Isles School, April 2011
5th grade..monsters, space ships.. terrible. Mrs. Smith.
Grandpa, three fingers. Pop goes the weasel The teacher liked it! My friends liked it! 2 donkeys… one bucked Aunt Lizzie into a tank full of water Same! Grandma… cutting chickens head off… backed her into a bush Same!
First poem… Huh? What’d you do last night? I caught lightening bugs..fireflies.
The Boy with the Firefly Eyes
To the boy with the firefly eyes we said, “Boy.. with the firefly eyes. You shore can, yes you shore can catch them fireflies whether on or off those lights would go that boy would catch them high or low to the ground don’t you know that boy was fast!” Now fire----flies… the strange little things, Don’t come out in the day But they come out at that peculiar time When the light’s just fadin’ away
And you won’t find that firefly bug in a mug or a rug or your grandpa’s jug or anywhere else it seems. And you gotta grab fast or the light won’t last and the firefly’ll get away clean.
Oh, none could match his speed, he grace, and the way he caught those things. And in the firefly catchers club he was the absolute King. They’d go up and up he’d go! Fly low? He’d hit his knees… They’d whirl, he’d whirl…. They’d flash, he’d dash.. As easy as you please.
The trick he found, was to sit on the ground and pretend he wasn’t there Then just when mister lightening bug would glow he’d jump up in the air. And I’ll bet you think he killed ‘em when they were tryin’ to glow.. I gotta confess, he hated the mess and he always let ‘em go.
I got it published in my school newspaper! 25 copies! Wow! Why? Because I found out that everybody liked catching fireflies! I wrote about the things I knew about.
A book publisher came to me and asked me to write a book. I remembered my fifth grade teacher and I wrote about the things that had really happened to me. Now…six books! Each of you has stories inside you… In a few minutes, we’ll dig some out.
Maybe you’ve got this problem: My friend…Japanese restaurant. Dumplings.
Maybe…just maybe…if you don’t like to write, it’s because you’ve been eating chop suey instead of crab Rangoon… maybe you might like writing about real things in your life. Maybe you haven’t given the other topics a chance.
1st thing….Write about the things you know…
2nd thing you need to become a writer The answer is right here in front of me…. Him!... (talk to him)… People are the most interesting things in this room. Get to know them. Chances are, they’re a lot like you. (Who covers us everything but your mouth?.. take one large step into bed)Ball Toss.--What were you most afraid of when you were little? ---Your favorite toy when you were little. --Name one person other than your Mom or Dad who you really admire. --If you could be anywhere in the world right now?
People! People are Interesting! People are awesome! Get to know people! Write about people! Anybody have a really weird Uncle? Anybody have a grandma who likes to squeeze your cheeks? Anybody have a dad who does really embarrassing things to you? (My Dad: sings to the music in WalMart.)
Probably the main reason I’m a writer is because I think people are really cool.. I always want to know about them.. For example, right now I’d love to know… (audience)
Audience! You need an audience. You need somebody to read what you’ve written or to listen to it!
Last week: Income taxes..no audience. Planted flowers, Oatmeal. Any fun to write something knowing no one would ever read it?
Get an audience. Tell your teacher you want to read your stuff everywhere.. for everybody.. Read for mom and dad. Read for Grandpa and Grandma. Read for your classmates. Read for your dog. Two roughnecks……Jeremy and Josh. .. all they could think about was skateboarding… I teamed them up and let them write together… Every weekend they met to write. They loved to perform it. One is now owns his own tractor business and the other is a Xtreme Wrestling Champion.
When you write something you like, tell someone to sit down and listen to you read it. Tell your teacher you’d like to read it in class.
Watch this! Magic! I’m going to read your minds! I’m going to hear the little thoughts inside your head. PRETEND: I’m a teacher and this afternoon I give you a writing assignment for tomorrow. Wait! Wait! I can hear the thoughts! “I don’t know what to write about.” “Oh, it won’t be good enough..” “Oh, they’re all gonna laugh at me.” “Oh, I can’t spell.” “Oh, I don’t know where to put the commas.” “Oh, if it’s not perfect, I’ll just die!” “Oh, I might have to listen to some bald guy talk about writing.”
….. Stop writing like your afraid of making a mistake. Write because it’s fun and you like to do it! When you begin writing, don’t worry about making mistakes…just write. After you’ve written it the first time, then you can go back and make it better. Basketball coach. Must be perfect in first game! Make every shot! Get every rebound! Block every shot! No… you try to play basketball then you keep working to get better. You don’t have to be perfect the first time.
Now…let’s work on getting ideas… Koosh ball.
----A time when you were very scared. ---A smell...that every time you smell it, it makes you feel good --- The funniest member of your family --- The biggest mess you ever made --- The nicest thing somebody ever did for you ---The funniest thing that happened at school yesterday.
Improv: The Brain Word Tennis Sound Circle Who Is? Simul-Talk Statue Line Talk Late for School
Questions?
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