30 May 2012

Langdale Primary School

Visit to Langdale Primary School- Newcastle - Staffs
On 30 May 2012, I visited Langdale Primary School in Newcastle, Staffordshire, and gave a slideshow presentation and talk followed by a 'Meet the Author' booksigning event.
Afterwards, the school kindly reported the visit on their website. This helps other schools to know what happens so they can decide if they would like a FREE Jack Trelawny author visit to their school...
Jack Trelawny author visit
We had a visit from a famous author Jack Trelawny.  He did a presentation about his books and showed us a slideshow.  We asked some interesting questions and Jack said that we were a wonderful school!

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See you next time in the Story House.

Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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Location: Langdale Primary School, Newcastle, Staffordshire ST5 3QE, UK

Ideas for Schools - We Are Writers! - Scholastic publishers

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for schools - We Are Writers! - book produced for school by Scholastic publishers

A book of creative writing by the children of  St Michaels First School 
I visited St Michael's CE VC First School in Stone, Staffordshire, to give a talk about creative writing and my Kernowland in Erthwurld stories. It was the second time I'd been to the school. After the talk, the Headteacher, Mrs R M Gale, very kindly gave me a book, We Are Writers, which contained over 400 pages of creative writing by the children.
The book had been produced for the school by the mainstream publisher, Scholastic Ltd. Every year, Scholasitc Book Clubs and Book Fairs get 5 million books into the hands of children across the UK.

The following contribution to the book was written by Hannah Turner, a Year 1 pupil. I like it because Hannah tells us that she uses all her senses to feel the atmosphere of her favourite place...

My Favourite Place
Hannah Turner    Year 1

At my favourite place I can:
Smell things cooking.
Taste biscuits.
Touch the water in the swimming pool and the sand at the beach.
Hear the sea whooshing.
See the parking field.
My favourite place is the caravan park.

The school dragon is on the front of the book and on the uniform badge. His name is Sparkle. The school cat is called Jelly.

If you would like to produce a book with Scholastic for your school, you could start with the following link...
http://writers.scholastic.co.uk/

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See you next time in the Story House.

Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
Links...
 

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Location: St Michaels First School, Stone, Staffordshire ST15 8QB, UK

24 May 2012

Winkleigh Primary School EX19 8JQ

Visit to Winkleigh Primary School - Using objects to inspire ideas for stories
I visited Winkleigh Primary School in Devon today and gave a slideshow presentation and talk followed by a 'Meet the Author' booksigning event.

The children asked loads of good questions and we talked about looking at lots of pictures and asking questions and using our imagination to turn the pictures into stories.

We also talked about using OBJECTS in the same way and I explained that real objects have provided the ideas for my new series of stories, Thirteen Things, which is inspired by 13 of the 100 objects in the BBC's 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'. The 13 Objects for children can also be seen on a special tour if you visit the British Museum in London.
Durer's Rhinoceros - from the year 1515
The first story in the new Thirteen Things series will be called, The Emperor's Rhinoceros. I'll be offering free visits to schools to show the children how I took the real object, Durer's Rhinoceros, and turned it into a story. Then teachers will be able to go straight from the talk back to class to look at the BBC website Lesson Plan (one lesson plan for each of the 13 Objects).

Website: Winkleigh Primary School

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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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Location: Winkleigh Primary School, Devon EX19 8JQ, UK

18 May 2012

Ideas for Kids - Storytelling at Rose Hill Primary

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for Kids - Storytelling at Rose Hill Primary School - using real FACTS from history
Lots of authors find out as many FACTS as they can to help them write stories. Authors are always finding things out. I would say about half my job is finding things out and I look at the second floor of the Story House to remind me to keep learning new FACTS. I found out that the pupils of one school I'm visiting soon like finding out FACTS for their stories too. The following text, in green, is from the Rose Hill Primary School website.
Iffley village
Storytelling at Rose Hill
We are a ‘storytelling school’ – a school where all children and adults enjoy both telling familiar stories  and learning new ones. This year we have linked the stories we learn to the projects we are doing. So, for example, when Y3/4 are learning through a project called ‘A Street Through Time’ about local history, they learn to tell a story called ‘The Pedlar of Iffley Village’. We’re very proud of how confidently our children tell stories to each other and to wider audiences. They clearly love it!

Source: Rose Hill Primary School website

IDEA: Find out lots of FACTS about the history of your area and then write a story about something that really happened in the past but imagine you were there and in the story.



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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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Location: Rose Hill Primary School, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 4SF, UK

15 May 2012

Ideas for kids - Story Planning game - Trapped!

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for kids - Story Planning game - Trapped!
When I visit schools, I show children some of the ideas I've learned about planning a story and share with them how important I think it is to make a plan. There are some games which are a fun way to learn some things about story planning. Try these writing games and complete the Wall of Sorrow - or you'll be... Trapped!

Click on START below to begin playing.
Note: Remember to have your sound turned on when you play these games...





If you would like my Kernowland adventure stories as ebooks for viewing on your computer or other reading device, the ebooks are currently available via Amazon for less than £2 each. See the banner below for details...


If you prefer printed books, see Kernowland discount offers currently available on our Amazon store:


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See you next time in the Story House.

Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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14 May 2012

Ideas for kids - Characters - WHO - Gnomes - Clevercloggs

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for kids - WHO is in the story - Underdogs - Gnomes - Clevercloggs
Clevercloggs the Explorer - a wise, old gnome
Clevercloggs lives in Washaway Wood in Kernowland. He is 500 years old. He loves reading and is always finding things out. He has travelled far and wide, all over Erthwurld. All these things mean he has gained lots of knowledge and experience. This makes him very clever and wise. The nasty villains think he is weak because he is small, but he uses his knowledge and experience to fight back
The Nine Gnomes of Washaway Wood in Kernowland - do you know all their names?
Sometimes schools have a writing or reading or artwork competition and one of the prizes is a Clevercloggs cap or T-shirt.
Clevercloggs cap - click to find out more
Click on the pictures to find out more about how to get a Clevercloggs cap or T-shirt.
Clevercloggs T-shirt - click to find out more

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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
Links...
 

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Location: London, UK

Ideas for kids - Characters - WHO - Underdogs

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for kids - WHO is in the story - Underdogs - Gnomes
The Seven Dwarfs - can you remember all their names?
There are often one or more CHARACTERS in a story who are UNDERDOGS. They are sometimes called SYMPATHETIC CHARACTERS because you feel sorry for them when you read about the nasty villains being bad to them. Underdogs are usually in big trouble and have big problems. Trouble and problems usually mean the person reading the story wants to turn the pages over to see WHAT happens.
I got the ideas for the Nine Gnomes of Washaway Wood from mixing up the Seven Dwarfs from the Snow White story with the gnomes that are famous for living in gardens in Cornwall. This is one way to get new ideas - take two old things and mix them up or put them together to make something new that is all yours for your story.
Just like the Seven Dwarfs, gnomes are small characters who are 'vulnerable'. This means they appear to be nice and sweet characters who are likely to get attacked and hurt by the villains. Of course, how things appear is not always how things really are. For example, Clevercloggs the gnome is very wise and knowledgeable and uses his brain to beat the villains. Often in stories, the underdogs 'turn the table' on the villains and come out on top. It's worth knowing that people seem to like reading stories where the villain pays for the trouble he has caused.
To make my gnomes different, I decided to have nine instead of seven. I also decided to have two female gnomes and so had to think of a name for girl gnomes - 'girnomes'. Just like the Seven Dwarfs, I wanted each of my gnomes to have one thing about them that distinguished - that is, made them different - from all the other gnomes so that they you can see straight away who is who.
The Nine Gnomes of Washaway Wood in Kernowland - do you know their names?
IDEA: For your next story, look at the gnome blogs and read the Kernowland books to find out as much as you can about the Nine Gnomes of Washaway Wood. Then think about how one or more of them might get into big trouble or have a big problem. Now write a story in which the trouble or problem is at or near the beginning. In the middle, try to make the trouble or problem get worse and worse so that it appears the UNDERDOG characters will never get out of it. Then, just as it looks like they have no way of beating the trouble or problem, think of what they would have to do to overcome it. Remember, most readers like happy endings so don't forget that VILLAINS need to get what they deserve!



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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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Location: London, UK

13 May 2012

Ideas for kids - Characters - WHO - Villains

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Ideas for kids - WHO is in the story - Villains
Wendron, Warleggan, Drym, Scratchit the cat, Craw the crow, and the Skycycle
Some CHARACTERS in a story are bad, perhaps even so bad they are evil. These characters are called VILLAINS. If there are villains, there's going to be trouble and problems in the story. Trouble and problems usually mean the person reading the story wants to turn the pages over to see WHAT happens.
Click to enlarge
To get the names of the three villains in the first picture in this article, I looked at the map of Cornwall. 'Wendron' sounded like a witch, 'Warleggan' sounded as if he could be from the military, and 'Drym; sounded like a man who would be dirty, mean with money, nasty to dogs, and kidnap children to sell them as slaves to the pirates.

IDEA: For your next story, find a map of WHERE it is going to be set. Look at the map and write down just the names of the towns that sound as if they could be villains. Now take each name and use your imagination to write down what a character with that name would be like. Ask yourself questions to help with the ideas.



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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
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Location: United Kingdom

Ideas for kids - Characters - WHO - Gwithian Sand

Jack Trelawny's Story House - Kernowland - Characters - WHO is in the story - Gwithian Sand
Gwithian Sand drawn and given to Jack Trelawny by 'Jane' 
The CHARACTERS are the people, creatures, and others WHO are in your story (top floor of the Story House). At the beginning of the Kernowland in Erthwurld story, I needed a way to get Tizzie and Louis to go from Cornwall (in our world, Earth World) to Kernowland (in another world, Erthwurld) through the Crystal Pool. I thought it would be good if they could meet a character from Kernowland whilst they were in Echo Cave in Cornwall. Then they could follow the character to the other place, Kernowland in Erthwurld, through the Crystal Pool. A place in the story that is like our world but different is sometimes called an 'alternative' or 'parallel' world.
I wanted a friendly character who was also quite old so I looked at the map of Cornwall for a town name that looked like it could belong to that type of character.
Click to enlarge
I saw the town Gwithian. That seemed a good one from all the other things I knew about the character. Then I found out more about the place Gwithian by looking at pictures, asking questions, and using my imagination. I learned this place has fantastic long beaches called 'Gwithian Sands'. That gave me the idea for the first and second names of the character: Gwithian Sand.
Gwithian Sands in Cornwall
IDEA: For your next story, find a map of WHERE it is going to be set. Look at the map and write down some of the towns to give you some ideas for names of WHO is going to be in the story, the CHARACTERS. Think about which names could belong to heroes and which could belong to villains. Which names might be good first names and which might be good second names? Do any of the names give you clues about what type of characters they could belong to? For example, what jobs might the characters with those names do?



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See you next time in the Story House.


Happy writing... and reading!

Jack
Links...
 

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Location: London, UK
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