Gift

It's hard to believe that, after all these years, I still have it.   A white two pocket portfolio proclaiming, "Welcome to the World of Strawberry Shortcake" and "Have a strawberry day!" 

There's  a piece of yellowed tape still clinging to the top middle with "STORIES" written in green magic marker, in all capital letters.   In the upper right hand corner, where all American children who pay attention in school know to put their names, is my maiden name.

I open the portfolio, or folder as any kid would call it.  On the left side, a much younger Jennifer had written the title "Plays and Other Stories."  On the right side, "Mysteries."   I am greeted by pages and pages of notebook paper, some stapled and some loose, filled with handwriting that is both familiar and unfamiliar to me.  Ink and pencil.   Cursive and manuscript.  Some of it is chicken scratch.  Did I really once make a cursive J like that?

There is a compilation of stories and poems stapled together, complete with a table of contents and a glossary.  These are from second grade.  I can't resist checking the glossary.  I see that the word "all" is defined as:  "Got every one of something." 

There are seven other short stories on the left side, as well as a copy of a play I remember writing while at a friend's house.   Scene 1.  Melanie walks in singing "Merry Christmas."   I remember three of us working together to write the script, practicing our lines, and performing our play for our parents who had just finished a game of Rummy.  I can still smell the Doritos we used to eat during those playdates, which were not called playdates then.  It was just what we did.

On the right side, there are more stories.  These are from fourth and fifth grades.  I remember some of them: "Nothing Means Something," "Nancy and the Mistaken Slippers," and "The Case of the Missing Keys."  I see a very long story, "Goodbye Forever," with a teacher's handwritten note on the first page:  "Be sure to send me an autographed copy of your first novel." 

There is another play, which I remember co-writing with one of my closest childhood friends Julie.  My lines in the play are highlighted in yellow.  The pages are wrinkled, probably from me carrying them around while we practiced.  This play is longer, so we probably worked on it over many sleepovers in between playing Barbies and solving mysteries in the backyard.

There is a booklet with a very nice cover on which I had written in calligraphy,  "All About My Dad."  It is dated Father's Day, age 8, 1983.
 

These pages are not just stories some kid wrote in the 1980s.  These are pages from my childhood.  They are penned by my hands before I knew how to type, before I worried about what others would think, before I wore lipstick.  They allow me to see and hold what I was thinking, feeling, and observing so many years ago.  What a gift to have given my grown-up self!

           

Inspired by Story Buckets #2

This next collection of writing comes from the younger kids in June's creative writing "sampler" workshops.  These kids, mostly rising 2nd graders, did an amazing job of coming up with stories from the random items in their story buckets.  

Story Bucket Items:
figurine of a lady
kitchen sponge
slice of pizza
mirror
fancy purse

7 year old B. wrote this story inspired by her items.  I edited the spelling only. Note how this story has both a plot and a moral lesson--very cool for this age group.  During later revisions, we will work together to strengthen the plot and further develop the moral lesson B. has in mind.

The Rich Old Lady and the Poor Old Lady

     Once there lived a rich old lady and a poor old lady.  They both had houses.  Poor old lady had a sponge and a rotten pizza.  The rich old lady had a purse and a mirror.  But the one thing that the rich and poor old lady (ies) didn't have.  A heart.  The rich old lady and the poor old lady were very cruel.  They had very dangerous creatures hunting their forests around them so to scare people nearby.  One night the creatures snuck up on the houses of the old ladies.  They attacked them and ate them!  The end!

Story Bucket Items:
glow wand
flashlight
boot
fancy glove
manatee key chain
toy horse

7 year old L. wrote this story.  I edited for spelling only.  I love how one item--the fancy glove--inspired a wedding that connected the different bucket items into a single plot.  My next step will be to work with L. on punctuation.  I encourage the group to write, write, write without regard to rules during our brainstorming time.  Revision can and should follow later.  This process also keeps budding writers from becoming too attached to their first drafts.

The Animals at the Wedding

      Once there was a woman and a man they were going to get married at the exact same time two animals were assigned to write invitations for the wedding.  One animals was a boy horse the other was a manatee.  The horse had a flashlight the manatee had a glow wand as a lamp.  After the invitations were handed out the animals got in their places at the end of the aisle when the wedding was over the woman and the man lived happily ever after.  The horse and the manatee were very happy too.  The end.

Story Bucket Items:
coil of wire
ball
necklace
snake
empty medicine bottle
action figure

6 year A. was the youngest in our group.  She was eager to start writing but wasn't sure how to connect her items in a story.  So I told her to list her items and then describe each of them.  She did a great job and I could see her starting to think about that wire and its role in the story.  Later, we developed a story idea by way of a question and answer session.  What does the snake have to do with the medicine bottle?  Does it matter that the bottle is empty?  Why would you need that wire? 

     I got a ball in my green bucket.  It has a lot of colors red, white, and blue.  I do not like boy's stuff.  I got a green necklace.  I like girl's stuff.  I got a yellow and black snake.  It is long and skinny.  Another thing I got is not a toy.  It is an empty medicine bottle.  I also got another toy.  It is an Iron Man toy.  The last thing I found a gray wire thing.  You can bend it.

Story Bucket Items:
caterpillar
glasses
birthday candles
gold chocolate coin
red apple
necklace

7 year old E. wrote this story.  Again, I edited her spelling only and we will work on punctuation revisions later.  I love that you can really get a sense of E.'s voice as a writer coming through in even this short piece.  Don't you want to read more?

      Once there was a caterpillar he had a home and a red ball and some glasses and a necklace a toy too  he never has a bad day but oh no he had a bad day  he could not find his candles for his birthday  he was turning 7 who has a bad day on their 7th birthday 
      But he just found them Yay so he sent the invitations and he stuck them in his chocolate coin   The End

Not only are these kids thinking and writing on their feet, they are also developing confidence and poise in presenting their stories aloud!  What a great group of smart, creative kids!  

“ Creativity now is as important in education as literacy.

And we should treat it with the same status.”

~Dr. Ken Robinson, creativity expert and author of 

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

Inspired by Story Buckets

 

W's Story Bucket Items:

a vibrating alien

a spy phone

a gumball machine

a cell phone charger

chopsticks

10 year old W. began this story during our first creative writing workshop and finished at home.  He typed his story himself and read it during last night's workshop.  Remember, our focus for these workshops was (1) to use our imaginations! (2) use adjectives and similes to "punch up" our writing; and (3) use strong action words.

Bob and ZgWah in

The Human-Alien War

            Once upon a time, in the middle of a human-alien war, there was an alien. His name was ZgWah. He was a spy for the alien army. His secret powers were that he could call on earthquakes using an extra bit of brain that stuck out of the top of his head. He also had a gumball machine that could shoot lead gumballs if you turned the crank.(No quarters needed).

            Once upon that same time, in the middle of a... Oh what the heck! You already know that! Anyway, there was a human named Bob. He was a spy for the human army. His secret powers were that he had a spy phone that could shoot lasers. It was disguised as an I Phone4. Very expensive. His other weapon was that his chopsticks shot poisonous splinters.

            Once upon one month later in the... WHY DO I KEEP DOING THAT!? YOU ALREADY HAVE THAT INFORMATION! Whatever. Back to the story. The war was in full swing. There was no need for spies anymore, so Bob and ZgWah fought on the front line. Bob ended up fighting ZgWah man-to-man, one-on-one, man vs. alien, etc.. Bob and ZgWah started fighting with all their strength when suddenly... A huge meteor came down and smashed into an empty field! A shell of the meteor fell on top of Bob and ZgWah, but they didn't know. Then looked around. Bob said,"Huh, we're the only ones left!" And the ZgWah said,"p4byi5t2tiiu3d", which is alien for "No, a meteor shell is on top of us." Then Bob said,"Whatever" and ZgWah said," Dkduytbgiufcuj" which is alien for "Whatever," and they started fighting.

            After ten consecutive minutes of fighting, Bob was winning. He had shot ZgWah with 5 poisonous splinters and had blasted his extra brain, which controlled his earthquake power. ZgWah was angry, so...

TIME OUT!

You're probably thinking that something bad will happen to Bob now aren't you? Well...

YOU'RE WRONG

TIME IN!

so... ZgWah shot a lead gumball at Bob, who dodged it. Bob's chopsticks were broken by the gumball though, so Bob can't poison ZgWah. "Alright," he said,"EAT LASER!" and then something dramatic happened to Bob's Laser I Phone, it ran out of charge. Then Bob pulled out his Insta-Charger, but ZgWah shot it with a gumball and the charger broke.  Then ZgWah turned the crank and shot a gumball at Bob. The gumball killed Bob instantly.(I know you're thinking I lied, but I had my fingers crossed when I typed it!)

            Then the armies broke through the meteor shell. They came in to find Bob dead and ZgWah still standing. It was a short lived victory for the aliens, though. When Bob had shot ZgWah's brain, it had started to deflate until there was nothing left. ZgWah collapsed dead.

            Once upon two months later...UGH!!! You know what, I'm skipping the intro. ZgWah and Bob woke up, buried alive(Is it buried alive if they were once dead?) Bob said,"Huh, why do I feel like I should be dead?" ZgWah said, "*sdkhjfbkgerdnjewbkf" which is alien for "I feel like I'm buried alive."

THE END

Stay tuned for more stories written by workshop participants inspired by their story buckets!

Show Some Love and Win a FREE Workshop!

Now through June 25, 2012, enter to win one of three Spark READiness workshops in July for a special kid in your life, valued at up to $150!

Just LIKE Spark READiness on Facebook, or comment to this post saying why you'd like to win.  Do both and you're entered TWICE!

The winner will be announced and contacted on June 26, 2012.

Be sure to share this opportunity with your friends!

Spark READiness: Igniting young minds through the power of words.

A Celebrity Act Worth Celebrating

Another Country Music Association Festival, a.k.a. Fan Fair, just wrapped up here in Nashville, and all the celebrity buzz got me to to thinking about the way kids look up to celebrities, whether they're musicians, movie stars, athletes or reality "stars."   I certainly don't want my kids to aspire to be like   . . . Snooki!   Shudder.

Did you know that earlier this year superstar Taylor Swift donated 14,000 books to the Nashville Public Library system?  That donation came on the heels of her $68,000 donation in 2011 to libraries in Pennsylvania where she was born.  Now that makes me feel good about the fact that so many girls look up to this young woman who could have done anything with that money--and she chose to support reading!

           
I've sat through many a recital and talent show listening to young girls strum their pink guitars and sing their hearts out to those early Taylor Swift songs.  Clearly, her lyrics connect with her listeners.  Who am I kidding?  I'm a grown woman and many of them speak to me, or at least to the girl I once was at fifteen.  But I knew I was hooked when Swift released Love Story, a nod to Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, complete with an allusion to Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne!

It is a rare girl above the age of six who cannot sing the lyrics to Love Story flawlessly.  Swift's song provides a relatable, fun way to connect kids born after Y2K to the greatest playwright of all time.   And she donates books!    Now that truly deserves some fanfare.

Creative Writing Class Sparks Imaginations

Kids ranging from ages 6 to 11 had a blast last Thursday during our first summer creative writing sampler! 

What makes a good story? Tonight our focus was on word choice.

Good writers use strong action words! They show -- not just tell.

They stay away from tired, overused words!  "Hot" becomes "scorching."  "Tired" becomes "droopy."

We dug into our story buckets for inspiration.

A key, a wire, a diaper, a bandage, a chef's hat, a boot, a magic wand, a tape measure, a snake . . .

If you had been here, what would have been in YOUR story bucket?

Join us for our next workshop on June 19 and find out!   Visit our Facebook page for more pictures from our workshop.

New Workshops Beginning This Week!

Monday, June 4 - More Than A Book Club
5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 7 - Sparking Creativity (creative writing)
6:00-8:00 p.m.

Friday, June 8 - More Than A Book Club, Shakespeare Style
9:00 a.m. - noon

Send us an email if you're planning to attend!