Claudia Cangilla McAdam
Author of Works for Children and Young Adults
Via PowerPoint, Claudia shares her book Do You See What I See?
featuring the photography of John Fielder.
Poetry Writing
In the subsequent writing workshop, Claudia discusses the poems' rhyme scheme, rhythm, and the use of powerful verbs and descriptive phrases.
She then shows the class a portion of a nature photo.
Students give their feedback on what they could be seeing.
Together, the class devises three rhyming questions as to what the revealed
portion of the photo could possibly be.
Then the entire, uncovered photo is shown to them.
Students then craft the final line, which describes what the scene actually is.
If time permits, students are given individual nature photographs overlaid with cutouts and are encouraged to write their own four-line rhyming poems, which can be shared with the class by those who so desire.
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The final line answers the question as to what the viewer has been seeing,
and the facing page reveals the gorgeous scene:
Through examples from published works and fun writing activities,
students learn how to craft powerful beginnings, employ strong verbs (such as the verb employ rather than "use" 😊), punch up dialogue, "show" rather than "tell," and dive into simile, metaphor, alliteration, anthropomorphism, and so much more!
How a Story Becomes a Book
A fun exploration of the writer's life, answering all sorts of questions:
Where do you get your ideas?
How much money do you make?
Who is your favorite author?
Which of your books is your favorite?
Where do you find your illustrators? (Short answer: authors don't procure their illustrators--that's the publisher's job, BUT every once in a while...)
This 48-page book contains 11 photographs of beautiful Colorado landscapes.
A cutout on the right-hand side shows a snippet of the photo.
Three rhyming lines on the left question what the peek-a-boo opening shows:
Workshops
Interested in investigating what kind of workshop
might be appropriate for your class?
Go to the "Contact" page and shoot off an email.
Let's discuss!
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Teachers, Homeschoolers, Librarians...
These Workshops can be Conducted in Person or Virtually.
Want to Learn More about Them?
Make Your Writing Better