To go to the Festival!

Dear Families:

What a wonderful surprise to walk into the building on Monday and to see such a visible display of your appreciation. While your appreciation is felt throughout the year in gestures large and small, this week’s collective gesture (and the tasty treats) provided just one more reminder of how grateful I am to be a member of this community. So on behalf of all of the members of the Middle School division, thank you.

That said, the lobby was not the only space that underwent a transformation as students and teachers entered the Middle School. This week, the usual dynamic hum of students exploring new ideas and working on exciting studies and projects gave way to the routines of chairs-in-rows, number 2 pencils, and bubbling in answer sheets that are hallmarks of the ERBs. In the midst of that change, our annual Wednesday afternoon Literary Festival provided a wonderful counterpoint to the morning’s testing activities. While lots of fun, the Literary Festival also provides an opportunity for students to encounter writing in some novel and engaging contexts. The list of this year’s offerings follows:

• Booktalking (with Jennifer Hubert Swan). Want to find a more dynamic way to tell someone, “You’ve got to read this book!”? Jen, the Queen of the Book Talk, worked with participants as they explored how to help uncover the joys of reading for others.
• Found Poetry (with Heather Brandstetter). Heather led participants on a poetry-finding adventure where they explored the the LREI building in lieu of the slushy streets of New York to look the poetry that is hidden in the everyday.
• Who the Heck Are You?! (with Dennis Kitchen). Ever wonder who that person is who you see wandering around the building? You know they work here, but you’re not quite sure what they do. In this workshop, students outfitted with a camera and pen “hunted” these people down, snapped their picture and then interviewed them. Dennis shared interviewing techniques and helped participants to create a fascinating bio on a person they thought they knew, but not really….
• Movie Reviews (with Jeannie Park). Students joined editors from People Magazine and heard what it’s like to have to watch movies day in and day out and then write about them–even the ones they hate! Students got tips about what makes a review interesting to a reader and then took a stab at writing their own reviews.
• Visual Autobiography and Bookmaking Workshop (with Melissa Rubin and Robin Shepard). Armed with a range of personally relevant items (their prose and poetry, photos, maps, stamps, feathers, ticket stubs, playbill covers, movie ads, pressed flowers, etc.), students created their very own hardcover autobiography and their turned memorabilia into a story about themselves.
• Slam Poetry (with Leila Sinclaire). What is slam poetry? Is it like a slam dunk? In this workshop, students found out more about this exciting form of performance poetry that resembles freestyle rap, stand up comedy, and traditional poetry all rolled into one. Participants watched filmed slam poetry performances and learned how to write and perform their own slam poems in a non-competitive, supportive atmosphere.
• Comic Books (with Aaron Renier). In this workshop, students got tips from the author of the graphic novel Spiralbound, Aaron Renier, on how to write and illustrate a graphic novel. At the end of the workshop, students walked away with their very own graphic novel, one that they’d written and illustrated.
• Turning Anger Into Stories (with Willard Cook). What is a story? Why do people tell stories? Willard, the editor of the literary journal Epiphany, led students in a writing activity that improved their ability to tell a good story. Beginning with a situation that aroused their anger, students discussed character and plot development, point of view and conflict and turned this seed into a story.
• Playwriting (with Raquel Cion). In this workshop, students joined in a facilitated discussion about what constitutes dramatic writing. The building blocks of playwriting (character, action, conflict, setting) were then explored using tools such as automatic writing, image, and structured writing time. Students learned about the who, where, what, and how of constructing scenes. Through this exploration each student wrote their own “mini-play”. These plays were then read aloud and the workshop culminated with a discussion of how to continue writing and creating plays on your own.
• Pitching a Pilot – Writing for TV (Diana Son). Ever want to write for television? Diana Son, who writes for Law and Order: Criminal Intent, taught students how to pitch a pilot to TV executive and then students worked on ideas for their own pilot pitch.
• The Op Ed Page (with Aaron Jaffe). In this workshop, students learned about the art of opinion writing with Wall Street Journal reporter Aaron Jaffe. Aaron discussed the primary election process and then students decided if this is the best process in deciding on a presidential candidate. They then wrote an op ed piece in which their opinion on the process is front and center.
• Everyone’s a Critic (with Julie Salamon). What’s it like to be paid to watch TV and movies? Sounds easy huh? Except that telling the truth and being judged for it can be hard. Author and culture critic Julie Salamon took students through the ups and downs of writing your creative opinions at the risk of offending your friends and possibly becoming unpopular! Students explored questions like: Can a reviewer be honest and generous? Helpful and critical?
• Seize the Day! (with Danny Gregory). You don’t have to be a great artist or a devoted writer to turn the most ordinary day into a beautiful illustrated journal. Danny showed students how to make a book out of a single piece of paper, which they then filled with simple line drawings and little captions about these found moments.
• Ad Power (with Helayne Spivak). Award-winning copywriter, Helayne Spivak showed students how advertisers use words and pictures to persuade people to do or buy things that they never knew they needed! They also found out what goes on behind the scenes when marketers are trying to grab our attention and influence us. Students the created an advertising campaign for something they either hated, or for a product or idea that they believed in!
• Striking Viking Story Pirates In this interactive workshop, students worked with members of the Striking Viking Story Pirates theater troupe. They guided students through a dynamic process in which individuals and small groups wrote and acted out stories. The Story Pirates took these ideas back to their secret headquarters/laboratory, and in several weeks, they will return for Middle School meeting with newly-built puppets, props, and a brand new sketch comedy show, including some new stories written by participants in the workshops.
• Finding Story Ideas Everywhere (with Liz Braswell). Ever wonder how writers come up with story ideas? Is a story idea always something major, huge? It doesn’t matter what genre you prefer – every story begins with an idea, and sometimes these ideas are very small. Writer Liz Braswell helped students through that most agonizing of writing moments – the blank page!

It was truly a wonderful afternoon. I certainly hope that you will talk to your young writer about her/his Lit Festival experience.

Be well,
Mark