MY ADVENTURE WITH ARTHROPODS
A Workshop for Ages 8-12

How to Use Realistic Details to Create an Exciting Adventure Story
Presented by Janet Gingold

Janet Gingold's interactive My Adventure books invite imaginative young thinkers to collaborate in the creation of adventure stories. As they add their own descriptive words, specific examples, emotional reactions and illustrations to the story scaffold, co-creators experience a special sysnergy between the reading process and the writing process. The finished product is a unique bound paperback storybook that each co-creator can truly call his or her own.

In My Adventure with Arthropods, two cousins set out for a day of exploration. Armed with a specimen jar, a field guide and a magnifying glass, they find a wide variety of arthropods. Insects and sipides and scorpions, oh my! Along the way, they encounter Spider Woman and Arachne, as well as a storm that washes out the bridge across the stream. A metamorphosis in the narrator causes a shift in the relationship between the cousins as they work together to get back home.

In this one-hour workshop for ages 8-12, Gingold helps participants get started on their own versions of the story by introducing the process, facilitating brainstorming, demonstrating how to use books to research specific details and providing an approach to "drawing what you see." This project can help participants with diverse skill levels progress toward meeting standards described in the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum in science, language arts and visual arts, including communicating scientific information, classifying animals according to observable features, reading to gain information, choosing details, syntax, word choice and imagery appropriate to the story, and using selected design concepts to organize the elements of art and principles of design to convey ideas and feelings in personally meaningful compositions. But mostly they'll have a blast finding out about bugs and discovering their own talents.

Janet Gingold divides her time between teaching biology at Prince George's Community College and writing stories for children. Her works include two young adult novels (Danger: Long Division and Finch Goes Wild) and six interactive My Adventure stories.

Fee: $150 for a one-hour session with up to 20 participants
(Fee does not include books, which can be purchased at special workshop rate.)

Special rates are available for special circumstances and multiple sessions. For more information or to schedule a visit, email jgingoldbooks at aol.com.

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