Magic Rocks and a Wrap Up

My last post was two weeks ago. Last time, I wrote that we were revamping the world of Harry Potter. Alas, that never came to pass. You see, the story cubes took off and the boys wanted to continue with it. So for the last classes for all the time slots, Rory and his story cubes ruled the day. I am finding that it's a great tool and must shout out to the mom who suggested it to me. Thank You, Elizabeth, for the recommendation. It's been a hit.   Last week, I used the cubes as a story telling tool, and I wrote down the kids', ideas and read them back. This week, we didn't write the stories, instead, we turned into story tellers. Last week, 27 kids collaborated and used the teacher as a ghostwriter. This week teacher and students told individual stories. That is, until the entrance of the little brother. Little brother entered the scene early on in the marathon class, earlier today. He was playing with some stones that he blithely informed us were magic rocks. 

Magic rocks, you say? Magic rocks. It's one of those ideas that, once taken hold, refuses to go away. We all decided to write a story about magic rocks. My students wrote complete stories that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I, however, had so many ideas I feel the beginning of a longer story. We will see what comes of that in the next few weeks.

And speaking of, Inkreadable Kids is taking a hiatus. There are no group classes for the next few weeks. Instead I am going to teach individual students that I promised to tutor once school ends. Then in the third week of June, Inkreadable Kids goes to summer camp. That's right following in the success of the camp day on May 2, we are going to teach the campers on a longer term basis. As I know more you will as well. That's all for this inkreadable installment. Stay tuned, as always, there's more to come.

Story Cubes Steal the Scene

This week at Inkreadable has been fairly quiet. Soccer season is in full swing at WIS and so two of my students have had to shuffle all of our schedules around. It wasn't just them, circumstances in my own life conspired to take away one Friday class, and a veritable comedy of techno errors conspired last Friday the 25th April, so that there was no class. In the first place, I could't receive email at the community center so I never received the emails from their mom asking if we were on. In the second place it poured cats and dogs and the boys didn't want to come out. I can't say that I blame them, It rained cats and dogs.

In the meantime, in Thursday Scene Stealers we finished up Cinderella's makeover and began reworking Harry Potter's world. Sorry, Ms. Rowling.  In our world, Harry and his aunt and uncle have a good relationship and his aunt is a witch herself. We will see how it develops next week.

Undisputedly, the best day at Inkreadable Kids, was  Friday afternoon. I had been talking to the facility manager at the community center about adding an Inkreadable session to their summer camp. I was asked to do a class as part of the camp day the center had on May 2. Accordingly, I ran to Child's Play, aka the best toy store in the world, and bought Rory's Story Cubes. The game has nine dice with a different picture one each face. You roll the dice and make up a story using the pictures that come up. I wanted to see if the game would work for children under seven years old whose reading skills have not yet developed. I walked into the community center early and found to my trepidation there were not fifteen kids to teach, the number was twenty seven. Turns out, there was nothing to worry about, the kids were fun and receptive. We did three stories in an hour. They are too random to recount, and also I can't really remember what the stories were.  I know that the kids and I had a blast and I might see some of them over the summer. The experiment was so successful, that I used it with my soccer laden WIS brothers today. No writing was done, but we became impromptu storytellers so that we could include the youngest child of the household. Here too, a fun time was had by all. Well, that's all for this installment of Inkreadable Kids. Stay tuned, as always, there is more to come.

Cinderella 2.0 and a Field Trip

Last week, Cinderella got a makeover. I know, I know.  Her whole story is about a makeover. Actually, we gave Cinderella's stepsisters makeovers. Actually, the world's two most spoiled brats went to see the wizard and got hearts. Yes, that's right, we wrote the girls nice.  We focused on dialogue, and we are slowly changing the three girls' relationship. It's challenging to take something so well known and turn it around. I am finding that both I and my students are having a hard time letting go of our preconceptions. We will see what happens later today.

Last Saturday, armed with brochures, bookmarks, and banner, Inkreadable Kids went on a field trip. Look, Ma, I can alliterate!  We peddled our wares at the 2014 Tots to Teens expo, where the response to us has been fantastic. Course, it may have been the chocolate. We talked to Do the Write thing, the National Campaign To End Violence's writing challenge, and may partner with them later this summer. We also talked to the YMCA and are looking for ways to partner with them. We gave away lots of brochures and bookmarks. I even got an email from a parent interested in the classes. All in all it was a good experience. I found that not only can I write, I also have the gift of the gab. I am looking forward to doing more of these types of events.

Right, that's all for this ink readable installment. Stay tuned, as always, there is more to come. 

Alphabet Soup

Last week's classes at Scene Stealers were a veritable alphabet soup. Please pardon our use of shortened names, but well, sometimes it must be done. You think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH)? Trust me, you don't. At Inkreadable, Hood is quite technologically advanced. The girl has an X Box. And internet. She's a teenager, so not so little. But surprisingly, she has no attitude. She still does what her mama asks and takes a basket of food to granny. She also helps her mom turn on the computer. Which particularly amused me, because I can relate.  I asked the kids to write the conversation between LRRH and her mom. What's interesting is that the conversation is quite banal and follows the line of the original story, but the boys took liberties with the life that LRRH lives. She's been moved into the modern age.  I can't say that I was surprised at the turn in LRRH's circumstances, just the execution of them. 

The big bad wolf (BBW) was also reinvented. In one boy's scene, LRRH is off to give granny her basket, but while listening to pop music. Which is where we meet the BBW. Who dances. And lays eggs. Yup you heard me. Lays eggs. This caused much hilarity for myself and his brother. Following on the heels of his "Mostly the Lion" ending, I realize that the humor is no fluke and I might have the next Stephen Fry or Christopher Brookmyre in my class.  Exciting stuff, indeed. As the class drew to a close we discussed further ideas for the BBW. We invented and alternative ending in which BBW has a dad. BBW's dad appears after his son has eaten both grandma and LRRH. Dad gives BBW a medication to make BBW throw up. That's one way we revised the story. In a second revisionist ending, grandma and LRRH are imprisoned by both the BBW and his dad. The women escape on their own, while the dad is asleep. They are chased by BBW, but come upon a hunter who kills BBW. They back track to the house and kill BBW's dad while he sleeps. It' all a bit blood thirsty, really.

In other News, Inkreadable is taking a field trip. We are off to the 2014 Tots to Teens expo on Saturday from 10-4 pm. Come visit! There will be treats! I'll have more on that in a separate blogpost. That's all for this Inkreadable installment. Stay tuned, as always, there is more to come!

Mostly The Lion

Inkreadable Kids' second session ended last week, but not without a few minor glitches. On Thursday, my 4:15 Scene Stealers class had to be postponed until April 17th because there was too much going on in the student's scholastic world. As a fellow WISer, I could well understand the stress associated with the WIS world. Although, I must say, I wasn't a fifth grader there, so I didn't realize the level of expectation for primary schoolers. I didn't get there until the seventh grade, and the pressure to belong was also tied up with the pressures of being twelve. Which, many parents will tell you, is the start of something wicked.  Not mine, of course, I was a perfect angel of a pre-teen, (Brooklyn bridge, anyone?)

Moving over to the 5:15 Short Story Class, I had typed up the story that my student wrote and we presented it to mom and little sister, to much applause and fanfare. My student took the story home and read to other family members, where it was pronounced "gripping in parts" and "quite awesome". I was quite pleased with that result. It turns out that this student is back with me for a Scene Stealers installment, which I am quite pleased about. I was also asked advice about my student entering a writing contest. My response was that I though it was a great idea. Except that I think I may have spoken too soon. Writing contests are great if the young person wants to do it, and there are some great ones out there. But I also think they can cause someone to hate writing, especially if writing is not a passion of theirs. When I first started blogging about Inkreadable Kids, and the vision that I have, I said that I'd come late to writing. I was an adult writer, I know myself enough to know that if I'd been pressured into it, I would never have started. The passion for writing has to come organically, or not at all. In my case, neither of my parents had a facility for writing. I discovered it on my own. 

Friday brought surprises galore. The boys actually wrote multiple stories. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that multiple store were started. We started off this Short Story Module with the boys writing one set of stories, and then in the second class changing stories altogether. They are brothers and they started out writing similar stories. The older brother started out writing a story about a boy who becomes an engineer and invents a new kind of train. It was left unfinished. I hope he goes back to it some day. His brother wrote a story loosely based on Wolverine from XMen that involved the invention of a new war plane. While not set in that universe, there was apparently a lot of violence going on. You may remember from an earlier post that there were ten nuclear bombs dropped on New York City. That's all I know from that story because he didn't want to read it. He did say that he had completed that story. The story he ultimately read was a story of a hungry lion who finds a magic talking tree that grants him any wish he wants. The lion, being an enterprising sort of lion, wishes of course, for candy and soda. And gold. There has to be gold, of course. How else is a poor lion going to keep himself fed? The story took an interesting turn because the lion went to his friends and told them about the tree. They all went to find it, but it had disappeared. It  reappears in the story, but doesn't seem to grant any other wishes. The lion ends up disappearing, presumably to a soda and candy filled world. Everyone lives happily ever after. But mostly the lion. That has to be the best ending to a story. EVER.  The surprises didn't stop there, however. My third student read his story of a boy's daring escape from an evening spent at the zoo. Through a snake pit. This young man has a little brother, who must be about four. While we were reading, he "wrote" his own story, and then read it out loud to us. It was the story of the Scrapey Scraper. It was just awesome.

I mailed the Saturday student's story to her. Her mom and I are going to have a conference tomorrow, but it seems that she wants to write two more Annabeth and Emma adventures. That's one who is staying. The two brothers are also staying with me. As are my thursday students. I have two new students starting as well one on Friday at 4:15, and one on Saturdays starting at the end of the month.

Well, that's it for this Inkreadable installment. Stay tuned, as always, there is more to come.

Bossy By Nature and Other News

Last week, was a week like any other at Inkreadable. By which I mean that I not only taught, but learned as well. I am sorry for the long radio silence, I've been a bit busy. Last Thursday, 27 March, marked the second to last of my classes. In my second penultimate position, I found myself wondering whether I would get any new students in the session that starts on 10 April. Not to worry, I did. I am also hopeful that I will get some returns from the current session. Anyhoo, back to last week's  classes.

Over at Scene Stealers we focused on writing a description of a location in our chosen series that the original author doesn't give the reader.  I told my student that I wanted it to be as wordy as possible. She was having a hard time and then started telling me about her nemesis. Apparently, a boy in her class is treating her with shameful disrespect. Far from being torn down by this foolish young man she's taken the high road. They happen to be in a group project together and he is "bossy by nature". It seems he has taken over the whole project and the other kids are not sure how to deal with it. He's a bit of a silly head as she politely put it. The righteous anger she displayed when talking about this boy was fantastic to behold. Machiavalian person that I am, I decided to tap that emotion. I told her to forget describing a room. I asked her to invent a new character in her favorite series that resembled the bane of her 5th grade existence. She did. With great success and much venom. Next time I see her, I am going to have her write a scene incorporating Bossy into the story.

Meanwhile, Thursday's short story module proceeded with adventure, and just a little bit of danger. We followed two cousins as they went to Mexico, rented a canoe, and got caught in a tidal wave. They found a hidden Aztec temple, met a village king (named Arturo, of course, because well, what else is a king to be named?), and were finally reunited with their parents. The fun didn't stop there however, the cousins got a free plane ride home, and scholarships. In Archaeology. At Harvard. Talk about thinking big.

Last Friday, was mysterious. The boys kept their stories to themselves. That was ok, however. One of them brought in a fable that they are working on at school and we critiqued that instead. It remains to be seen whether he uses our suggestions in his school assignment. I am hoping that he will let us know tonight when we have our last class. On Saturday, we finished up our second Emma and Annabeth Adventure, where we learned about oil spills and how to clean them up. I hope that student will stay with me and write another couple of stories. We talked about the idea of publishing an omnibus and where to find book covers online. We looked around and found on that published bulk for hundreds of dollars but we also found a website that could do a book cover for $3.99. A much better deal.

The 19 April Inkreadable Kids is going to be at the Washington Convention Center at the Tots to Teens expo from 10-4 pm. If you are in the DC area, come by and say hi.

That's all the news that's fit to print for this inkreadable installment. At least, until next week.

Struggles

Last week was a bit of a struggle. In the first place, I have to come to terms with the fact that kids don't work at the same speed. While the 11 year old may have a 6 or seven page story, the 8 or 9 year old may only have a two or three page story. If the kids are ok with that, then it has to be ok with me. And by extension, their parents. In an after school program, we can't expect the same output as a school can. Plus, who says that a short story has to be 5,000 words?  Mine aren't.

In fact, on Thursdays, we don't even have a page limit. In Scene Stealers, we have just finished working on a scene that focuses on dialogue, and gives the back story for two characters that the original author doesn't give readers. The difficulty there was trying to convey anger in a character who doesn't really show anger. As my student explained, the character gets angry, but it's a cold anger that simmers underneath the surface. I know from my own writing, that's hard to do. For the last two classes of Scene Stealers, I am having my student explore expository writing. Wait, expository writing you say? Why are you focusing where writers generally dislike to tread, you ask? Writing is no different than any other art. In painting, Picasso started out drawing the human figure "the right way" before he could move on to the works of his later periods. I saw an exhibit at the East Wing of the National gallery of his pencil and charcoal drawings that he did  as a teenager, and they bore no resemblance to his adult work at all. Writing is the same. You can't break the rules until you know how to use them correctly.

Meanwhile, back at the Thursday Short Story Class, as with my last session, I have taken over the writing, as I find that saves time and it allows the student to come up with the ideas faster. But I anly do that if it's one kid. In that class, we have gone on vacation with two cousins to Mexico, and gotten lost in a canoe. I've had to suspend my disbelief a bit as our protagonists have been caught by a major wave, and washed onto a sandbar. Ah, the imagination has been running wild, indeed.

On Fridays, the boys have been positively prolific. The brothers from WIS are going to treat us to two stories a piece, it seems. One has finished both stories and the other may treat us to to a story outline as well as the story that I am going to publish. Here too it has been a struggle. Here, I have been anxious that the boys aren't working at the right pace. But, who am I to judge. As long as they are having fun, I have to come to terms that it's their story and whether they finish it or not is not the issue. I have been assured that I will get the stories this week.

On Saturday, we are going to clean up an oil spill off the coast of Thailand and fix the damage from an earthquake and tsunami. As soon as I figure out how to do that. Ah, Wikipedia, sometimes you are erroneous, but sometimes, you are just the resource to get to the fact of the matter. Well, that's all she wrote. Stay tuned for our next inkreadable installment, where in we wrap up the current session and start the next.