SUMMER PICTURES: USING GOOGLE IMAGE AS A WRITING TOOL

by Jacqueline Jules

When I began writing my picture book, Picnic at Camp Shalom, I had a problem. For marketing reasons, my editor requested a summer camp setting. While I agreed that my story of friendship and misunderstandings would work well at a summer camp, I panicked.  My childhood memories of summer camp were dim, at best. Was there a way I could boost my recollection of an experience I had nearly 40 years ago?  Yes, there was! Google searches provided information on summer camp programs complete with pictures and testimonies. My research taught me that a swim test is a typical first day activity. This gave me my opening scene in which my protagonists, Carly and Sara, meet at the lake. Later, I read that scavenger hunts are popular for getting new campers acquainted with the grounds, giving me material for the second scene in the book.

While a random internet search may not be a good source for collecting facts for nonfiction writing, it can offer great assistance for developing descriptive details. Google Images provided just the picture I needed when trying to visualize the cabin Carly and Sara slept in. I often use Google images to prod me into better descriptions. Staring at a picture for a few minutes can  help me imagine my character’s surroundings.

Before you ask your students to write about their summer vacations, display pictures of beaches, swimming pools, fireworks, and other summer scenarios on your classroom screen. Talk about the sensory details these images evoke. What does the sand feel like between your toes? Did you see sand crabs disappearing into tiny holes? How did the water smell? Did the shiny pool rails gleam in the sun?  How would you describe the sound of people diving off the board? Could you compare it to anything else?

As a pre-writing activity, have your students study the details of displayed pictures and discuss ways of describing them. Figurative language requires thought. Giving your students a little time to visualize the scenes they plan to write about will enliven their writing.

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PLANNING TO WRITE: The Shrimp Cocktail Disaster

by Jacqueline Jules

In a February blog post, I discussed the use of graphic organizers  as a useful tool in pre-writing with primary school students. Pre-writing or jotting down ideas before you begin generally results in a more fleshed out story.

In addition, standardized writing tests can expect students to show some evidence of pre-writing or planning. The short essay part of the Virginia Standards of Learning Assessment includes a checklist for fifth graders, asking students to plan before they begin their written answer.

For an easy method of planning, teach your students to ask themselves a few simple questions.

First off, tell your students to answer this all important question: What is your story about? Are you relating a first experience? A funny experience? A lesson learned? An obstacle overcome?

Identifying the topic leads to the next question. What do you want your reader to feel?  Do you want your reader to laugh with you or cry? Are you trying to warn your reader  or  hoping to share a wonderful experience? Narrowing down your purpose helps you choose the best details to support your central theme.

For example, let me take you through my own planning for the following prompt: THINK BACK TO A MOMENT YOU’LL NEVER FORGET.

The moment I want to write about is something I dub “The Shrimp Cocktail Disaster.” It happened when I was in my early twenties, working as a waitress in a seafood restaurant. I was hurrying, with a huge tray of shrimp cocktails on my shoulder, to a party of twelve people in the back room of the restaurant. Just as I reached the table, I slipped on a wet spot and came crashing down, shrimp cocktails and all! The twelve hungry people at the table collectively moaned as shrimp and red sauce splattered everywhere.

“The Shrimp Cocktail Disaster” could be told in at least two different ways, if not more. Figuring out my purpose beforehand will provide focus and depth to my writing.   

First off, what is my story about? Is this a lesson learned? Don’t run with a tray of twelve shrimp cocktails? Or is it a funny experience, intended to make the reader laugh?

If I want my reader to laugh, then I should spend time describing the splattered red sauce, the shrimp flying across the room, and the awkward position of my exposed legs as I sat in the mess on the floor.       

If I want this to be a cautionary tale, I could include details about my impatience to be finished with my shift and my preoccupation with the amount of tip I could expect from such a large party that caused me to ignore what should have been an obvious spill on the floor.

Finally, I should decide the order in which I want to tell the tale. Should I begin with dropping the tray and share the details in flashback? Or should I tell the story in chronological order?

For humorous impact, it might be funnier to begin with a short slapstick teaser and then go back and tell how it happened. For a more serious account, maybe I would want to tell the story in chronological order. I could show how distracted I was and build the tension to my clumsy moment. Either way, planning ahead of time will help me focus the story and convey the meaning I intend to my reader.

So planning can all boil down to three easy questions: What am I writing about? What do I want my reader to feel? And what order should I tell my story?

www.jacquelinejules.com

SNOW GLOBES AND GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

by Jacqueline Jules

I remember the first time I was introduced to graphic organizers. It was a professional development day early in my teaching career, probably twenty years ago. The presenter in the workshop was so excited to share them. He gushed on about their usefulness in the classroom as if they were the best thing since sliced bread. I yawned. Freshly baked whole loaves are my preference and I have never personally used a graphic organizer. That doesn’t mean I forgo pre-writing. My writing always flows better after scribbling down some rough ideas before beginning a story or a poem. It’s the graphic organization of those ideas that made me uncomfortable. My brain doesn’t seem respond to connecting circles and boxes.

So I never used it in my own teaching, figuring my students couldn’t possibly be motivated by something that didn’t work for me personally. What an arrogant mistake!

Recently, two second grade teachers at the school where I work showed me the power of pre-writing with graphic organizers. They found a delightful lesson on Deanna Jump’s teaching blog about snowglobes. Each child not only created a snowglobe for the bulletin board, he or she wrote a story about what it would be like to live in a snowglobe.

When I read these second grade stories, I was blown away by the details the children included. They imagined the sensation of having their homes shaken up. They described snowflakes flickering down. Some imagined ways to break out of the snow globe to return to the real world. Others wrote about an idyllic life of sledding and hot cocoa. The stories were detailed and filled with sensory images.

“How did you do this?” I asked my two colleagues. “How did you get your second graders to write such descriptive and imaginative stories?”

The answer was pre-writing with graphic organizers. Before beginning their stories, the class discussed snow globes at length and the children were asked to fill out two sheets.

One sheet asked the students to fill in ideas of what it might be like to live in a snowglobe using an organizer from Valerie Noles' blog.

Another sheet asked the students to complete sentences. If I Lived in a Snow Globe, I would see…., I would hear …. , I would smell…, I would feel… from the First Grade Blue Skies blog  

This humbling experience not only convinced me that graphic organizers are useful teaching tools for pre-writing, it reminded me of all the wonderful resources teachers generously share on the internet. I am a little embarrassed I didn’t embrace organizers before, but sometimes, even the best of us, overlook good teaching practices.  

www.jacquelinejules.com