Workshops

Writing Workshops for K-8

1. Free mini-comic author visit workshops
2. Read and Write Sports workshop in a book

1. Free mini-comic author visit workshops

For some of my books, I’ve created printable mini-comics that invite readers to write and/or draw their own mini-comic in a short DIY workshop.

Q. How do you fold a mini-comic?
A. Follow the directions in this video tutorial.

Click on the book title in the list below to see the booktalk for each book. If you don’t already have this book in your library, use the Hoopla, Overdrive, and WorldCat links to find a copy.

To find an e-book at your local library, click on the Hoopla or Overdrive links in each blog post. To see if the public library has a print copy, click on the WorldCat link. (WorldCat is an library catalog that lists 2 billion items in more than 10,000 libraries worldwide.)

DIY Mini-comics

Books with DIY Mini-comics

The printable mini-comics are in a Beacon Library app in the cloud.

  • Click on the word mini-comic and a new screen will open the Beacon Library app.
  • Enter your contact info and the Beacon Library app will email you a download link.
  • Print your comic on 8.5×11″ paper in full-color or gray-scale (black ink only).

2.Read and Write Sports workshop in a book

Read and Write Sports

Find at a library near you with WorldCat
@ Amazon | Books-a-Million | Bookshop | GooglePlay | Walmart

“The activities outlined in the book are helpful for writers who need structured support to help guide them, and the lesson plans are clearly laid out.” —School Library Journal

This “writing workshop in a book” was created by/for author visits in Allen ISD, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Coppell ISD, Dallas ISD, Diocese of Dallas Schools, Duncanville ISD, Fort Worth ISD, Frisco ISD, Keller ISD, Krum ISD, Garland ISD, Highland Park ISD, Mesquite ISD, Plano ISD, Plano Public Library, Richardson ISD, Richardson Public Library, and Van Alstyne Public Library.

This book allows students to bring the energy of their everyday lives into the classroom via sports-based readers theatre and writing activities.

5 team sports

  • football
  • baseball
  • basketball
  • hockey
  • soccer

5 individual athletic pursuits

  • skating
  • gymnastics
  • track
  • BMX
  • skateboarding

Use a classroom-tested “writing workshop in a book” with 10 sports –one for each month of the school year– with graphic organizers that guide students in grades 3-8 as they write expository paragraphs, narrative scenes, or action-reaction poems in a single class period.

Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3–8 makes students forget they’re learning by delivering the action and emotion of their favorite pursuits as they participate in readers theatre activities and writing exercises such as composing an action-reaction poem for each sport.

These activities allow students to draw from their personal experience and bring their extracurricular activities into the classroom by writing a narrative scene or asking a question and researching the answer for different sports throughout the school year.

Each chapter provides “filled-out” examples to model the pre-writing process, making it easy for students to see how others think before they write.

Features

  • Presents ten original readers theater scripts about sports for children in elementary and middle school
  • Provides a sample “GO Chart” with each prose and poetry writing exercise so students have an example to follow
  • Includes a word search and a crossword puzzle with each of the ten sports, providing valuable spelling and vocabulary activities
  • Contains appendixes with helpful charts and black line masters for instructors

Highlights

  • Provides leveled scripts with participation opportunities for every student in the class through each play’s “crowd” part
  • Turns “reluctant” writers into enthusiastic, active writers
  • Includes graphic organizers that guide students through writing expository paragraphs, narrative scenes, or action-reaction poems in a single class period
  • Teaches students to triangulate their research by using 21st century skills to find three verifying sources

As you share this question-directed writing process with your students, you are also teaching your students to be editors. Yes, even elementary school students can help each other write. Peer editing is an important part of becoming a writer. Asking questions at each stage of the writing process helps young writers clarify what they want to say. It is a practical way to help your students realize that they are writing for an audience.

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