Writers will learn how to:
👉🏼write for a specific audience
👉🏼compare children’s picture books and the elements that make a great book
👉🏼plot a story for a specific audience
👉🏼layout a children’s picture book in Canva
👉🏼write a children’s picture book in Canva
👉🏼use literary skills such as alliteration, repetition, and vivid verb choices
👉🏼edit a story and give constructive feedback to peers
👉🏼use the basic functions of the Canva online graphics program
👉🏼make a cover and add art to their children’s picture book in Canva graphic design program
👉🏼create an About the Author page about themselves in 3rd person point of view
👉🏼acknowledge artists used in their illustrations
👉🏼line up and center all graphic objects on each page
👉🏼make a book ready for print
👉🏼interact through Share sessions in the Classroom tab and during our Zoom meetings

Hey there! My name is Ms. Kathie, and I am an Outschool Creative Writing teacher. I teach the writing strategies and techniques that help middle school  writers to take their writing skills from good to fantastic. I will be offering classes in Creative Writing and Canva for Education Digital Design for grades 6th -8th grades (ages 10-14).

After graduating from University of South Florida in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, I worked for USF for several years and decided to become a Language Arts teacher. In 1996, I became an English Language Arts teacher for middle school students grades 6-8. I took post graduate credits for my education certification from USF.

Teaching Certifications from the state of Florida include:
English Middle Grades 5-9
English 6-12
ESL
ESE
Business
Media Specialist

Teaching Experience: (26 years)
1996-2018 English Language Arts teacher Middle School grades 6-8
2004 Fellowship with Tampa Bay Area Writing Project, part of the National Writing Project

2005 I.C.E. Writers Camp mentor teacher - a creative writing camp for kids ages 7-18

2018-2022 Creative Writing and Digital Design - offered online as well as in class through my school's learning management system, so I am well-versed in offering and teaching online courses.
2019-2022 Teaching Digital Design (as well as Creative Writing) using Canva graphic design app

Teaching Philosophy:
My philosophy behind my teaching is I consider my students to be writers before they take any of my classes. They might be at different levels of proficiency, but most students are required to write from the time they can hold a crayon throughout their school years. I want to give my writers the agency to express themselves creatively through poetry, short stories, and creative non-fiction (personal narratives, blogs, podcast scripts, etc.) 

Teaching Style: Writing Workshop
My teaching style is based around the writing workshop model where students discuss and collaborate and learn from each other as well as from me, their mentor teacher. A typical class with me will be broken down into:
-Greeting and Introduction
-Class Objectives (so students know what we'll be doing and understand the goal of the class)
-A quick journal entry that is usually a plan for writing (a writing strategy - which will be one of the first classes I teach here on Outschool)
- A quick share with each other
- Class lesson on a strategy or technique depending on the class.
- Another quick writing session - either in the journal or typing on a computer
-Share and review to conclude our workshop time together


Some fun facts about me:
- I have a large bullmastiff named Gus and a rescued pup named Copper
- I have written and self-published 5 books for young adults and teens
- I am working on my third book in the Children of the Psi series about a group of teens with supernatural abilities. 
- I have my own business and love to talk about it with my students when it illustrates a point I am making in class about graphic design or writing. Since I do all of my own copywriting and digital design on Canva, I will offer courses on Canva as well as writing classes.


No shows: If no one shows up after 10 minutes from when class was scheduled, the class will be canceled.

Homework Offered
Assessments Offered
informal assessment
Grades Offered

Your child will need to have an account with Canva Graphic Design Program - you can sign in with a Google or Microsoft account. Canva is a graphic design program. To find out more about Canva, click on this link: https://www.canva.com

Your child will also need to use Google Apps such as Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Forms for interactive learning.

We will also be using YouTube for examples of different children's books and concepts such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.