Lucy here—I would love to come to your school and share my books with your students! Since my books are picture books, they would appeal the most to PreK-2nd graders. However, I’m willing to present to any grade level. I show PowerPoint slides throughout my presentations.
A typical visit from me would go like this:
Introduce myself to the students
Show some of my own writing from when I was in school
Read one or more of my books (depending on time)
Give one of my talks/presentations, suitable for the grade level(s):
Pre-K: Odds are, they are a little too squirmy to sit through a presentation so I will probably just read one or more books to this group.
K & 1st Grade: My talk for this group focuses on Reasons to Read so they can start building a love of reading (and writing).
2nd Grade and Up: My talk for these grades focuses on the writing process, comparing it to baking a cake.
Take questions
Story Sparks Activity
“Story Sparks” is a brainstorming activity that works best in smaller settings, like a single classroom. This activity is a great way to show kids how easily the “spark” of an idea can turn into a story full of possibilities!
The activity works like this: I have plastic Easter eggs, and each color corresponds to an element of a story. Each egg contains a slip of paper with a word or phrase. I let kids pick at least one egg of each color. Then I collect the chosen eggs, read the enclosed elements out loud, and write them down on a board. Next, it’s up to the kids to come up with story ideas using all the elements. When they have an idea, they raise their hand and share it with the group. I usually do several rounds of this activity. I have the kids just say their ideas aloud, but if you’d like them to be written down for later use in a writing activity, feel free to have them do so.
How a round of this brainstorming activity might go if the chosen eggs/elements are:
Character: Girl
Setting: House
Activity/Verb: Doing Homework
Emotion: Surprise
Object: Teddy Bear
The story idea that a kid might come up with that ties all these elements together: A girl is at home working on her homework. She is surprised when her teddy bear starts talking to her.
Visit Fees and Requirements
DID YOU KNOW?
I’m on the Teaching Artist Roster for the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Education program. That means I’m an artist that is approved to work on grant-funded Tennessee Arts Commission projects and programs, so grant money could be used to bring me to your school!
My fee for a visit is $500. I also request reimbursement for travel, at the rate of $0.70 per mile.
If I am coming to visit your school, you MUST send your students home with an order form and have them return those order forms (with payment, more below*) before my visit. Ideally, have the students return their order forms a couple of days before I visit and tally up the total number of books that they have ordered. This way, you can inform me ahead of time approximately how many books I should bring with me when I come. I will always bring extra, but knowing a rough number helps me prepare.
*I accept both cash (exact change is preferred) and checks for order payment. I also now offer the option where orders can be placed and paid for online. If a book is ordered online, it’s still helpful if the student returns a filled-out-order form, just so there is another record of the order—especially useful if the online order was placed the morning of the visit!
In the past, I have accepted order forms and signed books in front of kids on the day of my visit, usually right after I present. This has never really worked well and is a bookkeeping nightmare for me after the fact. Going forward, I will pre-sign any books ordered online, and then privately sort out and sign any other books after my presentation(s) on the day of my visit.
I have some activity and coloring sheets based on my books that I can leave with teachers to make copies to share with their students either before or after my visit.