Skip to main content

Fall Dream Keepers Writing Workshops


I'm thrilled to announce that this fall Dream Keepers will be doing nine Writing Workshop residencies at branches of the Milwaukee Public Library. These four-day writing workshops offer students an opportunity to flex their creative muscles, hone their writing skills, and tie it all together with art. The workshops are designed for children ages 8-14 and are free and open to the public. Students can attend a single hour-long workshop or four days of classes! Teachers and parents, let your students and children know about this wonderful opportunity to express their ideas! 

 Check back here regularly for reports on our adventures!
September: The Book of Me

Students will create poetry, essays, and artwork about their name, where they’ve come from, who they are, and what they dream about being and doing in the future. Each day, students will create a unique piece about themselves. Students who attend all four days will craft a small book about their lives.


September 23-26, 2013
Bay View Library, 3:30-4:30 PM
     2566 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue

Forest Home Library, 5:00-6:00
                                 1432 W. Forest Home Avenue


October: Boo! Scary Stories
Can you tell a scary in six words? Have you ever written a ghost story? This class will give students the opportunity to invent monsters and villains and put them into scary poems and stories. Come for one day and write a short scary story or attend all four and create a book of terrifying tales.


October 7-10, 2013
                Center Street Library, 3:30-4:30 PM
                     2727 W. Fond du Lac Avenue

                Washington Park Library,  5:00-6:00 PM
                     2121 N Sherman Blvd.    

October 21-24, 2013
                Martin Luther King Library,  4:00-5:00 PM
                      310 W. Locust Street

October 28-31, 2013
                Atkinson Library, 4:00-5:00 PM
                      1960 W. Atkinson Avenue


November: National Novel Writing Month at Milwaukee Public Library
Come write a short novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Over the course of four days, students will create characters, dream up a setting, craft a plot, and write a novella (that’s a really short novel). Students are welcome to come for single days and participate in a part of the process or do the whole thing and write a big ol' novella!

 November 18-21, 2013
                Mill Road Library, 3:30-4:30 PM
                     6431 N. 76th Street

                Capitol Library, 5:00-6:00 PM
                                                              3969 N. 74th Street


December: Winter Tales
What have you noticed about the season of winter? During this four-day workshop, students will write stories about the sights, sounds, and smells of winter in Wisconsin; create a how-to guide for surviving winter in Wisconsin; and write concrete poems in the form of snowflakes and snow people. Come for one day or attend all four and create a book of winter tales.

December 9-12, 2013
                Villard Square Library, 4:00-5:00 PM
                      5190 N. 35th Street

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Six-word Scary Stories

We've done six-word memoirs. Tonight the Dream Keepers wrote six-word scary stories. Read and enjoy! (Then write and submit your own in the comment field!) A vampire destroys the city with power. —Tramonta Garner (pictured above) One virus. One town. No survivors. —Jaimee Bogard-LaMar, 14 One girl. Many monsters. What's next? —Jaimee Bogard-LaMar, 14 Big zombie eats eyeballs. City blind. —Elisha Branch, 14 One house. One family. Both gone. —Elisha Branch, 14 Knock, knock. Who's there? Killer mysterious. —Derranesha, 12 Baby cries. No answer. What happens? —Derranesha, 12 Ring, ring. "Hello." Please help me. —April, 12 The spooky monster ran towards me ... —Sonya, 17 The worm crawls into the brain. —Sierra The slippery, slimy monster grabs two. —Quintoya Eskridge
Post a Comment
Read more

Long Titles, Short Poems

Tonight the Dream Keepers tried to write short poems with long titles, an assignment from Dawn DiPrince's wonderful book Yoga For the Brain . Here's the example I wrote: What Happened when John decided to Do His Laundry the Old-Fashioned Way: with a Bar of Soap, a Rock, and a River. Threadbare Underwear. The assignment is harder than it sounds, and the Dream Keepers had a tough time with it. But they still came up with some good samples. Read their work, and then try writing your own! By Elly: What Elly Was Left with After She Ate A big Juicy Hamburger in Two Bites. Yummy Tummy. By Leroi: What the Owner Said When He Took His Pet to Meet the New Vet, who Already Had Met a Dog, a Frog, and a Bunch of Cats. Oh No. By Daquan: What Happened When I Took A Bone from a Dog Who Had Had It a Long Time. Fight. Bite. By Tierra: The clock stopped at 11 O'Clock. Tick Tock?
3 comments
Read more

Write Now: Collect Words

--> Collect Words by Rochelle Melander My 9th grade English teacher loved the word garage. I didn't get it. For me, the word garage conjured up images of oil spots and old tools. She kept saying, "Listen to the sound, to how the word rolls off your tongue: garage." This morning as I walked the dog, her words came back to me. I muttered to myself, "Garage, garage, garage." More "g" words came to me: Garage. Gasoline. Gawk. Gorgeous. Gorgonzola. I said them aloud to the dog. He sniffed at the ground, ignoring me. But I kept going—I was finally appreciating the sound of the words, noticing how they felt as they rolled off my tongue. In Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge 's book Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life WithWords , she dedicated a whole chapter to "collecting words and creating a wordpool." She says, "Words are lightweight, unbreakable, portable, and they're everywhere. You can even make them up. ... A w
1 comment
Read more