For Teachers

Filling the Well: on growing as a writer

About eight months ago I finished the author note and copy edits for Written in Stone which will be out in June of this year. I had worked on that book off and on for 15 years. In many ways it’s the book that made me a writer. So it was a real career milestone to put the final touches on it for publication. Once it was gone and I faced the prospect of starting something new I felt like I needed to grow as a writer and push my work to a higher level and explore things I hadn’t tried yet. The authors I admire the most are the ones that are always trying something new. Ursula LeGuin, for example, decided that if anyone was going to tell the story of Lavinia from The Aeneid, it was probably going to be her, and since she was already in her eighties she might as well begin at once. She began by re-reading The Aeneid. In Latin. Her award winning novel Lavinia resulted. Wow! This is the woman I want to be when I’m in my 80s!

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So how do I get there? I’ve spent a lot of afternoons and evenings in bookstores listening to authors over the years and here are a few things I’ve learned about, not just enjoying longevity in a fickle profession, but continuing to grow and thrive as a writer and a person.

1. Everybody says read, and everybody is right about that. But I’ve come to see that it’s not volume of text swallowed that matters. Real growth comes from reading thoughtfully. For example, this year’s Newbery winner got quite a lot of buzz online before the announcement in January. I was curious, particularly since The One and Only Ivan’s biggest fans seemed to be teachers. So I read it slowly and reflected on why it was working so well for many people. I am going to confess here that it was not my favorite book of the year. But I could see from a slow and careful examination of Applegate’s craft that she’d created a genuinely appealing voice in the gorilla Ivan. It was spare and wry and consistent. Three things that are very hard to do. Also the layout of each page was roomy and inviting, and Casteleo’s illustrations were lovely in their simplicity. I could have read this quickly, decided it’s not my thing, and dismissed it, but I’m glad I took a closer look. It’s still not my favorite, but I’ve learned something about creating an appealing voice, and I’m certainly going to give page layout some thought in future projects.
If you are looking for good commentary on reading I highly recommend the Heavy Medal Blog over at the School Library Journal which is moderated by the very thoughtful and articulate duo Nina Lindsey and Jonathan Hunt. I seldom comment but I’m always learning from the discussions there.

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2. I have always found the company of my fellow writers both a comfort and an inspiration. I recently got together for lunch with five women who have inspired me for decades. We talked about ordinary things–the care of aging parents, our dreams for a perfect garden. We talked about decidedly writerly things–the difficulty in finding reliable research about the Danish resistance in WWII, how corporate fundraising is it’s own kind of storytelling. We toasted Deborah Hopkinson’s recent Sibert Honor and commiserated over the bumpy spot someone else was going through. It was great to know I’m not alone in the vicissitudes of the business, and even greater to hear from writers I really respect that they never regretted pushing their work to a higher level.

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So if you’ve got a writer or two in your town or an upcoming SCBWI schmooze or an author event at a local bookstore, reach out! Make some connections for yourself. It’s a long lonely road without companions and a grand adventure with friends.

3. I think its also important to do things outside of strictly literary pursuits. One of the great pleasures of working on my book Second Fiddle was playing the violin again after many years away from my instrument and discovering how many people in the book world are also musicians. Don’t neglect other hobbies. Paint. Hike. Dance. Travel. Meet people. Engage your own family as deeply as you can. Your writing will be richer for it.

I will be responding to comments sporadically on this post because I’m out of town with my family is doing stuff that may some day work its way into books. My son is competing in the World Championships of Irish Dance in Boston on Saturday. I’m sure I’ll never write about competitive contemporary Irish dance but I’d love to write about an immigrant Irish kid who loves to dance. I’ll be taking mental notes all week and meeting musicians and talking to dancers from all over the world. I might not write that book for a decade but I’m storing up ideas now.

4. Much of what I’ve learned about the craft of writing has come from listening to authors in bookstores. If you are fortunate enough to live near a bookstore with a visiting author program, take advantage of it. You’ll meet fellow book lovers, make a connection with local book sellers and get excellent mentoring all for the price of a signed book. The woman at the microphone below is the amazing Ursula LeGuin from whom I’ve learned volumes. Her Steering the Craft is one of the most practical and useful writing books I’ve ever worked with. I never  quite understood the subtle distinction between close third person narration and first person narration until I listened to her discuss it in a Q & A at Powells.
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There are many great writing conferences around the country. SCBWI hosts many. The ABLA Big Sur Conference has an outstanding reputation. In Portland the Willamette Writers hold a very good conference every August. I’d love to have people recommend a favorite conference or writing class in the comments. Don’t overlook your local community college. Some of the best teaching is done at community colleges. Sometimes when you are ready to take your work to the next level the investment in a regular class with good instructor feedback is what it takes to get you there.

5. And I’ve found one of the best ways to really master an aspect of the craft of writing is to teach a class on that topic. Teaching forces you to think through problems in a way you tend to resist when you are just having a conversation with yourself in your own writing space. When I was really stuck on differentiating the three characters in Second Fiddle who are all the same age, same gender, and play classical music, I decided to teach a class on deeper character development and came up with a workshop I call Character and the Seven Deadly Sins. I don’t think I could have finished that book without developing the workshop. Whether or not you actually teach the workshop, thinking through a story problem in terms of teaching it to others is often helpful. Local SCBWI conferences are always in need of new presenters with fresh material, so don’t be shy about applying to be a presenter . If the exercise helped you finish a book, odds are it will help other people too.

And speaking of teaching, we’ve come to the shameless self-promotion portion of this blog post.

I’ll be teaching a course for beginning writers of MG and YA fiction called Vampire Free Fiction: writing real world novels for young readers. It is an online class sponsored by The Loft Literary Center and it’s running from June 17th to August 11th. I chose this time slot specifically so that it will be easier for a full time teacher or librarian to take the class over summer break and there is a scholarship available to one lucky teacher who applies, so if you are looking for a way to get started on the novel of your dreams or finally finish a project you’ve been nibbling at for years, I hope you’ll give this class or another like it a try. More information about that at the Loft Literary Center

How about you? What do you do to fill the well of your creative life? Do you have a favorite class, workshop or conference to recommend? How about a good book about the craft of writing? Shout outs in the comments please!

Literature Circles: Savoring Books in a Community of Readers

“What did you think about this …?” “Wait … I missed something here.” “She did what?”

Ever find yourself in the depths of a good book and suddenly wish you had someone to talk to?  Someone who would explain what you’re missing or give you a reason to read on through the weird parts?  I sure do.  And I know that’s why a lot of us join book groups.  Literature circles offer middle grade readers that same great opportunity to savor good books within a community of readers.Parkerboys

What I call literature circles, others know as book clubs, book groups, literature discussion circles (and on and on).  What they have in common is this:  Small groups of readers gather together to discuss a book they’re reading in common.  The goals are multi-tiered, among them growing avid and capable readers, developing understanding through talking with others, building community, enhancing appreciation for good books.

I’ve worked with many teachers over the years who are experts at bringing middle grade readers and good books together in literature circles.  I’d like to share some of their strategies for supporting students in building comprehension and love for reading in collaboration with their peers. This post offers a bare bones structure to help you get started on literature circles for the very first time or to help you refine the way you’re currently using them.  You’ll find quick suggestions for choosing books, guiding students to read and prepare for discussions, making discussions meaningful and productive, organizing written response, and finally, pulling in the arts to extend students’ experience with books.

From this starting point, you can add components and make changes that meet the specific needs of your students and your style of teaching. Of course, one short post can’t answer every question you might have.  For more information, I invite you to visit the Literature Circles Resource Center.

Choosing Books

You can do literature circles with small groups of students reading a variety of books – or with all students reading the same book.  Many teachers begin with the books they have on hand.  Later, they look for books that will invite response – funny, action-packed, meaningful.

Literature circles depend upon student choice – choice in books, choices in what to talk about, choices in how to respond in writing or through the arts.  With some assistance, even struggling readers can construct meaning with others as they talk about books in literature circles.  Therefore, one of the most important principles is to guide students to select the book that they want to read and discuss with others.

Book talk:  Hold up each book as you describe it to students.  You might share a short summary, read aloud an engaging excerpt, or simply tell students what it’s about.  After the book talk, many teachers will display the books in order of difficulty to help students decide whether the book will be one they can read and discuss successfully.  Before students select, ask them to “get their hands on” the book – get it into their hands to read a page or two or look over to see if it seems interesting.

Choose by ballot:  Students select their first, second, and third choice books on a ballot or on a plain piece of paper.

Form groups:  The teacher forms groups, trying to give as many students as possible their first choice book.  However, teachers also keep in mind students who may have a difficult time working together or students who may need additional support as they read the book.  Because you may not have enough books for everyone to have a first choice every time, make a commitment to students to keep track of the choices and to give a first choice at the next round of literature circles.

Reading and Preparing for Discussion

Focus for reading: Help your students think about why readers often want to talk about books with others, and what sorts of insights, details, events, and issues in books make for great conversations.  This is easily modeled during your read aloud as you show how readers respond and ask real questions (“Did you hear how the author painted a vivid image with words?  Let’s read that again;” “I wonder why he’s doing that right now… it doesn’t fit what happened earlier.”).  Start a list of “Things Worth Mentioning” vs. “Things Worth Discussing” to help students understand the kinds of topics/ideas that are merely interesting but not discussion provoking, and those that will really get a conversation going.

Determine how much to read:  Students may be able to read an entire picture book before they discuss.  For longer books, a good guideline is to have students discuss at three points in the book – after the first few chapters (as characters and conflicts are introduced and there is a lot to speculate about), somewhere near the middle (as plot points and characters develop), and at the end (where everything is resolved and predictions, inferences, and speculations are clear).  You can divide the books into reading segments – or you can guide students to look over the book, taking into account how many discussion days you have set aside, and divide up their book themselves.  This will involve a couple of focus lessons:  How to identify good “discussion points,” how to come to agreement on how much each group member can read at one time, how to figure out logical stopping places.

Set a reading, discussion, and writing schedule:  You can use a calendar to either assign groups to discussion days or guide groups to determine their own discussion schedule.  One possibility:  Set the first two or three days as reading days, with a discussion to follow; read for two or three more days (plus do some writing about what they’ve read), then discuss again.  When students are in the middle of their book, you might have more time devoted to writing than to reading.  As groups near the end of the book, you can provide time for them to think about and work on extension projects.

Tools to gather information:  Provide simple tools to help your students collect ideas for discussion: Open-ended questions, prompts (“I wonder…” “I thought … because …”, “I noticed…”), quotes, or sticky notes to mark something they want to talk about.  Use these tools only as long as you think students need them – when students seem to be able to come up with their own topics for discussion, discontinue this support.

Making Discussions Work

Having a real conversation about a book doesn’t come naturally to most students.  They will need some guidance, modeling, and practice before they begin to internalize the skills of discussion.  Two key elements of this process:  Model a discussion so that students can see what a true conversation looks like and sounds like; and debrief after each discussion to refine students’ understanding and conversational skill.

Fishbowl:  A very simple form of modeling in which students carry on a discussion in front of the class.  The teacher stops the group at various points to guide the class to articulate what’s working and why.  From this experience, students generate guidelines for discussion, which they then practice and refine.

Debrief:  After each discussion, ask students two simple questions:  What went well?  What are you still working on?  These questions can be asked during a whole-class debriefing, short session with an individual group following their discussion, as a journal response, or on a form for group response.  Use responses to plan focus lessons.

Writing to Think and to Respond

Writing can be a good way to clarify what students want to talk about before the discussion, or to capture their thinking after the discussion.  Before discussion, writing can be used to generate topics for the conversation; after discussion, writing can be used for debriefing and goal setting.  Here are some simple forms of written response that can be used either before or after discussion:

Golden lines:  Capture provocative quotes or interesting words. In the discussion, talk about what stood out for you in this quote and what it tells you about the character or the story.

Focus on theme:  Answer open-ended questions related to the theme:  In what ways is the character showing courage right now?  How is your character dealing with adversity?

Letter to a character:  Write in the voice of one character to another.  Or write to a character from your own perspective.

Extending Response through the ArtsIMG_5978 (Medium)

Many students can articulate their thinking and feelings artistically more easily than by talking or writing.  Although not a requirement of literature circles, artistic response opportunities give some students a welcome”voice.”

Some examples: Here are a few examples of powerful and relatively simple forms of artistic response: literary weaving (see photo), story quilt, and commemorative stamp.  You’ll find more examples, photos and detailed information on planning and evaluating projects at the Literature Circles Resource Center.

Final Words

Suzanne is a middle grader who gave me the best testimonial for literature circles that I’ve ever read.  I’ll let her make the case:

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Katherine Schlick Noe has learned everything she knows about literature circles from hundreds of amazing teachers and students who vividly demonstrate the power of reading, writing, thinking, and responding in a community of readers. Visit her at the Literature Circles Resource Center or at her author website http://katherineschlicknoe.com.

Wisdom from the Second Grade: Writers’ Tools

One of the things I love about school visits is that I get to go to classrooms all over the country and meet wonderful students and teachers. There are some comforting universals to a grade school classroom: a certain amount of clutter, a map, the alphabet along the wall. And then there are delightful surprises: a pet iguana, a stunning view of the wilderness, a reading loft, a tank of salmon fry to be released in a local stream, a flag flown by a student’s father over his army camp in Afghanistan. It’s a window into the thoughts and values of the community I’m visiting.

I recently visited a second grade classroom where I saw two student made posters on the wall. The first was titled Writer’s Tools in the Hand. Underneath was an illustrated list: paper, pencil, eraser, dictionary, word list, and illustration tools. It was a good reminder to take a moment before I begin my writing session of the day to have all the tools I need at hand. I especially liked the word list idea. I know many teachers help their students brainstorm a list of likely words before they start a writing assignment. Though I don’t need that technique, I have used a variation of it. Every writer has word habits, words or phrases that pop up more often than they should. I have about a half dozen that I lean on more than I should, so I make a word list of them and post it over my workspace to remind me to make stronger word choices and not lean over much on the familiar.

It was the second poster that really struck me though. It was titled: Writers’ Tools in the Head and Heart. The list included: thinking, good ideas, awareness, fun attitude, information, concentration, quiet or silence.

There are so many things to love about that list, and perhaps most importantly that writing well engages both the head and the heart. I love it that thinking comes before good ideas, an excellent reminder. Sometimes I have to think about a scene for days, even months, before I have a good idea about how to fix it.

Awareness is a tricky idea, I asked a group of the 2nd graders who had made the poster what they thought awareness meant. They said that it meant you should pay attention to all your ideas about a story not just the shiny, easy ideas that were in the last story you read. Excellent advice!

Fun attitude might just be the best advice of all though. If my writing isn’t going well, it’s almost always because I’ve lost the joy of it. Loss of joy may not be the cause of bad writing, but it is at least the reliable companion of bad writing. And when I change to a more positive and playful outlook, the writing reliably improves.

Information and concentration are ideas I’ve been learning to use as a pair. I love research so much, I could spend all my time chasing the next dazzling fact and completely lose track of my story in my zeal to fill it up with the amazing details I’ve learned. But sometimes what I need is not more information but concentration on the research I’ve already done.

Finally I love it that quiet and silence are not the same thing. Sometimes I need absolute silence for a particular task. Reminding myself to turn off the music for the duration of the task helps. Other times I just need the quiet of my brain focusing on just one thing, not email, not social networks, not housework or snacks but simply the quiet of letting myself be a writer and nothing else for a few hours–a true gift!

So how about you? Do you have a favorite tool of the hand, head, or heart? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.