Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March we are challenging ourself to write a Slice A Day. Here we go!
I should start with how this event even transpired but I already wrote about it
on a previous post here. To summarize, my friend Donalyn recommended The
Sixty-Eight Rooms to me at NCTE. I loved it and was surprised to find that
the author, Marianne Malone, lives 30 minutes away. I emailed her and asked if
she could come. When she found that it was just for my classroom and not the
entire school she waived her fee. Trying to brainstorm how my students could
obtain copies of the sequel to The Sixty-Eight Rooms, which is called Stealing
Magic, Marianne mentioned she knew teachers had success with Donor’s
Choose. My project was funded in one day. (YAY!) Finally, at a loss in regard
to preparation for an author visit I turned to my friend John who gave me
wonderful advice.
Marianne
was due to visit our class from 10:30-11 today. In preparation we had read The
Sixty-Eight Rooms as our class read aloud. We also read her bio on her
website and learned as much as we could about her. The kids made some welcome
posters that lined the hall to our room. And this morning we brainstormed some
questions they wanted to ask her and I wrote the questions down on index cards
for them. Then, we went on with our day. (They went to math and Social Studies
– my student teacher taught two classes of reading.)
Marianne
came right on time and I hustled to meet her at the office. Coming back to the
room I could tell the kids were vibrating with excitement. Her “biggest fan”,
Sophie, introduced Marianne to the class and she began talking to them about
her writing, pets, her family, and more. The kids were sad to learn that the
dog on her website, Leo, has passed away. They were curious if she would get
another dog and would it be a German Shepherd too? The girls were envious of
her beautiful necklace that was made especially for her and looks like the key
from the books. (They want a jewelry line for the book.) Marianne talked to
them about the future plans for Jack and Ruthie and where she gets her own
ideas for her books. Finally, another student, Cansas, gave our closing
statement and we moved on to book signings and snacks.
The kids
were so excited to get the chance to talk to Marianne one on one and she couldn’t
have been nicer. Many of them got their cell phones out of their backpacks so I
could take a picture of them with her when they got to the front of the line.
One boy told me it was the first time he had met “a real live author in the
flesh.” Loved that. They were so excited to have their books signed to them
from Marianne that I know many of these will become treasured items for them to
keep.
Thanks to
Marianne Malone and Donor’s Choose for making this a day my students will always
remember.
