*Jack Gantos

Jack Gantos presented to our students and talked about the importance of journaling. He encouraged students to start their writing with drawings--when creating characters for picture books, he told students to draw their characters first and then write about them. He advised our older students to make "story maps" of their homes and neighborhoods with drawings that represent different occurrences in their lives. After the maps are drawn, students are encouraged to write the stories they've already drawn.