Two writers, Mary Knight and Karen Land, visited Batesville Intermediate School March 9-10, 2017. Mary Knight is the author of Saving Wonder. Mary talked about "The Power of Words" with 4th and 5th graders, and then lead a small group of writing workshops in the classrooms. The workshops had students revise a piece of their writing with a focus on empathy.
Writer, storyteller and Iditarod musher Karen Land spoke with 3rd graders as part of their unit of study on the Iditarod.
Karen also visited Batesville Intermediate School on March 10th. Karen talked about her adventures in the -50 degree cold. She would start with 2 pair of long underwear and a fleece jacket. Then add a thick snowsuit and a jacket, then a ski mask. On top of that she added bubble pants and jacket to keep out the wind. The wind would go through the zipper in her snowsuit. She even dressed a student up in her gear. Karen also brought in her dog sled. In a race, she would spend an hour putting booties on the team's feet. There are 16-20 dogs in her team and they are Alaskan Huskies. Their hair is very thin and they actually wear vests in the Iditarod race to keep warm.
The kids got to pet her dog, Noggin. All of the dogs born in a litter have a common theme for their name. Noggin's siblings are all game names: Chess, Checkers, Monopoly, and Uno.
The kids really enjoyed learning about Karen's adventures!
Ms. Knight was at St. Louis School on Monday, March 13. Prior to Mary's visit, the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders read Mary's novel Saving Wonder in class and wrote a draft to use during her visit. Mary then helped the students revise their writing during writing workshops throughout the morning. She taught them how to write with empathy using sensory details, descriptive verbs, and inside view.
