Celebrating Winter Holidays with Author Pat McKissack
October 21, 2009
What winter holidays do your students celebrate? Here’s a great chance to explore the different religious and cultural celebrations throughout the winter months!
Award winning author Patricia McKissack shares with students over a three part videoconference series her expertise when in comes to writing, and tells participants about her holiday book, Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters. This illustrated book, for children ages nine and up, compares the preparations between the plantation mansion and the slave quarters leading up to Christmas celebrations.
Register no later than November 1! To learn more about this videoconference, scroll down.
Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt Book Reading
October 2, 2009
Read St. Louis is a community-wide initiative developed by St. Louis County and St. Louis Public Libraries to encourage St. Louisans to read and discuss books.
AUTHOR EVENT: Patricia McKissack, Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt
Public Event and Book Signing at the St. Louis Public Library – Schlafly, located at 225 North Euclid Avenue in St. Louis, MO on Saturday, October 24, at 2:00 p.m.
Patricia McKissack will discuss and sign her book, Stitchin’ and Pullin’. Mother and daughter, grandmother and granddaughter, aunt and niece, friend and friend. For a hundred years, generations of women from Gee’s Bend have quilted together, sharing stories, trading recipes, singing hymns – all the while stitchin’ and pullin’ thread through cloth. Every day Baby Girl listens, watches, and waits, until she’s called to sit at the quilting frame. Piece by piece, she puzzles her quilt together – telling not just her story, but the story of her family, the story of Gee’s Bend, and the story of her ancestors’ struggle for freedom. Patricia C. McKissack is the author of the Caldecott Honor Book Mirandy and Brother Wind and the Newbery Honor Book The Dark-Thirty. She and her husband, Fred, have written over 100 books about the African American experience. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Books for sale courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
Stitchin’ and Pullin’
Come experience the Patricia C. McKissack book Stitchin’ and Pullin’: a Gee’s Bend Quilt as we read some of the poems from the book and make beautiful quilt squares to take home. Recommended for ages 3-5.
Thursday, October 1, 1:00 p.m.
Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63131
Friday, October 2, 10:00 a.m.
Daniel Boone Branch, 300 Clarkson Road, Ellisville, MO 63011
Thursday, October 15, 10:00 a.m.
Weber Road Branch, 4444 Weber Road, St. Louis, MO 63123
Wednesday, October 21, 10:00 a.m.
Natural Bridge Branch, 7606 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63121
Thursday, October 22, 10:00 a.m.
Jamestown Bluffs Branch, 4153 N. Hwy 67, Florissant, MO 63031
Southern Tales of the Supernatural Videoconference with Patricia McKissack
September 28, 2009
Author Patricia McKissack (and recent Mark Twain Reader Award nominee) will conduct three, 60 minute story-hour sessions during the fall of 2009 with New Links to New Learning. Pat reads the selected books, she’ll talk about (her) inspiration, and she will take questions from students. These story hours are for students in first through fifth grades (depending on the book). The cost is $200 for New Links members and $250 for non-members. First up is The Dark Thirty. To register, contact Rebecca Morrison by October 16. There are currently two slots left for interactive sites.
Just in time for Halloween: Pat will read select portions of The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural on October 23, 2009 at 11 a.m. central. This book is for students ages 9-12; “these 10 spine-tinglers range from straight-up ghost stories to eerie narratives. The tales in this winner of the 1993 Coretta Scott King Award depict racism, haunting and vengeance in a manner that can be read out loud around a campfire or savored privately, offering middle readers thoughtful exposure to important, though frightening, historical themes.” (Amazon.com)
A Friendship for Today Recognized
September 25, 2009
Each year, Missouri students in fourth through sixth grades vote for their favorite book from a list of nominated books to honor one with the title of the Mark Twain Readers Award.
(Students, teachers, librarians and parents can recommend books for the award). The participating students are eligible to vote for their favorite book if they have read at least four of the titles on the current master list. Then the Mark Twain Readers Award is given to the author of the winning book by the Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL).
Nominated for 2009-2010 is New Links to New Learning author Patricia McKissack, for her 2007 book, A Friendship For Today (Scholastic Press). According to MASL, “the purpose of the Mark Twain Award is to provide children of Missouri with a recommended reading list of literature that will enrich their lives.”
Congrats to Pat for being nominated! Voting ends in March 2010.
Goin’ Someplace Special Podcast
September 3, 2009
The latest Author Visit Podcast is now up on podbean.com. Patricia McKissack reads from her book, Goin’ Someplace Special, a story about the injustices of segregation in the South in the 1950s.
Pat’s podcasts include reading excerpts from her books Tippy Lemmey and Clone Codes.
Author Visit Podcasts!
August 19, 2009
To listen to Patricia McKissack’s newest podcast, click on the photo below!
Patricia McKissack Podcast: Clone Codes
August 13, 2009
In this new podcast, enjoy a sneak peak of acclaimed author Patricia McKissack’s new science fiction novel, Clone Codes.
Patricia is a New Links to New Learning content provider; she’s been conducting interactive videoconferences with K-12 students for over ten years from Cooperating School Districts.
This year, in addition to her three-part writing series, she’s adding three, 60 minute story hours for elementary students, and two Talk Shop programs on either historical fiction or science fiction, for middle school and high school students. (More details will come later on the secondary school programs!)
To read more about Patricia and what she offers students and teachers, please scroll through this blog.
2009 Winter Holidays Around the World VC
July 27, 2009
What winter holidays do your students celebrate? Here’s a great chance to explore the different religious and cultural celebrations throughout the winter months!
Award winning author Patricia McKissack shares with students over videoconference her expertise when in comes to writing, and tells participants about her holiday book, Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters. This illustrated book, for children ages nine and up, compares the preparations between the plantation mansion and the slave quarters leading up to Christmas celebrations.
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters
Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack
Illustrated by John Thompson
Details of holiday observances practiced by the wealthy residents as well as the slaves who lived on a large Virginia plantation in 1859 are shared through narrative, songs, recipes and glorious illustrations. The love of family and the bonds of traditions are made bittersweet by the tumultuous changes wrought by the upheavals inherent in the lives of the slaves and the impending wrenching changes wrought by war. The book is meticulously attendant to historical accuracy and never descends into an overly sentimental view. Detailed notes follow the text, with further interesting tidbits (for example, the phrase “sleep tight” refers to the rope slats supporting a mattress which must be tight to avoid uncomfortable sagging). Winner of the 1995 Coretta Scott King Award.
During the first videoconference, Pat will talk with the participating teachers about what they are doing in class and how this videoconference relates to their curriculum. In the second and third videoconferences, Pat interacts directly with the students. In the final connection, students will have an opportunity to share their work with their peers and Pat. Pat offers her praise and critique of the work, though often encouraging students to revise and rewrite!
Students in past videoconference connections have written about several winter holidays, including (but not limited to) Chinese New Year, Ramadan, and Kwanzaa.
To have your class sign up for this interactive videoconference series, contact Rebecca Morrison at Cooperating School Districts to learn about costs and expectations. Each videoconference should have no more than 30 students per class, and we never connect more than three schools at one time. Pat works with students of all ages, but we work to schedule to make sure the right groups are working together (a second grade class would never work with a seventh grade class, for instance).
We hope to see you this holiday session! Here are the dates for 2009’s programs:
Teacher Session: Thursday, November 5 at 4 pm CT
First Student Session: Tuesday, November 24 at 11 am CT
Second Student Session: Tuesday, December 15 at 11 am CT
New Links to New Learning Videoconferences
July 24, 2009
Welcome!
To see a full list of 2009-2010 Author Visit Videoconference options available from Patricia McKissack, please visit the New Links to New Learning website.
Also, scroll through this blog, Writer’s Workshop, to learn more about past & upcoming programs, as well as about Pat’s books.
New Links to New Learning is pleased to share that award winning author Patricia McKissack will conduct three, 60 minute story-hour distance learning sessions during the fall of 2009. Pat reads the selected books to connecting classrooms, she’ll talk about (her) inspiration, and she will take questions from students.
These story hour videoconferences are for students in first through fifth grades (depending on the book being read). The cost is $200 for New Links members and $250 for non-members. To learn more about these fantastic opportunities, please click here.
