Love to Write for Children? Spread the Love – to Them

Year-end is a good time to stop and think about why we do what we do. Why do many of us chose to write for children? Why does Andrea spend hours agonizing over the perfect rhyming word? Why does Miss Kitty unleash her popcorn brain on the youth of America?

            Speaking for myself, I spend hours on YA stories because I like young people. Good books provide not only knowledge and information for children and teens, but also provide a safe escape from their rapidly changing, sometimes angst-driven lives. We should encourage children's love of reading – and writing. Writing's an important life skill – and if students are cheered on, maybe they’ll grow to love the process as much as the Route 19 Writers!

The school district where I live thankfully has a strong writing program. Focus on writing starts early, in grade school, and continues through graduation and all those hair-pulling college essays. In 6th, 7th & 8th grades, the writing labs in our two middle schools offer an extra special component – interested adults are invited to attend a training session, and then come in throughout the school year and help students by giving an "adult conference" for their writing assignments. After more than six years of helping, student papers can still make me burst out laughing and, sometimes, struggle to hold back tears.

The goal of this volunteer program is two-fold: to help students with their writing assignments and enthusiastically encourage their efforts.

As you probably well know, there's a right way and a wrong way to work with children. As my gift to our readers, I’d like to share the following time-tested guidelines for working with student writers. The guidelines were developed by some pretty terrific educators at our writing labs. 

Conferencing Guidelines

(some of these might sound odd or even bossy, but bear with me)

·        Review the paper’s guidelines beforehand, and make sure you understand what the teacher is looking for in this assignment. Trust the teacher!  Each assignment is building different skills and you’re just seeing one tiny slice of what's planned for the year.  (You may think the concluding paragraph is a mess, but the teacher may not care – that may be a lesson she hasn't focused on yet)

·        Introduce yourself to the child and greet the writer by name. ( Hi Sam, I'm Mrs. Ramaley, I love your jersey. Are you a hockey fan? a little something to break the ice helps). Sit side by side with the paper on a table in front of you.

·        Make sure the writer has a pencil and holds it ready to write. Feel free to jot notes on a spare sheet or the student’s “conference” sheet provided by the teacher, but YOU should NEVER write on the student’s paper.  If you write on the paper, you are “taking ownership”. Not good.

·        Ask the writer to read his or her entire paper out loud. You’ll be amazed at how often a writer will self-correct when they read out loud. Encourage them to make notes/corrections right away when they stumble on an error so they don't forget to fix it.

·        First, find something in the writing to Praise (wow, you’ve done a really great job in finding 2 strong quotes), then Question an item that needs improving (hmm, the teacher wants 3 events to support your topic sentence, but you’ve only got 2. Can you think of a 3rd example you could add?). If a student seems stuck, Suggest something that may jog the writer's thoughts. This can be tricky; it’s their paper and you don’t want to rob them of the chance to come up with an idea, but sometimes they need a nudge. (You haven’t mentioned the best friend in the story. Could you use something that happens with Jeremy for your 3rd event?). Your mom/dad/auntie/grandpap/wise adult intuition comes in handy during a conference.

Here’s a few Questions you can use:

o   What do you think is the strongest part of your paper? The weakest?

o   Is there anything you’d like me to pay attention to?

o   Can you tell me more about  . . . ?

o   What would happen if . . . ?

·        Focus on a few areas for revision; DON’T overwhelm the student with too many changes – trust me, their eyes will glaze over. For a strong writer, maybe 3 suggestions. For a child who is struggling, maybe just one - if you can help them improve one thing and make them feel good about it – that’s something to be proud of. You're not there to “fix” the writer’s paper or to get the writer an A. You’re there to encourage the student and help him or her meet the assignment requirements. Be especially wary of not trying to do too much with your OWN CHILD.

·        Recommend a second adult conference, if needed.

·        Alert the teacher if you see a problem you can’t solve. Be discrete, and keep your experience confidential. (No blabbing to another adult that you just conferenced with that Ramaley kid and boy, did she need help – no no no no no!)

·        Always remember that you have no idea what kind of day a child is having – maybe her best friend just yelled at her, or maybe her dog died this morning. A friendly word and praises and a few minutes of interested attention can do more good than your realize.

Happy Holidays to you and yours! And may the New Year bring some Happy Conferencing!

The Best Laid Plans

Back in my high school days, you wouldn’t have caught me dead at a high school football game on a Friday night. If an event didn’t involve art, theater or female songwriters, it was of no interest to me. Who knew that several decades later you’d find me in the stands at every above-freezing home game. Why?

            My daughter joined the marching band. 

            There wasn’t a demand for her viola so she became a member of the Guard, the team of girls who wave the flags in glorious, swirling precision to the music. Last month she asked if we could host one of the dinners held before the home games. 

As a YA writer, I was thrilled. Here was a golden opportunity to talk to 17 high-school girls about what novels they love to read. I had the whole thing planned – over a hearty meal I’d ask about their favorite books, talk about characters they loved, discuss beloved authors – and I'd write up the results for this blog.

            "No," my daughter said. "Bad idea." She tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. The girls flew in, did their hair and makeup, gossiped about boys, chattered like, well, high schoolers, ate, grabbed their treat bags and flew back out the door to get to the school by Report Time. Even if there was time and interest, I'd have been too busy pouring drinks and setting out dishes to participate.

            Research plans, like life, don't always go the way you hope. 

            A few of the Guard Girls came for a social visit a few nights later and were happy to chat about books that night. While I didn't get to talk to the entire team, four girls were happy to give me their picks. When I asked them about some of my favorite YA books like Looking for Alaska and Thirteen Reasons Why, they said they had read them, but didn't rank them with their favorites. That surprised me. Other award-winners did show up. Here's their list:

The Harry Potter series (2 & 6 were special favorites), by J.K. Rowling

Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale

A Great & Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray

Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie and Scott Gustafson 

Angus, Thongs and Full- Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Louise Rennison

Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie

Nancy Drew Series: Secret of Shadow Ranch & The Secret of the Old Clock, by Carolyn Keene

            Isn't it interesting that these older classics popped up? Not the 'results' that I was expecting – but that's why I make myself do research even if it's something I dread (like calling that scientist about water analysis equipment for the story I’m working on).

            What was expected was a good meal. If you're going to feed teens who report for duty at 5:15 pm and won't be done until 11:00 pm, you want to serve food they'll eat instead of push around their plates. Ilene, another mom and a great cook, teamed up with me on the food. The girls loved the dinner.

Here's our menu and a recipe.

Spinach lasagna

Baked Squash (with egg, flour, sugar & cinnamon)

Raw broccoli salad with cashews, sunflower seeds & cran-raisins (this was wonderful, too bad I forgot to pull it out of the refrigerator and serve it!)

Green salad with cherry tomatoes & feta cheese

Cornflake Chicken

Brownies & crisped rice treats

Recipe for Cornflake Chicken

(The coating keeps the chicken incredibly moist)

• 2 cups cornflakes, pulverized in a food processor or crushed in a sealable plastic bag, but not crushed to the consistency of flour. A mix of small chunks and fine crumbs make a crunchier coating.
• ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese (if I use Kraft's, I skip the salt)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper if you want
• 3-4 lbs of chicken – I use boneless breasts cut in half or thirds to make smaller pieces. Reminds the kids of XL chicken nuggets.
• 2-3 eggs

Oven: preheat to 350 degrees F.

• Line a couple 13x9 baking pans with foil and spray with cooking spray (I like canola oil).
• In one shallow bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Mix the cornflake crumbs, parmesan cheese and spices in baggie, then pour some of this mixture into a second shallow bowl.
• Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, then roll/coat all sides in the cornflake mix (refill bowl as needed). Place in the prepared baking pan. Don't let the pieces touch. When finished, I like to lightly spray the chicken with some more cooking spray, but that's optional.
• Bake for 1 hour, without turning. Chicken will be crispy, golden and delicious.

If you're not cooking for a crowd, cut down the recipe. Use drumsticks or other bone-in chicken pieces if you prefer, just pierce the skin and make sure the juices run clear to test for doneness. If you have leftover cornflake crumbs, seal up the bag and keep it in the refrigerator for the next time.       

Hope your friends/family/guests enjoy!

Cheers, Jenny Ramaley