| |
Inform
Teachers:
Bring
teachers in your local council area in on the planning phase. Please
feel free to contact Alice Herrin
(alice.herrin@pps.k12.va.us) if you need
support from members who have planned these types of celebrations in
the past.
Decide on
Focus:
-
Determine whether the celebration will occur at the council,
school division, or individual building level.
- Decide
upon format. Will your council bring in an author/storyteller?
Invite parents and the community? Host a celebration during
school hours, after school, evening or Saturday?
- Decide
on a budget. If the council is sponsoring it, make sure you
agree on the cost or look for outside funding. The Young Writers
Grant ($500) that VSRA offers is a great way to get outside
funding.
- Decide
on a theme. Planning a theme will help you gear your sessions,
contest, or guest speaker. Also, determine whether the event
will be a contest or celebration of children’s writing.
Invite an
Author to Share:
If you plan
to invite a published children’s book author, do so several months
in advance. A list of authors in Virginia and the surrounding areas
is listed in this packet. Do not overlook the authors in your local
area or people in your community who could share how they use
writing in their profession. When choosing an author, consider
students’ interests, teachers’ interest, exploration of new genres,
author’s message, and availability of author’s books.
Plan
Celebration:
- This
could be the culminating event after a contest. Consider
announcing winners and having students read from their work.
- Plan
sessions for young writers. If it is an after-school or weekend
event, there could be sessions for parents and students.
- Publish
writing in a final form. If you had a poetry contest, publish
all of the poetry in a book that students could keep.
|
|
