Author Visit
MEREDITH COSTAIN
How inspiring!
Murrumbeena Primary School was fortunate to be chosen to host an author visit by Meredith Costain. Meredith worked with 75 of our most enthusiastic and capable writers over 2 days. The students and teachers who attended the sessions learnt how authors generate ideas and how they turn their ideas into a story to engage an audience.
YEARS 5 & 6
A small group of enthusiastic writers from Years 5 and 6 had the privilege of spending a Tuesday with Meredith and becoming more knowledgeable about the writing process an author goes through when creating a narrative piece.
Meredith explained how she uses her own personal experiences and real life events as a springboard to develop interesting stories. Students participated in a variety of writing activities to help develop their understanding of the structure of a narrative, and to practise the art of adding description and detail to evoke their reader’s interest. They also worked in small groups and shared their writing with their peers, which enabled them to gain valuable insight into each other’s writing styles and receive feedback from each other, as well as from Meredith.
Students then engaged in some quality writing time, developing their own stories. They were very excited; one student came up to me at lunch time stating that they couldn’t wait to finish their story. A truly valuable and motivating experience for all of the Year 5 and 6 students chosen to attend.
Meredith was very impressed with the level of enthusiasm and motivation shown by our budding young authors at MPS.
GRADES 1 & 2
On the morning of Wednesday April 28, a selected group of Grade 1 and 2 students had the privilege of working with, and learning from, the author.
Meredith Costain has written over 300 books, including the very popular Ella Diaries series. The Wednesday morning focus of the Grade 1/2 session was writing poetry about animals. Meredith shared photos of her own pets, hooking the students in, then provided the opportunity for them to share about their pets. Students enthusiastically brainstormed describing words (adjectives) and doing words (verbs) about dogs in preparation to write a poem together called Doggie’s Book.
Students then followed the same process to write a personal poem on an animal of their choice.
Please enjoy the examples below.
Doggie’s Book by Grades 1 and 2 at MPS & Meredith Costain
Dogs play.
Play play play play.
Dogs dig holes.
Dig diggity dig!
Dogs run.
Run, run, run, run.
Dogs bark.
Woof, woof, woof!
Dogs wriggle and jiggle.
Wiggle, wiggle, jiggle.
Dogs chew bones.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
Dogs sleep in the sunshine
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..
Dogs howl at the moon.
Aaaroooooo!
Horses by Lauren K. 2N
Horses gallop.
Clip, clop, clip, clop.
Horses like fruit.
Crunch, crunch.
Horses pull carriages.
Pull, pull, pull.
Horses like to ride
Ride, ride, ride.
YEARS 3 & 4
The grade 3s and 4s were full of enthusiasm and excitement to meet Meredith on Wednesday afternoon, with some sharing that she is one of their favourite authors.
The students were very interested in learning about Meredith’s writing process and asked many thoughtful questions. She shared her writing process, which included writing drafts and editing. She also shared her ‘scribble book’, where she jots down ideas as they come to her. The students acted out a story about a cheetah’s life cycle, and the room was filled with laughter.
Meredith read her book ‘My Life in the Wild, Cheetah’ to inspire the grade 3/4s to create their own piece about an animal.
Here is an example by a grade 3 student:
Chicken by Harry B, 30
I am a chicken.
I have big, thick feathers and a wattle under my neck.
My home is a pen.
I am as loud as an alarm clock.
Meredith was very impressed by the talent and enthusiasm of our writers at MPS and the students were absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from a real author. The following is an example of one of the student’s reflections:
‘It was truly an unforgettable experience! So many things happened including an act and we wrote down our own story. She even read a few books. It was amazing!’
This opportunity was provided as part of the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series, a joint project byPETAA (Primary English Teaching Association of Australia) and the Victorian Department of Education.
