Thursday, May 08, 2008

Literacy for Life

Just back from the most awesome Literacy for Life Conference in Saskatoon. Judy Ostrander, John Barton, our wonderful drivers Noreen and Jackie, and the rest of the fabulous volunteer crew put together a celebration of literacy that rivaled any I've ever been to. The 1200 kids out of 5000 kids and their teachers that I saw were a pleasure as were authors like Jaimie Bastedo, Helaine Becker, Diane Swanson, Bob McDonald, Joe Schwarcz, and illustrators George Littlechild and Jeremy Tankard.

I just wanted to make sure everyone gets all 10 writing tips, so here they are:

1. Keep a journal
2. Be a reader
3. Play with words
4. Research is half the fun
5. Fictionalize: play the lying game
6. Pay attention
7. Create an idea web
8. Make a list (see the first page of Waiting for the Whales for an example)
9. Imagine the "what if" moments
10. Mine your memories

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