Our family is part of a loose network of local homeschoolers. At any one time, the group might include a fair range of radicals, conservatives, unschoolers, anarchists, artists, devout Christians, and even a few lefty, vegetarian democrats. Thanks to email, there’s an ongoing sharing of field trips, science fairs, play days, retirement home visits, and general opportunities for kids to learn. When I learned that Scholastic's Kids are Authors contest is open to homeschoolers, I volunteered to serve as our local project leader if there was anybody interested. Tonight was our first meeting. And what a blast!

The goal of the Kids Are Authors contest is for a team of kids to lean about books by working together to create their own picture book. Our team includes kids ranging in age from 6 to 13. Tonight we talked about SCENES, which, in my opinion, are the building blocks of stories. After a brief discussion, I sent the kids to worktables with this recipe:

Character+Action+Place=Scene.

First they followed the recipe with words. Next, they did the same thing with paper and drawing materials. When the kids returned to share their work with the group, almost everybody had created a character with a problem. It was a beautiful example of plots growing organically. Here’s a few snapshots of their scene making: 

• A cat chasing a chicken in the barnyard. (That's a serious problem for the chicken!)
• Visiting the mall with a little sister who pulls the books off the shelves. (I'm thinking a retail No, David kind of thing.)
• Aliens on the planet Boinga discover that their home is too bouncy (they bounce over one hundred feet high) so they have to move. (I could sit with my writing notebook for HOURS and never think up something like this!)

 Next week we’re going to talk about Characters and Voice. I have no idea what to expect except that I’m sure we’ll have fun!