School Events

; ;

“Many, many thanks for the inspiration and enjoyment you gave to our students today. I was able to talk to several students and they let me know how much they enjoyed the assemblies. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with us.” Sincerely, Madeleine de la Fontaine-Beaudoin, Principal St. Theresa School, Oakland, CA, February 2006.

	Presentation overview: I work primarily with grades K through 5 in assemblies. I am also available to work with middle school children. My books are written for K through fourth grade but have a wide appeal to children of all ages. For my readings, I have my books on Power Point to accommodate large groups for high quality digital presentation.I can be flexible in my presentation to accomodate age range of the students and goals of the school. I have two primary types presentations; 1. writing, illustrating, and my books and career. 2. The Sonoran Desert, Baja and the Gulf of California and the ecology of these very sensitive ecosystems. I talk about how the various characters from my books relate in the real world they are drawn from. This program is especially effective with 4th and 5th graders. My presentations emphasize student participation. My goal is to engage the children’s imagination in the creative process. I start by outlining my own career track, starting with my own love of reading and my childhood efforts at writing. I share my own inspirations, and discuss where ideas come from. With a series of readings ( I generally read my two books) and Q & A periods, I give the children a chance to ask about my books and writing. I do a drawing with participation from the children which is basically, a "What if" exercise creating a story as I go.		Biography Schools Visited Teacher Feedback Student Art
			After the exercise I show a drawing from Zonk, the dreaming tortoise in it's various stages of refinement. Starting with a story board sketch, three original drafts and the final painting, I have the children tell me how the picture has been improved through the various stages of refinement. This is a very useful and clear demonstration of the "rewrite" concept. With the older children, I can show them a first draft with editors corrections and comments for a discussion on the rewrite process. This is a effective demonstration of how professional writers go through a number of drafts before coming to the finished version. Fees & book sales My basic fee is $725.00 for 2 assemblies plus traveling expenses (when applicable). I offer schools significant discounts on my books. I have a book sale flyer which is designed for schools to send home with students notifying parents of the assemblies and special book discount rates. There is a space on the flyer for parents to request a personalized inscription along with my signature on each book. For schools that do a booksale, I donate brilliantly colored bookmarks for all the children in the school. I will provide the school's library with copies of each of my books and encourage teachers to read them to the students before I arrive. "Where is Zonk Now?" is an engaging story development exercise teachers can use in advance of my visit. Starting with a line drawing of the turtle, the children can color and create their own entirely new story. For an additional fee, l can create a gallery of the students' art on my website.