Posts Tagged writing tips

STEM Tuesday — Animal Perceptions– Writing Tips & Resources

By STEM Tuesday on March 19, 2024 / Animal Perceptions, STEM Tuesday

Choose Your Own Writing Adventure

Did you ever read a Choose Your Own Adventure® book? As a kid I devoured those. You would read a few paragraphs and then when there’s a plot point—when a normal book would have the main character make the decision (and learn the consequences)—in these books, you, the reader get to choose.

It might look like this:

If you charge down the tunnel, straight into the dragon’s lair, turn to page 23.
If you sneak around the mountain, hoping to slip in through a backdoor, turn to page 42.

What if we could see writing like that? What if we could help students see writing like that? What if we could apply this to the challenge of writing to convey information?

One of my greatest struggles is structure. Finding just the right approach to convey information. I know I’m not the only writer (young or old) who suffers from that kind of paralysis. A great way for me to break into writing is to toy with different approaches, but it can be hard to get started, so I’ve started to play the “Choose My Own Writing Adventure” sort of game.

Play the Game

Let’s take chapter 2 of Rebecca Hirsch’s Sensational Senses: Amazing Ways Animals Perceive the World.

The first section begins:

Two eyeballs swivel on stalks atop the head of a mantis shrimp. Zip! Zoop! The eyes move up, down, left, and right as the critter scuttles across the coral reef. He is keeping watch for enemies and looking for a place to hide.”

Upon reading the first sentence, I am immediately connecting to this writing. That “Zip! Zoop!” provides a sensory experience that brings me into a scene. The action of the eyes and the verb “scuttles” has me picturing this as a movie playing in my mind. The “He is keeping watch” has me connecting with and feeling for a character. This is narrative writing!

But, in the next section, entitled “Eye Spy,” the writing shifts.

“Mantis shrimps, or stomatopods (stoh-MA-tah-pawds) are relative of crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. These tiny superheroes have the most advanced eyeballs on the planet.”

Wait. That’s all expository—information intended to explain. It’s still drawing me in. The fact about mantis shrimp relatives connects them to animals I am more familiar with, thus making the subject relatable. Even if the spread had not included intriguing photographs, I’d be developing a crabby kind of image in my mind—a hard shell, beady eyes and lots of legs. The superheroes analogy has my mind imaging all kinds of fun. The “most advanced eyeballs on the planet” has me experiencing a sense of awe for these creatures.

But it is the juxtaposition of these two kinds of writing, so drastically different, that has me re-reading to learn more about writing craft. Why did the author decide to set up the chapter this way? What advantages do each of these approaches have? If I were the writer and playing the “Choose My Own Writing Adventure” game, what could my other options for these passages be?

Let’s play that game. What if the book began with the same information but that first section was written as expository text? Could I do that? Could you do that? Pull out a piece of paper (or a fresh file) and try it before you read on.

Adventurous Options

When facing this challenge myself, the first thing that occurs to me is that I’d switch the point of view to third person. But, after pondering a moment, I realize that’s not the only option:

If you choose to write in third person, you’ve picked a classic approach. Keep writing!
If you choose to write in first person—that can be done in expository, right—you’re doing something fresh and exciting!

But also, because I am now writing it as expository, I feel the urge to begin that first paragraph by naming the animal, i.e. “A mantis shrimp…” But there are other options, right?

If you start with “A mantis shrimp…” plow forward and see where it takes you.
If you start with “The enemies of…” be confident because you started with a hook.
If you start with “The eyeballs…” consider how that sets up the content.

Isn’t this fun? After you’ve played with the first section for a while, flip this idea and try going the opposite direction. Take the expository “Eye Spy” section and use that content to craft a narrative. At every junction, make yourself aware of the options you are choosing by listing out one or more other options.

Writing is an adventure! Let’s stop pretending it must be boring. Let’s use other people’s writing as examples, but not as a rule book. Let’s be writing rebels!

Heather L. Montgomery likes to take her chances. Adventurous research has led her to publication of 18 books, including: What’s in Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s Treasures, Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill, and Sick! The Twists and Turns behind Animal Germs. When she is not teaching a library full of students or interviewing a scientist, you might find her writing in an outlandish spot. Where will you join her:

If you’re up for a stream stroll, pull on your water shoes and catch some critters with her.
If you’re into tree climbing, whip out your journal and scribble from the canopy.
If you’re brave enough for dissection, grab your gloves and goggles.

Learn more at www.HeatherLMontgomer.com .

www.HeatherLMontgomery.com

256-426-5871

Sick!: The Twists and Turns

Behind Animal Germs

Order HERE

STEM Tuesday — Animal Perceptions– In the Classroom

By STEM Tuesday on March 12, 2024 / Animal Perceptions, STEM Tuesday

This month’s books delve into the mysterious senses and minds of different creatures. How do they communicate and use tools? What kinds of sounds do they make and what do they mean? Can we ever know what they think? Endlessly fascinating, these ideas are sure to spark wonder and inspire more questions in the classroom. Here are a few ways to explore animal perceptions with your students.

Beastly Brains: How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel
by Nancy Castaldo

Castaldo delves into the minds of animals like dolphins, dogs, and elephants to explore animal empathy, communication, tool use, and lifestyle through interviews and historical anecdotes. The book also mentions research from some great minds, such as Charles Darwin and Jane Goodall, regarding the behavior of animals and revolutionizes old theories through the lens of modern science.

Worm Jar Activity: In this book, Castaldo describes Darwin’s study of worms to determine if worm’s have intelligence. His observations about how worms moved leaves led him to conclude that they are thinking creatures with intelligence. With this activity, students can make their own observations about worm behavior by making a worm jar and observing the worms inside, recording their data, and coming to a conclusion. To make the worm jar, they will need:

mason jar
jar lid with holes
soil, sand, grass, mulch, or other organic materials from the ground
garden trowel and worms
very small pieces of vegetables or fruit (such as lettuce, apple, celery leaves)
dark construction paper and tape
observation notebook

Have students layer different ground materials in the jar until it is around 3/4 full. Dig in wet soil to find earthworms and put a few in the jar. Add the small pieces of vegetables or fruit at the top and then cover with the lid. Then wrap the black paper around the jar and tape so that the worms will be in darkness, just like being underground.

Tell students to think of something they wonder about the worms in their jar and write it down inter observation notebook. Then have them check not heir worms each day by untaping the paper and seeing what is happening inside the jar. Tell students to write their observations each day in their notebook. After a few weeks, ask students to look through their observations to see if they have been able to answer their question at the beginning of the experiment. Do they have a conclusion they can share with others about their worms?

Sensational Senses: Amazing Ways Animals Perceive the World
by Rebecca E. Hirsch

From star-nosed moles to Japanese sea catfish, each of the eight chapters in this book dives deep into the amazing sensory abilities of a different animal. Hirsch’s clear text combines with eye-popping photographs to show readers how these extraordinary animals can sense things in the world that are hidden to humans.

Super Senses Comics Activity: The creatures in Hirsch’s book have some incredible powers, almost like comic book characters. For examples, the star-nosed mole uses its incredible sense of touch to hunt food in the darkness of its underground world. After reading through the book, provide students with a blank comic book storyboard (like this or this) or direct them to free storyboarding software. Here are a few to try:

Tell students to choose an animal and its super power from the book, and to think of a story that involves that creature using that super power. They can then create a comic that tells their story, adding images and dialogue to the panels of their comic strip. What problem does their creature solve? How does it use its special sense? Practice providing feedback and revising to help students develop and share their stories. Then create a gallery on the wall to display students’ comics!

Karen Latchana Kenney loves to write books about animals, and looks for them wherever she goes—from leafcutter ants trailing through the Amazon rain forest in Guyana, where she was born, to puffins in cliff-side burrows on the Irish island of Skellig Michael. She especially enjoys creating books about nature, biodiversity, conservation, and groundbreaking scientific discoveries—but also writes about civil rights, astronomy, historical moments, and many other topics. Visit her at https://latchanakenney.wordpress.com

Author Spotlight: Chris Lynch

By Melissa Roske on March 6, 2024 / Author Interviews

Best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels, including Freewill, a Printz Honor Book, and Iceman, Gypsy Davey, Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist, author Chris Lynch has ventured into the brave world of middle grade! His new middle grade novel, Walkin’ the Dog (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), bounds into the world on March 12. So, SIT back, relax… and STAY for this treat-worthy interview!

But first…

A Summary

In a family of strong personalities with very strong points of view, Louis is what his mother lovingly calls “The Inactivist”–someone who’d rather kick back than stand out. He only hopes he can stay under the radar when he starts high school in the fall, his first experience with public school after years of homeschooling. But when a favor for a neighbor and his stinky canine companion unexpectedly turns into a bustling dog-walking business, Louis finds himself meeting an unprecedented number of new friends–both human and canine. But is Louis ready to learn the lesson he needs most: how to stop being a lone wolf and become part of a pack?

Interview with Chris Lynch

MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Chris—and huge congratulations on your first middle-grade novel!

CL: Thank you very much. I should probably clarify, some of my earliest young adult titles from the 90s might be considered MG by today’s standards as well. But fair enough, I think YA would rightly be considered my wheelhouse for much of my career. As I tell my own students, I generally have one of two protagonists in my head when a story occurs to me. One is 13, and the other is 17. I mostly let those two fight it out for ownership of the story.

Walkin’ the Dog: Inspiration

MR: Could you tell MUF readers a bit about Walkin’ the Dog as well as the inspiration behind it?

CL: Walkin’ The Dog went through countless transformations since I signed the book up way back in 2015. At one point I shifted to wanting to tell the story of a kid who was merely a bystander in life, wanting to keep to himself. Obviously, that would make for a fairly dull storyline. My editor, Kendra Levin, was rather insistent that the book also have a vehicle for delivering my ideas and the character’s journey to eventually being a citizen of the world. As it happens, I have long held the notion that dog walkers make the world go round (“…the dead body/crime scene/burning vehicle/stranded swimmer etc was found by dog walkers early this morning…”) and thought I might build a narrative on that. So, what better way to get a guy out of the house, interacting with people and society and adventures and canines, than that?

Meet The Inactivist

MR: Louis, the main character of your novel, is a risk-averse, self-described bystander. Because of this, his mom—an advocate at a women’s shelter—has nicknamed him “The Inactivist.” At first glance, this would make Louis an unlikable protagonist—but he’s not. How did you pull this off?

CL: Did I pull it off? Thanks. I suppose it has to do with the fact that I recognize Louis’ approach to life, having never been much of an activist type myself. But also, I think he is more broadly identifiable than that. He knows his flaws and weaknesses, acknowledges them to other characters and readers, and even tries to rationalize them as much as he can before we see the tide of human existence (and dogs) drawing him irresistibly outward. We can see that his resistance and isolationism are doomed.

MR: Louis has a lot going on in his life, including worries about his mom. When we first meet her, she’s receiving in-patient treatment for an addiction to pain pills, brought on by an injury she sustained during an altercation at her workplace. This would be disturbing for any child, but it’s particularly hard on Louis. Can you tell us more about that?

CL: While Louis has largely been in retreat from the world and his mother has been much the opposite (she is the one who gave him the nickname, The Inactivist), he has always admired and counted on her activism. Her getting knocked down, and knocked back by events is deeply unsettling to his own sense of security and confidence.

Understanding Addiction

MR: As a follow-up, what kind of research did you do to better understand the impact of addiction on children and families?

CL: Even casual students of the human condition cannot help to see the variety and intensity of addictions tormenting our kind. I feel as if I have been writing about this in various forms for much of my professional life. I find it hard to imagine any novelist not being pulled right in by this topic. Murder stories have their obvious fascination, but for me they don’t have the same power as the drive of addiction, the need for us to get outside of ourselves, get away from ourselves somehow, by any means necessary. Gambling, cigarettes, opioids, all have that same skeleton inside them.

Sibling Rivalry

MR: Louis has two siblings with whom he often butts heads: his younger-but-acts-middle-aged sister, Faye, and his tough-guy older brother, Ike. Like Louis, both characters are flawed but endearing. What were you trying to say about the nature of sibling relationships in general—and this one in particular?

CL: I loved Faye from the start. Just felt I knew her, her hard outer shell and soft inside, her humor most of all. Ike was a tougher sell, to myself. I think it’s a mistake to attempt to write a character you completely dislike, and with Ike I came dangerously close. But in revision I looked for more of Ike’s humanity, of his own frailty, and of Louis’ appreciation of that. That is reality. That is the nuance of human relationships, and a novelist must never lose that. Also, I am one of seven siblings.

Doggy Love

MR: Let’s turn our attention to the co-stars of this novel… dogs! Clearly, you have a strong affection for our four-legged (and in one case, three-legged) friends. What is it about dogs that makes the human heart go mushy? And what prompted you to explore the theme of human-canine attachment? Are you a dog parent yourself?

CL: This one is hard. I am a dog parent. Dexter, my close pal of 13-plus years, who is in the book’s author photo with me, had to be put down a week ago. I feel like I can remember every minute of his whole life. So this human heart is pretty mushy. I have a theory that the reason, generally, why we are such saps for them is that they utterly convince us that they adore and need us unconditionally. They are brilliant at it. Even if the reality is that it’s a wholly treats-and-comforts based relationship on their part, they are geniuses at making us believe in this entirely. And you know, it’s my theory, after all, and I still fall for it over and over and over, every day.

MR: I’m so sorry about Dexter, Chris. Would you indulge me another dog-related question?According to Louis’s sister, Faye, “All dogs are guide dogs in the end.” What did she (okay, you) mean by this?

CL: Dexter and his main predecessor, Chunk, guided us on an almost unbroken twenty-eight-year journey through these lives. Chunk was originally acquired to help my kids with the transition from one country to another. She shepherded us from the kids’ first weeks in Irish primary school, all the way through to Scottish university, the empty nest, the first grandchild. One month into the new reality for all of us, Chunk slipped away, mission accomplished.

Three months later I shocked myself—and everybody else—by concluding that I needed a dog beside me through the days. I needed the rhythm of the walks, the warmth, goofiness, fun of it all. So Dexter signed on and saw me through everything the next decade plus brought—car accidents, eye operations, heart failure, and what might be considered a professional period in the wilderness. Whenever I reached, I found Dex. He earned that spot in the author photo, on the book with all the dogs in it. I’m not going to say that it’s a shame he died a month too early to see it. He was far too modest to have cared about all that. And he didn’t much like dogs the last few years, either.

Middle Grade: The Journey

MR: As stated in the intro, you are best known for your critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels. With that in mind, what made you decide to try your hand at middle grade? What’s biggest challenge when writing for a younger readership? The greatest reward?

CL: I suppose I have been doing both all along—such is the fluid nature of categories, I suppose. As I tell my students, the greatest challenge with MG is to be able to touch and move young readers just as deeply as adults, while working with a much more limited linguistic palette. Otherwise, you’re cheating. The greatest reward is that the young readers who are willing to come along on the journey care so much about your story. It is a great motivator, not wanting to let them down.

Write this Way

MR: What does your writing routine look like? Do you have any particular rituals?

CL: I lost the most structured of my rituals when I became an empty nester. I used to write strictly around the kids’ school days. That was seriously helpful to my mental discipline. I drifted for a solid two years trying to adjust after that. My wife is a teacher, so I can sort of simulate that, still. But I’m onto my tricks. Even so, I have a lot of time and space to structure things to my liking, with dog walks and gym trips vital to keeping things ticking over. The early part of the day (my former strength) can be meandering now. But the odd nap is quite the tonic, after which I am newly charged. Between lunch and dinner hours are far and away my best these days.

Next Up…

MR: What are you working on now, Chris? Enquiring Mixed-Up Files readers want to know…

CL: Working on an adult novel which I cannot discuss too much because if it’s too early I tend to feel talking it out is the same as writing it out.

But I can talk about my next middle grade, since that’s more advanced. It’s called Badges, and it’s with Kendra Levin and Simon & Schuster again. It’s about a wild tearaway kid who finds himself in front of a judge who offers him an alternative sentence that requires him to achieve a certain number of Scout badges, directly related to the many offenses he has piled up.

Lightning Round!

And finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack?

Corn cakes and hot salsa.

Favorite breed of dog?

So many, honestly. I’m all over the place on that, because so many breeds appeal in so many different ways. But since my remaining pal, Selkie, is a Lurcher (Greyhound/Saluki cross), and she’s always looking over my shoulder, I’m going to say, Lurcher.

Superpower?

Depends on whether you mean, 1) superpower I possess, or 2) superpower I would opt for if given the choice.

I’m a good listener.
Every writer would benefit from invisibility.

Favorite place on earth?

Anyplace with a dog and a deserted seashore. Also, Edinburgh.

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay?

Yea, bring it on. Humanity needs a start-over.

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be?

A solar powered radio with satellite or longwave or whatever I’d need for decent reception; a loaded eReader, likewise solar; a pizza.

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Chris. It was a pleasure, and I’m sure MUF readers will agree!

CL: And thank you. It was tougher going than most of these things, but no less rewarding for that.

Bio:

Chris Lynch (pictured here with his dearly missed pal, Dexter) is the award–winning author of highly acclaimed young adult novels, including Printz Honor Book Freewill, Iceman, Gypsy Davey, and Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. Walkin’ the Dog is his new middle-grade novel. Chris holds an MA from the writing program at Emerson College and teaches in the creative writing MFA program at Lesley University. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines, selected jokes for Reader’s Digest (just the funny ones), and received certification as a life coach from NYU. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.