Scary Story Contest at American Fork Library

Scary Story Contest

Entries accepted until October 22, 2011

Awards announced on October 27, 2011

Submission Guidelines:

- Entries must be neatly typed and double-spaced on one side of           

8 ½" X 11" white paper. Legible photocopies are acceptable. We are

encouraging you to illustrate your story with original art work if 

you desire. You may submit more than one entry.

- Submit each entry with an entry form and the required $3.00 entry 

fee.  (The attached form may be copied as necessary.)

- Author's name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript.

- Each page of the manuscript should have the title and a page 

number.

- Keep duplicates of all submitted entries. Friends of the Library is not

responsible for any lost or misdirected work.

- Judging decisions are final.

- Awards will be announced in the Children's Library on Thursday, 

Oct 27th, 2011 (7:00 P.M.) Manuscripts will be returned at that time.

- Deadline: Entries must be received no later than

Saturday, October 22th, 2011. Entries received after the 

deadline will not be judged.

- Stories may not exceed 3,000 words (approximately 12 doublespaced pages)

- We encourage clever stories that build suspense and mystery. While

scary, chilling puzzles are desirable, graphic depictions of violence are

discouraged. Humorous tales are always welcome! 

2011 Scary Story Contest Entry Form

Good luck!!!

Mini-Lesson: Adding Detail

I'm sad I didn't see this mini-lesson in action!! I heard about it second hand from my kiddo's so I hope I get it right!

One of our cute moms hid different objects in paper bags. One object to a paper bag.  She then paired each child up with a partner.  One was supposed to look inside their bag and see what they object was.  Then they needed to describe it to their partner without saying what it was.  The partner needed to guess what the object was. My son got a yellow pencil in his bag.  

What a GREAT way to help kids practice describing things and gain ideas on how to use descriptive words in their writing!!!

Mini-Lesson: Create a Character

Here is the list of questions I used with the Provo group to help them create a character.  We didn't make it through the list so I told them I would post it here!

Step 1- Create a fictional character and answer the following questions about him/her.

1. What is the character's name?
2. Where was s/he born and raised?
3. What is his/her religion and ethnicity?
4. Briefly (though don't get bogged down with cosmetics), what does s/he look like? Fat, thin, tall, short, muscular, flabby, gray, bald?
5. What does s/he believe in?
6. Where has s/he failed or triumphed?
7. Is s/he married, single, divorced?
8. What kind of work does s/he do? Is s/he happy or discontented with it?
9. What are his/her hobbies? Sports? TV?
10. Is s/he neat or is s/he a slob? In order to establish this on paper, you might wish to describe clothing, closet, a drawer of his/her desk, or the trunk of his/her car.
11. Can your mind picture your character making something? Can you see him/her using a simple tool, perhaps, to shape the hull of a mode clipper ship?
12. How do his/her hands behave? Relate them to the tangible things that surround him/her?
13. Is s/he musical? Is there one special instrument that s/he plays well or badly? Does s/he play it alone, for him/herself, or can s/he jam it up for an audience of friends or strangers?
14. What was his/her school and schooling like? Who was the teacher s/he respected and why?
15. What are the events, items, pets, pals that s/he remembers for years?
16. What are his/her idiosyncrasies? Odd habits? Quirks? Pet Peeves?
17. Other than memories, what are the tangible trinkets s/he saves and treasures from his/her past?
18. Is s/he witty? If so, you cannot tell your readers that s/he is instead, you must let the character show that s/he is witty.
19. How does s/he drive a car, tie a tie, gargle? Does s/he cough often, snore, hum, whistle?
20. Read the editorial page of your newspaper and choose which opinions s/he agrees with or disputes? Does s/he argue bitterly, silently, or to anyone who will listen?
21. What is his/her goals? Whom does s/he dream about, yearn for, hate?

Step 2- Once you have answered these questions, create a character sketch which incorporates answers to each of these questions. The answers need not appear in the order of the questions.

Step 3- Read your character sketch to someone. Have the person who is listening jot down unanswered questions and inconsistencies in the character as sketched.

Step 4- Use your character sketch to write a short scenario which focuses on one portion or segment of the character's life.  The vignette must contain narration and dialogue. It must include showing details which bring to life the chosen scene.  It must also convey a sense of the character by using a gesture or mannerism symbolizing one aspect of his/her personality.

Writing Binders

Some of the cute kids do not have their tabs filled out in their binders.  Here are some ideas for you to write on their tabs.

Journal Writing
Mini-Lessons
Writing Propts
Pre-Writing
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing
Working On
Done
(the last two tabs are best for young students)

It's important that the child personalizes his binder as well.  For example, my cute son wanted to divide his writings up into categories.  He has a tab for action, mystery, humor,  etc.  He is starting to see that some of his stories overlap both the categories, which is fine, but he eventually figures out where he wants it to go! :)

So have fun personalizing your binders and the tabs.  The sky is the limit! :)  If your child writes something different on his/her tab than what we have posted above, please share in the comments!

PROVO GROUP - Oct. 6th

There will be NO mini-lesson on Oct. 6th. We are having a guest speaker..and she is AMAZING!!! :)

Make a Movie

There is a super creative boy in one of the groups that is doing the coolest project! He is writing his own movie for his family to act out and record! What a GREAT way to get a child excited about writing- and a SUPER FUN, MEMORY MAKING way to publish it! When I chatted with him this week he told me he is even working on his own commercial to advertise the movie! BRILLIANT!! I was SO EXCITED about his wonderful idea and I wanted to share!

In fact, while doing personal scripture study with one of my own children I realized that many of the stories and teachings were not sticking with him.  I thought back to this wonderful idea and I asked my sweet child if he would like to do that with one of  his stories-- and he jumped all over the idea and has already begun the project!  I know he will learn the stories so much better using this idea!

Monster Cafe

Have you ever wondered what a monster would eat? What about Frankenstein or a witch? What would they LOVE to eat for dinner? Monster Cafe is a SUPER FUN activity for young kids or a reluctant writer, and with Halloween right around the corner it's the PERFECT time for this activity! Have your child(ren) design a menu for the Monster Cafe- or Frankenstein's Diner, etc.  Have them design and write the menu which needs to include two appetizers, two main courses, two desserts, and two beverages. You can take it even one step further and decided what you would really serve for those dishes.. and then eat it on Halloween night!!! :D

Example:
Appetizers- Monster Toes (Cocktail Wieners w/ a Red Ketchup Finger Nail)
Beverages- Poison Ivy Sap (Apples Cider with Gummy Worms)

lol- ok, so my creative juices are not flowing right now!! But there is no doubt that a child could come up with some AMAZING ideas!!!

Have FUN creating your menu's! If you do this activity with your child(ren), PLEASE post your menus in the comments!! I'd love to see what you came up with!