School Visits

"Stacy is a wonderful author to have visit from a librarian's standpoint. Easy-going and friendly, she immediately put all of us at ease" - Polly Walton, Swift Elementary, Arlington, Texas.

School visits are a fun part of being a writer. I look forward to each one. I learn as much from the children and their teachers as I hope they do from me. To help that happen, I treat presentations like my writing. I sculpt and revise them regularly to keep them interesting and fun for everyone.

Below is a short description of what I do during a school visit. I've developed my programs to very generally build upon one another and grow with the children:

I ran with that talent. I wrote everything. Poetry. Short stories. A novella. Even a dissertation, which for those who have never written one, is a very very very long book.

Grades K - 2:

This presentation has three main parts. First, we talk about how a book goes from an idea to a finished project. I talk to them briefly about getting an idea down and into a story, as well as show them early dummy books, illustrations, press proofs, and fold and gathers. Next, we read Dizzy, my newest book, about a pacific white-sided dolphin who cannot slow down. Imagine. Finally, I gently introduce them to the idea of character development by talking about the process I went through to create Dizzy and, at the same time, some of the information that I gather on dolphins while writing the book. This always gets them excited to learn more about dolphins, and we spend the Q & A time talking as much about writing as about dolphins and their cousins. The presentation is a great combination of writing and science presented in a fun way.

I use two power point presentations for this talk, one on "idea to finished product" at the beginning and one on "character development" at the end. I also have these character development talks on my website under Book Supplementals. Teachers can use them for my other books as a way to teach about the squid and sharks featured in them. As a follow up for teachers, I also have various exercises on line in a teacher pack, one of which is a writing assignment, that they can use in the classroom after my visit. Time: 45 min- 1 hour

Grades 3 - 8:

This presentation focuses on the nuts and bolts of the writing process. We use a picture book as a tool to talk about story structure - exciting event/hook, building problems, climax, wrapping it up, ending with a twist - and story arc, and dissect the picture book story into its parts as examples of story development. I use a power point for this, so that we can talk about each section in detail. I segway from story structure into the writing process and revisions. I explain with examples from my own work and others why revisions take so long. I tell the students that it's almost embarassing to show my early drafts, but I do so to make a point. Even published authors have to hone. Time: 1 Hour

Writing Workshop for Grades 3 - 8 (smaller groups):

This is a character development workshop that I do with smaller groups of students in grades 3 - 8. It builds nicely upon the story structure and writing process talk by guiding students through creating their own character and then writing a short story about them. I use a sentence in which they must come up with a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and mysterious note. We use the sentence to set up the story for its character, place, and mood. We go through each of these sentence parts, i.e. noun, verb, adjective, etc, talking about what would work well together and making sure they all fit together. We then begin character development. I give them general ideas they can use to build their character, from personality to features to main emotion. Then the students spend about 20 minutes writing up their story. The length of the stories vary. For 3rd graders I ask them to write 10 sentences. 4th graders, 15 and 5th-8th graders 20 sentences - up to a page. Students generally seem to be able to complete the assignment and still have time for sharing. I save about 15 minutes at the end to read through some of the stories and offer tips on how to improve. I also use a power point for the workshop. Often, teachers ask for a copy so that they can use it in class and build upon it. Time: 1 hour

Lunch with the Author:

I enjoy, if you would like, to have lunch with a select group of students to talk about writing, their writing, ideas, and pretty much whatever they bring up. It's a fun experience for all sides, getting to pick the mind of an author.

Group Size:

I have spoken to all sizes of groups, ranging from 10 to 1500. I am pretty comfortable with just about any size. I would suggest, though, for the writing workshop, to keep the groups smaller (i.e. 50 or less) so that the students are able to ask questions a little more easily.

Some programs I've been asked to do:

1) 1 general session for k-2, 1 general session for 3 - 5, 3 individual writing workshops, one for each grade 3 - 5, Lunch with a group of students

2) 5 sessions, one for each grade level and Lunch with a group of students

3) 1 general session with 3 - 5, 3 individual writing workshops, one for each grade 3 - 5 and Lunch with a group of students

4) 5 smaller sessions with grades K - 2 only and Lunch with a group of students

What we end up doing is really up to the librarian and what works best for the school. I'm flexible. I can put together just about anything.

Recommendation Information:

It is often helpful to be able to talk to someone who has hosted an author in the past. Therefore, I've attached a recommendation letter from librarian, Kaye Shirley, at Pine Forest Elementary outside of Houston, where I conducted school visits last year. If you would like to contact a school I visited more recently, please call Debbie Morales (847.963.5200, or moralesd@ccsd15.net) at Kimball Hill Elementary in Chicago. I was there on September 27, 2007. Or Kathy Coolman (kcoolman@eanes.k12.tx.us) at Bridge Point Elementary in Austin, Texas. I visited there January 7, 2008.

To discuss fees, please contact Stacy A. Nyikos or Michele Kophs. You can set up the visit by contacting me at 918.409.4063 or at nyikos@cox.net. Or by contacting my publicist, Michele Kophs at 360.597.3432 or michele@provatomarketing.com. Also, you can view my calendar of events, so you can begin planning a date for the visit.