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Graeme George

Something Good!

The world has begun to take stock in a few good things that have happened during the pandemic. I would include my Zoom visit with the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) as one of those surprise blessings. I had such a good time working on list poems with them. Take a look at some of their creations. A special thank you to Ms Catherine Bae, their amazing librarian, who organized this visit. The poem below is entitled SUMMER ROCKS by Mr George’s Second Grade. Isn’t it grand?!

San Francisco Blurbs

Recently a librarian from the Children’s Day School in San Francisco shared the feedback that many of her students wrote after reading The Yin-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful. I’ve been smiling ever since because of their kind words and insight into this story. They also shared some pictures of the dragons they imagined. I hope these Kindergarteners and First Graders inspire you as well! I’m now blessed to have an online visit with them scheduled for June. Can’t wait!

“I liked that…at first they thought that they had to frighten the dragon, but then they realized that the dragon just wanted something – that it didn’t mean to be frightening.” Arcadia

“Your story is very good. I like your story a lot because it has dragons and I like dragons.” Max

“I like the parts where Mei helps Wei. Thank you for sharing your story with us!” Zaina

“I appreciate the author for being really nice to write this story!” Aaron

“One thing I liked about the story was that one of the sisters helped the other sister!! Thank you for sharing your story with us!!” Riley

“It was a cool story and nice. They act dis-alike: One’s scared and one likes to fight and they both were brave at the end.” Yahli

“The sisters worked together as a team and didn’t give up until they did it. I like the details of the story and the handwriting. It was just so joyful to hear that story!” Rohan

“One of the things I like about your story is the part when Wei went to Kung Fu class. I also like the pictures!” Malinteotl 

“It was funny when you said the sticky buns for the dragon” Kalyani

“They’re both really brave because, well, Mei at the beginning thought she was NOT brave but she actually IS brave.” Lisana

“The Yin-Yang sisters are similar because they’re both very brave. I liked your story because the people are really brave.” Kalyani

“I appreciate Nancy Tupper Ling because the two sisters kept on trying. The brave one actually made the dragon feel better and the really brave one tried her very best – and they kept on trying until they got it!” Vera

“What I liked about the story was that they may be opposites but sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and do what your fears are. I was really scared to go on these swings and I went on there . . . I just took a deep breath and went on there.” Parker

 

WRAD 2020

Long before COVID-19 was on our radar, back when we were only worried about the common cold, I had a fabulous visit with the Cottage Street Elementary School in Sharon for World Read Aloud Day (February 5, 2020). What amazed me, as always, was how deep and real and fabulous the students’ questions were about my picture books. These First Graders and Kindergarteners were such discerning readers, asking all sorts of questions about writing and dragons. If all goes well, I will venture back to their school in April to create a few Double Happiness poems.

Poetry of Place with Ms Giampietro’s First Graders

I had such a fantastic visit at the Hardy Elementary School in Wellesley last week. Together we created seasonal poems about winter and summer. I also gave them a creative writing assignment. They answered 10 questions about their favorite place. These questions served as prompts for their Poetry of Place poems. You won’t believe what amazing poems these first graders wrote. Click on FirstGradePoemsMsGiampetro to  read their work!

A Few Local School Visits

On May 5th, I’ll be stopping by Elm Street school, to hang out with the Kindergarten classes. Looking forward to reading My Sister, Alicia May with them, talking about Down syndrome and creating some poems of our own. On May 21st, I’m doing a workshop at Blessed Sacrament school called Storing Up Treasures, which is all about observation and writing. Can’t wait!