Mary Amato

Writing with Humor & Heart

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Authors in April

May 17, 2020 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Every year, a group of dedicated and creative volunteers in the greater community of Rochester, MI, organize an astounding educational experience for children, teachers, and families in their schools called Authors in April. I was honored to be chosen as an “Authors in April” author for grades 2-3 this year and have been overwhelmed with the quality of the program they create.

When Covid-19 closed schools, the AiA team had to scramble to adapt . . . which meant so much more work for them than the already huge amount of effort that would ordinarily be necessary. Through their efforts, I was able to connect via video and zoom with 15 schools.

My thanks to entire AiA board, below, and to all the teachers and school staff, parents, and community supporters. The people who make up this organization are facilitating so much more than an annual experience, they are facilitating life-long learning.

The AiA Team

Jenny DeCuir
Tammy Posner
Jennifer Windeler
Lisa Wattai
Terry Hetrick
Valerie Kendra
Amy Schuster
Jenny Bachman
Monica Grogan
Angie Suwalkowski
Maru Ehms
Betsy Raczkowski
Marty Sibert

Filed Under: What's New Tagged With: Authors in April, Mary Amato author visits online, zoom visits with author

The Chicken of the Family Collection

March 16, 2020 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Enjoy this free collection of stories. Perfect for ages 3-6.

When you’re little, even an ordinary day is filled with big troubles and triumphs—especially when you have two older sisters who win trophies, play tricks, and seem so brave. Four-year-old Henrietta struggles with her jealousies and fears as she finds her place in her funny and loving family. This audio collection, narrated by the author, includes five new stories plus The Chicken of the Family, the beloved picture book in which Henrietta was first hatched.

Written and narrated by Mary Amato. All rights reserved.

Original music by Amy Bormet. More about her at: amykbormet.com/about/

To listen on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/mary-amato-author/sets/the-chicken-of-the-family-collection

Filed Under: What's New Tagged With: audio book, audiobook, children's book, family stories, Mary Amato, story about four-year-old

Rock Creek Forest ES Stem Songs

February 7, 2020 by Mary Amato 1 Comment

If the moon could talk, what would it say to us? What might a shadow be thinking? What would a star brag about? What’s the purpose of a constellation?

For four days, I worked with fifth graders at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School in Silver Spring, MD, to write, revise, rehearse, and record original songs about some aspect of their astronomy unit.

Four different groups of students each focused on a different topic. Instead of asking the students to write a list of facts, I asked them to take a point of view in the song and to write from that point of view.

Shadows of the Light—A song from the point of view of a shadow.

Download song sheet for lyrics and chords.

Dear Earth—A song from the point of view of the moon speaking to Earth.

Download song sheet for lyrics and chords.

I Burn—A song from the point of view of a star.

Download song sheet for lyrics and chords.

You’re Not Lost—A song from the point of view of a constellation speaking to people on Earth.

Download song sheet for lyrics and chords.

We used figurative language and literary elements to craft our songs—personification, point of view, metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance, imagery, rhyme, rhythm, and repetition.

The project also involved collaboration, brainstorming, “piggy-backing” (an idea one person throws out can give another person an idea), and revising.

Testing our ideas by first saying the rhythm of each line and then singing each line was important. In singing our lines, we discovered that we often needed to tweak a word or two.

For example, in the class that focused on writing from the point of view of a star, we discussed what happens when a star dies. One student suggested these lines: “I will die someday/But in a spectacular way.” We all liked the idea, but when we tried to sing the second line, it was hard to sing the word “spectacular”. Another student tweaked it: “I will die someday/But in an awesome way.” Everyone agreed that it still carried the meaning but it was much easier to sing.

Repetition in songwriting can be good, such as the repetition of the chorus, but some repetition is boring. We looked at those places where we could make the song more interesting by making a change.

Here is an example in the song from the point of view of a constellation: “You sing our praise, know our stories and know our names” became “You sing our praise, know our stories, and give us names.” Much more interesting and more accurate!

Another important consideration for these particular songs was scientific accuracy. We debated the accuracy of suggestions and made decisions about whether we felt comfortable with the line or needed to change it. For example, in our song from the point of view of the star, we discussed how it’s nuclear fusion, not fire, that creates the heat and light of a star, but we decided that the poetic use of “burn” worked for us. Toward the end of the same song, the star talked about dying and our first draft had these two lines: My light will fly away/But my brightness will stay. We discussed this and decided that we were okay with the poetic use of “fly away” in the first line, but that “my brightness will stay” could be misleading and contradicted the idea of the star dying. We talked about how the dying star’s energy wouldn’t ever disappear from the universe so we changed it to “My legacy will stay.”

The project, which involved taking unusual points of view, also helped to clarify, correct, or drive home concepts about astronomy that the students were learning in their science class. For example, in our song from the point of view of the moon, one student suggested that the moon would say, “I make the night.” This suggestion caused a lively discussion about the facts!  Does the moon actually cause the night? What causes night and day? As a class, we decided the moon couldn’t say that and discussed other alternatives.

Creative collaboration itself is a skill and the project enabled the students to experience the give and take of ideas and opinions. I appreciated how students often took risks by suggesting a line aloud that wasn’t a perfect fit, knowing that if we had something to work with we could collaborate and make it better. They also challenged each other in kind, polite ways.

Besides all that, students learned a few facts about about basic sound engineering–in one class, a question about the quality of the recording led us to talk about the physics of sound waves–as well as techniques for composing music, and how dynamics and energy can influence performance. Finally, many students used their artistic skills to submit topical illustrations, all of which were amazing, and some of which are displayed here.

Thanks to Ms. Fetrow, Ms. Coltrane, Ms. Puchales, Ms. Kudrick, Ms. Zariquiey, and PTA representative Clara Beshoar.

I shared a STEM song of my own with the students.

Sun’s Love Song–A song from the point of view of the sun speaking to Earth.

Download this song sheet to learn more about the science behind the song and see lyrics and chords: Lyrics & info

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's New Tagged With: Rock Creek Forest, Science and songwriting, songwriting, songwriting with kids, STE(A)M, STEAM songs, Stem Songs

Free Skype Day 2020: March 25

November 20, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Every year, I offer one free Skype day for schools and take reservations for time slots for 15-minute Q&A on a first-come, first-served basis.

To schedule a free Q&A session, please email me info (at) maryamato (dot) com from your school/library email address with all of the following info listed in one message:

    • Preferred time (listing your time zone, please)
  • Your name and your skype name.
  • Name of school, snail mail address, and phone number of school or library
  • Grade level(s), size of audience, and which of my book(s) you’d like the Q/A to focus on.

If your session is approved, you will receive guidelines via email and your school name will be added to this schedule.

Skype Workshops

I also offer effective Skype workshops for classes, groups, and individuals. See more.

Rave Reviews

  • “The skype visit with Mary Amato was great and inspiring!” –Mary Litwinczuk,  Weaver Lake Elementary, MN
  • “We had a very successful Skype experience with Mary Amato. We did the two-part character creation workshop. We would like to schedule for the same time next February!” –Hope Preston, Gill St. Bernard’s School, NJ
  • “This afternoon was incredible! All 70 sixth graders were riveted to the screen while you were talking. I can’t thank you enough for all the wonderful things you shared with us about your writing process. What a truly inspiring discussion. One really neat coincidence was that I had just shared my writing notebook earlier in the morning and then you shared yours. The connections were flying like wild fire…You have made a wonderful lasting memory for so many students today.” –Franklin, WI 6th grade teacher
  • “My students loved her and I loved the way she subtly got across the message of ‘grit.’ She told students how important it is to revise written work… and how mistakes can be a fabulous opportunity for learning.” Patricia London, Media Specialist Avon Middle-High School, MA

From Students:

  • “I don’t like writing, but when Mary said that she did not like writing as a kid and now she is a author it encouraged me to want to learn how to write now. She let me know that I could be a great author some day.” – R.J.
  • “The thing that really was a life lesson and really inspiring was the quote she said – ‘The only way you fail is by not trying.’ – Laykin
  • “The Skype with Mary Amato taught me that if you jot something down you are more likely to remember it.” – Ava
  • “It was a great experience to meet Mary Amato, and talk to her about her writing process! Skyping is a very fun activity. I would love to do it again. It is fun to see different ways authors, like Mary Amato, create amazing books. So all in all I loved Skyping with Mary Amato.” – Bailey

In-Person Visits

Want information about actual, in-person visits with me? Go to: Workshops.

Filed Under: What's New Tagged With: free skype, Mary Amato, skype, skype-an-author

Kidlit TV Appearance

September 1, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Kidlit TV asked me to talk about my Lucy McGee series and answer one very interesting question. Find out about my books and what I’d do if I found a whale in my bathtub.

Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's New Tagged With: Kidlit TV, Lucy McGee, Mary Amato, songwriting

Songwriting at Carpe Diem Arts Camp 2019

August 30, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

In my songwriting workshops at Carpe Diem Arts Camp this year, we focused on what it means to seize the day and wrote a collaborative song. Below is the recording we made after our two work sessions. As a songwriting teacher, I believe it’s important to talk about how to sing the song once it is written; so, after finishing the song, we debated vocal dynamics and instrumentation (how to play our ukes and when not to use them). Notice how the uke starts with plucking but switches to a strum on the chorus and then drops out on the bridge. Also notice how the girls grow progressively louder at the end.

https://www.maryamato.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/carpe-diem.mp3

Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's New Tagged With: Carpe Diem Arts, songwriting

National Book Festival

August 30, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

I’ll appear in the Washington Post Booth (S4) at 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 31st.

Read all about it in the KidsPost article.

Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's New Tagged With: KidsPost, national book festival

STEM plus Songwriting equals STEAM SONGS

July 22, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Octopus by Goodloe Byron

Octopus by Goodloe Byron

What is a STE(A)M Song?

Imagine the love song of an invertebrate…or a glacier…or a drone.

In my new STE(A)M Song series, I’m using STEM-related concepts as metaphors for songs about love and life. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and when you add (A)rt, such as songwriting to STEM, you get STE(A)M.

  • Listen to some of my STE(A)M songs.
  • Download the lyrics/info sheet that explains the science metaphor behind each song.
  • Find out about my songwriting workshops.

STE(A)M Songs

Quantum Physics

A love song using the metaphors of the uncertainty principle and the observer effect in physics.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info

Geology

A geology love song…in other words a rock song. Why should love songs be about hearts and flowers? A big old ordinary rock can be a symbol for love. Cover Photo by Stew Hickman.
To learn more about the science behind the song:Lyrics & info

Astronomy


A love song of an astronomer who is searching for life in the universe.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info.

The love song from the sun to us.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info

Marine Biology

A blues song written about an invertebrate (think Octopus). Cover art by Goodloe Byron.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info

A love song of the coral to its symbiotic partner, the algae.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info

Climate Change


The warning song of a glacier to us.
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info.

Chemistry

A love song with imagery from the chem lab.
To learn more about the science behind the song:Lyrics & info

Engineering/Technology


The song of an unmanned aerial vehicle addressing its engineer. Cover art: Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox Sky-Drone-Net (cropped) gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016
To learn more about the science behind the song: Lyrics & info

More Info

I do songwriting residencies in schools.
See song samples and curriculum notes from a first-grade STEM Song residency.
See song samples and curriculum notes from a fifth-grade STEM song residency.
More songs to come soon. I’ll also be posting songs that are created by students in my songwriting workshops.

Filed Under: What's New Tagged With: Science and songwriting, songwriting, STE(A)M, STEM, STEM workshops

New Jersey School Visits

March 14, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Big thanks to Christine Kelly at Sussex Avenue Elementary School in Morristown, Mary DeNunzio at South End Elementary School in Cedar Grove, and Linda Leddy at North End Elementary School in Cedar Grove for hosting me. I had fun sharing my childhood diaries and all my tips for writing stories and songs. Students and staff at all three schools were engaged and eager to read, write, and sing.

Thanks also to The Bookworm at Bernardsville and Watchung Booksellers for handling book sales.



Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's New

Songwriting Workshop at Stedwick Elementary School

March 6, 2019 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

How spirit-lifting it was to walk into Mary Ruth McGinn’s classroom at Stedwick Elementary School and see a circle of third graders with their ukuleles, ready to write songs.

Before my arrival, the teacher and I had already begun to give the students the experience of critique and revision—an essential part of the songwriting process. About a week before the workshop, McGinn emailed me a draft of a collaborative song, I wrote comments, made suggested edits, and emailed it back. She shared that with the students and together they re-wrote one of the verses and talked through why I had made the suggestions I had made.

During the workshop, we set those lyrics to music and practiced it. After that, we wrote an entire new song together. The focus for this workshop was on a trio of elements that are often employed in songwriting: rhythm, repetition, and rhyme. As we wrote, we tested each lyric line to a beat to make sure the rhythm of the words sounded right. Sometimes, we had to make a change, such as substituting a one syllable word for a longer word if the line sounded awkward.

When it was time to write our new song, I taught how I often start by writing down a lot of possible ideas, rather than just one idea for each line. For example, in the first four-line verse, when it came time to write the last line, I asked them for lots of ideas. I wrote them all down so we could pick the one we liked best.

If I built a wall,
I’d build three more
It would be a small house
With a door
(or one of these instead)
With four doors
With sixteen doors
With a floor
With a floor and a door

We ended up liking the humor and the symbolism of sixteen doors.

Next, we worked on the idea of establishing and repeating a pattern. In this case, the pattern for each verse was four lines with the second and fourth line repeating. We also worked on the idea that the chorus of a song can be simple and make use of repetition.
Here’s the whole song:

If I built a wall,
I’d build three more
It would be a small house
With sixteen doors

If I built a window
I’d look outside
I’d say, “Hello World”
To the bright blue sky.

CHORUS:
So many people can come inside.
So many people can come inside.
Come inside!

If I built a roof
I’d make it warm
It would keep us safe
From the big dark storm.

If I built a floor
I’d use it for my band.
Everybody come
And jump and dance.

CHORUS:
So many people can come inside.
So many people can come inside.
Come inside!
Come inside!

Thanks to Carpe Diem Arts, Inc., the non-profit arts organization that organized and funded the experience, to Busy Graham, CDA’s founder, Ms. McGinn, and all her students.

Filed Under: What's New Tagged With: Carpe Diem Arts, Mary Amato, songwriting, Stedwick Elementary School

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Humor and Heart

I give voice to the funny, sad, messy, and wondrous stories of life, especially the stories of children and young adults. My mission: each book has humor and heart. If you are a teen and/or you're looking for info about my books and music for older readers, please check out my www.thrumsociety.com site.
Learn more about my mission and resources.

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