups in the school’s wonderful library, first the Grade 7/8s…

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Then the 5/6s…

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And finally the 3/4s…

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Holy Mackinaw! Coming straight from small-town life to this was quite a shock. On Salt Spring when you get ten people in one place it’s considered an unruly mob…

It was a whole lot of fun to talk to them about being a writer, making up stories, and the importance of reading, though it turns out the last topic was entirely unnecessary because they already seem to be rabid readers. It’s fantastic to meet kids who are so excited about books!

And at the end of the day I was so exhausted I could have slept for a week. But, as they say, it was a good kind of tired…

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