Last week my school had the great pleasure of hosting Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch for a visit with our students in grades 4 to 8. Many of the students had read Marsha's award winning novel Making Bombs for Hitler (don't let the title scare you off!). I am currently reading Underground Soldier aloud with many of the classes. We were quite fortunate to benefit from two grants that assisted us in having Marsha spend the day with us. One of those was a grant that Marsha had been given to help promote education on World War I internment. The kids were fascinated and full of questions. Of course, there was a handful of students who I didn't think were particularly engaged in her novels and I mentioned to Marsha that I was worried they would chat while she tried to talk. Marsha promised me all would be fine. Well those same kids I was worried about were the ones that gave up their recess to stay behind and talk to her further. She really was that good. Someone told me recently that they don't think kids are interested in reading about history but that is definitely not true. Many of my students love reading historical fiction; especially realistic historical fiction. If you ever get a chance to hear Marsha speak or perhaps bring her to your school I highly recommend her. I heard so much fantastic feedback from students, teachers and parents during teacher interviews. We're still talking about it.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Last week my school had the great pleasure of hosting Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch for a visit with our students in grades 4 to 8. Many of the students had read Marsha's award winning novel Making Bombs for Hitler (don't let the title scare you off!). I am currently reading Underground Soldier aloud with many of the classes. We were quite fortunate to benefit from two grants that assisted us in having Marsha spend the day with us. One of those was a grant that Marsha had been given to help promote education on World War I internment. The kids were fascinated and full of questions. Of course, there was a handful of students who I didn't think were particularly engaged in her novels and I mentioned to Marsha that I was worried they would chat while she tried to talk. Marsha promised me all would be fine. Well those same kids I was worried about were the ones that gave up their recess to stay behind and talk to her further. She really was that good. Someone told me recently that they don't think kids are interested in reading about history but that is definitely not true. Many of my students love reading historical fiction; especially realistic historical fiction. If you ever get a chance to hear Marsha speak or perhaps bring her to your school I highly recommend her. I heard so much fantastic feedback from students, teachers and parents during teacher interviews. We're still talking about it.