Author Archives: Katy

Fiction Writing Magic: K-3 Students at Kellogg Hubbard Library

fiction writing kidsThe young writers started showing up in little bursts. Shyly, then entered the room. They brought tiny handmade books, notebooks, and special pens. We met in the center of the room with markers and a big piece of paper. While more writers showed up, we drew settings– purple waves, lollip pop trees, thoughtful owls.

Then I asked them what a setting was– and what makes them special. I read Dogteam by Gary Paulsen and we drank in the glowing moon and reflecting snow, the dogs dancing through the trees. I read a scene from my upcoming book The Order of the Trees where Cedar and her friend are in a secret woodland spot and listening to the nighttime orchestra of insects and animals. I asked them what their special place is– imaginary or real. To close their eyes and picture the details.

Now make it! We painted, drew, brainstormed. Ideas swirled over little heads. The art bloomed from their fingers.

Then we pushed away the art and I said what if only you could see the art? What if you had to describe it for anyone else to see it? So we started writing and scribing and the creativity positively vibrated the room. We needed more time!

All the kids ended up sharing their creative works. We had stories about a lost and brave fish, stories about a rainbow as a character, a magical rock, and fairies in a forest.

Later I received an email that said one little girl continued writing in the grocery store cart while her mom piled food around her. This is why I write with and for kids!

The Order of the Trees (pre-orders open now)

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I am thrilled (and a bit nervous!) to announce that Green Writer’s Press, a homegrown, Vermont publisher with a focus on “authors who want to make the world a better place” will be publishing my first middle level/young adult novel in May. I couldn’t ask for a publisher that is more in line with the my values and this story. It makes me proud that the book will be printed on FSC certified recycled paper with soy based inks in the U.S.

The book is called The Order of the Trees– and is about Cedar, who was found as a baby under an old growth tree in the Vermont woods. This is the story of her sixth grade year, her first true friend, and how their fate is connected to the magical woods in which she was found.

The Order of the Trees is now available for pre-order through Amazon. If you order during the pre-order period and let me know (in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter) I would be happy to send you a previously unpublished short story about redemption on a junior high bus that was filled with spit balls, harassment and exclusion. This story created a forum for those who experienced similar traumatic events on junior high buses. Many found the story validating and I am so grateful for this as it has helped me to process this challenging time as well.

I couldn’t be more excited about my new publisher. Dede Cummings, literary agent and publisher, is a fireball of positivity and is bringing beautiful books to life this spring about sustainability, climate change, teaching and mindfulness. I am so excited to be included in this spring catalog. 

I’m so lucky that two of my favorite Vermont authors for young adults wrote blurbs for the book after reading advance copies: Rita Murphy, author of Night Flying, and Doug Wilhelm, author of The Revealer and many other books. I will share those soon.

I would be so grateful if you could ask for this book at your local library, bookstore, and school. It releases on May 1st and I will fill you in on other details as the date draws near!

Common Core: Opportunity and Potential

(First published at the Vermont Agency of Education blog.)

Imagine there is a wide field of grasses, and each blade is one of the possible math concepts to teach. Then, imagine someone running around, cultivating the wild grasses that never took seed, the ones that are growing heartily and need to flower fully, and expanding the grassland in all directions. That person is constantly exhausted. The field is huge, and the grasses have limited depth. But the person keeps running, trying to cultivate all of them, but never quite managing to do so. Weeds grow. Areas are unmaintained, because the field is endless.

Mathematics is an abundant field with many, many concepts. The teacher is the person running around this field endlessly.

The Common Core has limited the field, and required that certain grasses take root, deeply. The math concepts in the Common Core per grade level allow teachers to focus on certain skills and make sure all students master them. This then allows each grade level to build upon the one before it, especially after this has been in place for several years, we will see less gaps, more evidence, and more cohesion in our math scope and sequence, and in our math learners themselves.

In the meantime, teachers are in that difficult transition time where they are creating materials, filling gaps from other years, and trying to figure out a way to gather, report, and share data. This is no small task, and we must work together to find ways to support teachers in this meaningful work, and also to promote the sharing of good practices to use with Common Core, such as successful reporting systems, unit plans, plans for classroom structure and curricular mapping, and so forth.

For new teachers, the Common Core can be daunting or liberating, and all shades in between. With no program to follow, new (and experienced) teachers run the risk of teaching concepts from the Common Core in a scattered, disorganized fashion. It can be overwhelming to plan a cohesive math curriculum at a particular grade level for a year. That is why it is so important that schools and districts support teachers in this work—utilizing math experts and quality resources—and give teachers the time to do the work. We face an exciting opportunity with the Common Core, but we must all work in the field together, supporting the growth of our young math learners and our teachers.