Category: What’s New
-
Project Noteworthy with Lima Symphony Orchestra
Music lifts us and connects us and is a lifelong partner in expressing our emotions. Thanks to the Lima Symphony Orchestra and a project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts coordinated by LSO’s Renee Keller, I led a songwriting project with four 4th-5th grade classes in four different Ohio schools to explore and…
-
Teacher Appreciation
As my thank-you to the dedication that classroom teachers have shown in the 2020-2021 school year, I am offering free admission to my online summer sessions. I teach a much-loved writing workshop every Friday from 1:00-1:30 pm EST. During Teacher Appreciation Week (May 3-7) classroom teachers may join for any or all of the June,…
-
Postcards from Mars
March 2021 Imagine you are an alien from another planet and you travel to earth. You see kids playing basketball. How would you describe it? You taste a cheese sandwich. How would you describe that? I gave West fifth graders the following challenge: choose an object and then describe it as if you are an…
-
Writing Devices
Introducing a new series of entertaining and educational videos, each focused on a different rhetorical device that you can employ to make your writing pop. These videos are brought to you by Firefly Shadow Theater. Watch them all and share them with writers, students, and teachers. We’ll be posting more videos as we create them. Stay…
-
Raising the Stakes
You win a pizza! Unfortunately after you pick it up, you trip and the pizza splats onto the sidewalk. Life is full of ups and downs and so are stories. Ups and downs are what makes a story interesting. You read to find out what is going to happen next. In my February workshop with…
-
Getting Into Character
Writing is a lot like acting. Writers get into character and see and feel the scene as if it is really happening. We explore this idea in my second workshop with West 5th graders. On the spot we use my WOW formula to create a basic outline for a story. WOW means Want, Obstacle, Win.…
-
Overcoming the Dragon of Fear
West Education Campus Residency December 11, 2020 When I join the first online session for my writing residency with West Education Campus, a handful of fifth graders are already on, talking to their teachers Ms. Wolf and Ms. Snell about the new video game they’re enjoying. The moment I pop into an online class always…
-
Introducing the newest Lucy McGee book
So excited to share the newest Lucy book with my readers. In this fourth book, Lucy experiences some tumultuous emotional storms! I love exploring the social-emotional learning that comes with being a part of a friend group and a part of a family–with a little music-making along the way, of course. And don’t forget to…
-
Traveling Tales
From the pen of award-winning children’s book author Mary Amato come three timeless, original stories specifically written for audio. Each story features a character who takes an unexpected journey. Lovingly-crafted long-form stories with rich language and imagery, The Chair, The Umbrella Maker and her Son, and Goose Child are meant for young children and adults…
-
Online Experiences Fall 2020
Here is my schedule for high-quality, high-energy educational experiences. If you want a class that is already booked or you don’t find a time/date that works, please don’t hesitate to sign up for Wait List (see right) or contact me and let me know what you’re looking for. No promises, but I’ll try to add…