stalking the personal narrative

Thanks to librarian Laura Godshall at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, for taking these photos of students working with me yesterday. We're listening, talking, sharing, and gathering the stuff of personal narratives. Excellent.

Because Laura had done such a stellar job of preparing her students, they were eager to greet me, they were excited about the work ahead, and they were invested. Totally invested.What a pleasure! What a delight.

Because all students in grades K through 5 had all heard my books read out loud, had kept readers' journals as they listened and discussed, and had read some titles on their own, we were able, in workshop after workshop, to move at a steady clip, as students made connections right and left to my stories, made text-to-self and self-to-world connections, and scribbled like mad in their notebooks or did finger-writing with me.

They were attentive, engaged listeners. I had lots of stories to tell, all about how my life turns into my fiction.

Great writers stop and think a lot.

"A story is told in a circle..."

Good singers! A story is often told in song...

Sometimes good fortune and hard work intersect. It's a gift. Thank you to everyone at R.E. Lee Elementary School for a most-fabulous teaching, learning, story-celebrating day. It was a privilege to become a member of your reading and writing community.