Summertime, Writingtime!

I love summertime….this summer, I have time to write.

Yesterday, a teacher hosted another teacher and me. She had just returned from attending the Heinemann Boothbay Literacy Institute (on my bucketlist) and offered to simulate some of what she did with us.

First, we did 2 Quickwrites using Linda Rief’s book, The Quickwrite Handbook. Here is what I wrote in 2 minutes after listening to my friend read Getting It Right by Kevin Carey (You can hear Garrison Keiller hear it hear on Dec. 14, 2016’s The Writer’s Almanac).

I used the prompt, “Borrow any line, letting the line lead your thinking as you write.”

I was never the smartest kid in the room. I was more the B+ student, dutifully compliant but not a natural. Grace was a natural. She read aloud with such expression when it was her turn during Round-Robin Reading. David was a natural. His science fair projects were so smart. Both had smart parents, assisting. I had loving parents but parents who did school just as well as I did. Now I am paid to read-aloud to students. I am quite good at it. As a teacher, I notice the Graces and the Davids and mostly the Sallys.

I’ll admit, that I had Linda’s book and skimmed it but hadn’t tried any of the exercises. However, with my friend’s guidance, I now see the power of reading another’s writing and then letting my pencil quickly write off of it. 

Then my friend showed us the Watercolors she made at Boothbay. She had paint sets and cups of water and 4×6 watercolor paper and black thin sharpies and some shells. And for the next hour, we painted! First, shells. Then copied an image from my phone of flowers.

So lucky to have a friend who values turn-around PD!
So lucky to have time to write in the summer!

Have you ever tried Quickwrites? Do you ever watercolor?
I now recommend both!