ALAN Workshop-Paul Fleischman

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ALAN Workshop-Paul Fleischman

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ALAN Workshop-Paul Fleischman

Speaking Matters

Paul Fleischman thinks we need to begin a blending of fiction and performance. Performance has always been a big part of his life, and he tries to write books that lend themselves to some sort of performance. Give students the opportunity to perform poetry, to do reader's theater, to act in plays.

We in schools should be emphasizing collaboration. Reading should not be a process that always happens in isolation from others. Reading should be happening with others so that we create shared experiences. We should be reading out loud so we can appreciate the sound of language.

Our culture is teaching students that the sound of language is not enough. When radio was king, we had sound without pictures, and we were expected to create the pictures. Our creativity is being taken away. Fleischman is quite taken with sound and radio and it figures prominently in the book Seek and in his one-act radio play Mind's Eye.

A Whirligig is a metaphor for a book. A book sits on a shelf until it gets picked up by a reader and brought to life. The reader gives the book life, much like the wind gives a whirligig life. In books readers get "cast" the story themselves, and they get to read at their own pace, which is the beauty of the book.

Writing is a craft, and it is something that must be done carefully. Writing can also be a performance, though. It is enough to just begin, even if you don't know where you're going. Ideas in a writer's notebook don't have to make sense. What ideas are in your writer's notebook.

He learned to write a novel by listening to baseball on the radio. Baseball has a beginning, and you don't know how it's going to end or even how it's going to end. You do know, though, that you will have intermissions, breaks and times when there is a relief from the tension of not knowing.

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Last Updated April 11, 2011

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Speaking Matters

Paul Fleischman thinks we need to begin a blending of fiction and performance. Performance has always been a big part of his life, and he tries to write books that lend themselves to some sort of performance. Give students the opportunity to perform poetry, to do reader's theater, to act in plays.

We in schools should be emphasizing collaboration. Reading should not be a process that always happens in isolation from others. Reading should be happening with others so that we create shared experiences. We should be reading out loud so we can appreciate the sound of language.

Our culture is teaching students that the sound of language is not enough. When radio was king, we had sound without pictures, and we were expected to create the pictures. Our creativity is being taken away. Fleischman is quite taken with sound and radio and it figures prominently in the book Seek and in his one-act radio play Mind's Eye.

A Whirligig is a metaphor for a book. A book sits on a shelf until it gets picked up by a reader and brought to life. The reader gives the book life, much like the wind gives a whirligig life. In books readers get "cast" the story themselves, and they get to read at their own pace, which is the beauty of the book.

Writing is a craft, and it is something that must be done carefully. Writing can also be a performance, though. It is enough to just begin, even if you don't know where you're going. Ideas in a writer's notebook don't have to make sense. What ideas are in your writer's notebook.

He learned to write a novel by listening to baseball on the radio. Baseball has a beginning, and you don't know how it's going to end or even how it's going to end. You do know, though, that you will have intermissions, breaks and times when there is a relief from the tension of not knowing.

Click here for the next session's notes.

Click here to return to the NCTE Convention Notes Homepage.