Presentations and Workshops for Junior High and High School Students
Write what You Dream (High School and Junior High)
In this high energy, interactive presentation, we explore your students' own high school or junior high as the setting for my next novel. I choose an “ultimate teen heroine” and “the guy” to star in it. Lots of laughs, some time to reflect, and students get excited about writing as they experience how a story develops. I share loads of tips and professional techniques. I can include a "get them talking" free write or free verse poetry writing exercises. The presentation introduces my novels, but teachers do not need to have the students read them beforehand.
Praise from Students:
"You inspired me to follow my dreams, and if you work hard enough you can make them happen."-Katherine
"It is refreshing to know that it wasn’t easy for you because living in a world where people are always successful makes it hard to fail."--Ellis
"I liked how you involved us and let us add in!"--Hannah
"I really liked how you wanted to know what we think and what our lives are like." --Jessica
"Because of you I remember how to ask the questions ‘what if?’ and ‘what happens next?’"--Billie
"You taught me a lot about authors. I thought they just sat down and typed."--Cody
"I learned that it takes many failures to succeed and many revisions for perfection."--Whitney
"I loved that you told us that every mark on our paper is a gift from our teacher. It really helped me see what my teachers want me to know, instead of being upset."--Ashley
"You inspired me to follow my dreams, and if you work hard enough you can make them happen."-Katherine
"It is refreshing to know that it wasn’t easy for you because living in a world where people are always successful makes it hard to fail."--Ellis
"I liked how you involved us and let us add in!"--Hannah
"I really liked how you wanted to know what we think and what our lives are like." --Jessica
"Because of you I remember how to ask the questions ‘what if?’ and ‘what happens next?’"--Billie
"You taught me a lot about authors. I thought they just sat down and typed."--Cody
"I learned that it takes many failures to succeed and many revisions for perfection."--Whitney
"I loved that you told us that every mark on our paper is a gift from our teacher. It really helped me see what my teachers want me to know, instead of being upset."--Ashley
Bones Blood and Flesh: Bullying, a conversation
(8th-12th Grade)
Your words--
Why do they define me?
Why do I believe you?
Your face,
Your lips, and your fingers--
Don't spill them on me.
I'm bones blood and flesh
Not clay to be pounded,
And scorched in the fire
That seethes in the hate you feel.
I bleed when you wound me
Just like the pretty girls do.
(p. 6, Sing me to Sleep)
I'm not a counselor or a psychologist, but I am an expert on getting teens to pour their guts onto the page. This conversation involves everyone--the bullied, bullies, and bystanders. I read a brutal bullying scene from my award-winning YA novel, Sing me to Sleep, get students to free-write their own experiences, and encourage them to share. I spill my own high school harassment that I fictionalized in Taken by Storm. In my novel, I added a big difference: a hero. I challenge students to be the hero in their school, today. Moving. Unforgettable. Your students like you've never seen them before. Suitable for auditorium or classroom sized groups. In classrooms, I teach how to transform their free writes into free verse poetry, a fictional scene, or memoir essay.
Why do they define me?
Why do I believe you?
Your face,
Your lips, and your fingers--
Don't spill them on me.
I'm bones blood and flesh
Not clay to be pounded,
And scorched in the fire
That seethes in the hate you feel.
I bleed when you wound me
Just like the pretty girls do.
(p. 6, Sing me to Sleep)
I'm not a counselor or a psychologist, but I am an expert on getting teens to pour their guts onto the page. This conversation involves everyone--the bullied, bullies, and bystanders. I read a brutal bullying scene from my award-winning YA novel, Sing me to Sleep, get students to free-write their own experiences, and encourage them to share. I spill my own high school harassment that I fictionalized in Taken by Storm. In my novel, I added a big difference: a hero. I challenge students to be the hero in their school, today. Moving. Unforgettable. Your students like you've never seen them before. Suitable for auditorium or classroom sized groups. In classrooms, I teach how to transform their free writes into free verse poetry, a fictional scene, or memoir essay.
Praise from Educators:
"Angela Morrison's presentation to our class was inspiring. She gave a clear view of what an author goes through to develop a germ of an idea into a full-blown novel, and most importantly, she conveyed the excitement of mastery over the written word. Too often students see books and their authors as coming from another realm. Angela was able to show them that the process of writing is the product of mere mortals. She convinced them that they all have something to say and that the mechanics of writing are secondary to the ideas. It was a breakthrough experience for many of my students." --Laura Reid, English Department Chair, McNary High School, Keizer, OR
"Our AVID students, along with the administrators, were so grateful for your visit last semester. . . . Thank you for your enthusiasm and commitment to touching lives and inspiring young minds!!!" --Jamie Fioramonti-Wilson, AVID Elective Educator, Highland High School, Gilbert, AZ
"Your presentation was the perfect blend of inspiration, knowledge, and application. I appreciate your kindness and generosity." --Olinda Martin, Mead High School, Spokane, Washington
"What a great gift you gave us by coming to Mead and speaking to our kids. This is so rare. . . It was wonderful to have our kids hear from the “real world” of writing. --Dori Robertson, Mead High School, Spokane, Washington
"Thanks for visiting my creative writing class. The kids had a ball. . . They had [TAKEN BY STORM] back ordered . . . so that it was never on the shelf. They were very excited to have the chance to read a novel by an author they had actually met."--Dominique Replogle, Creative Writing Teacher, Orem High School, Orem, Utah
"Angela Morrison's presentation to our class was inspiring. She gave a clear view of what an author goes through to develop a germ of an idea into a full-blown novel, and most importantly, she conveyed the excitement of mastery over the written word. Too often students see books and their authors as coming from another realm. Angela was able to show them that the process of writing is the product of mere mortals. She convinced them that they all have something to say and that the mechanics of writing are secondary to the ideas. It was a breakthrough experience for many of my students." --Laura Reid, English Department Chair, McNary High School, Keizer, OR
"Our AVID students, along with the administrators, were so grateful for your visit last semester. . . . Thank you for your enthusiasm and commitment to touching lives and inspiring young minds!!!" --Jamie Fioramonti-Wilson, AVID Elective Educator, Highland High School, Gilbert, AZ
"Your presentation was the perfect blend of inspiration, knowledge, and application. I appreciate your kindness and generosity." --Olinda Martin, Mead High School, Spokane, Washington
"What a great gift you gave us by coming to Mead and speaking to our kids. This is so rare. . . It was wonderful to have our kids hear from the “real world” of writing. --Dori Robertson, Mead High School, Spokane, Washington
"Thanks for visiting my creative writing class. The kids had a ball. . . They had [TAKEN BY STORM] back ordered . . . so that it was never on the shelf. They were very excited to have the chance to read a novel by an author they had actually met."--Dominique Replogle, Creative Writing Teacher, Orem High School, Orem, Utah
Writers ToolKit: Techniques from the Pros
(I can present this for educators or students.)
I open my writers’ toolkit and demonstrate professional techniques adapted for the classroom (K-12) to motivate students to write what they know, fear, believe, dream and love. Every author has favorite techniques that trick the subconscious into unleashing the wellspring trapped within and capturing it on the page. I demonstrate how brief, brainstormed lists can help students plumb inward and break all they’ve ever seen, heard, read, learned, dreamed or loved into “pieces of knowing.” Then I demonstrate how students can look outward, enhancing what they know using poet Julie Larios’s concept of “drifting.” The session culminates in a free-write conversation drawing on both kinds of pieces so students can create their own story or free verse mosaic. This presentation was presented at NCTE's National Convention, November 2012, with fellow authors, Kathi Baron and Nancy Bo Flood.
Praise from Students:
"I enjoyed learning the different ways to cure writer’s block and free write. Today I tried free writing when I woke up and found that I had lots of ideas floating around upstairs". --Nik
"Your method of formulating ideas for books has already helped me improve my own stories."--Kristen
"I would be glad to help if you ever need a teen’s perspective!" --Jesse
"You made me want to sit down and start writing again."--Kefau
"I learned a lot about writing, especially how to use emotion and feeling."--Marissa
"I learned that to really write an excellent story, you must revise, revise, revise." --Drake
"I write a lot, and I revise a lot, and find that my writing isn’t very good. You taught me that it’s completely normal to feel like that."--Victoria
"I enjoyed learning the different ways to cure writer’s block and free write. Today I tried free writing when I woke up and found that I had lots of ideas floating around upstairs". --Nik
"Your method of formulating ideas for books has already helped me improve my own stories."--Kristen
"I would be glad to help if you ever need a teen’s perspective!" --Jesse
"You made me want to sit down and start writing again."--Kefau
"I learned a lot about writing, especially how to use emotion and feeling."--Marissa
"I learned that to really write an excellent story, you must revise, revise, revise." --Drake
"I write a lot, and I revise a lot, and find that my writing isn’t very good. You taught me that it’s completely normal to feel like that."--Victoria