school visits
Now Scheduling for 2022-2023!
(In-Person & Virtual Visits)
I am delighted to visit schools and events as an author, either speaking to large assembly groups or teaching smaller writing workshops.
My work with children in this regard focuses on: reading poetry, performing poetry, sharing writing ideas, and telling poem backstories, from moment of spark through revision and editing. Please contact me through e-mail if you would like to discuss the possibility of such a visit to your school or event.
Kind Words
“Amy is a master at helping teachers help children to see and notice things around them and seek out the stories in everything.”
Sheila Cocilova
2nd Grade Teacher
Jefferson Avenue School
Fairport, NY
“Amy helps students, from the very youngest to the very oldest, find inspiration and see the world with poet's eyes. She's helped some of our most reluctant writers find themselves in new words and images they never knew were there!”
Thomas Marshall, Principal
Stony Lane Elementary
Paramus, NJ
“Amy made us laugh, wonder and see the world in a new light - but most of all she inspired us. Students and teachers are still talking about Amy months after her visit. She helped transform their writing through her passion for poetry, love of nature, and ability to make us wonder even about the simple things in life.”
Darlene Daley, Third Grade Teacher
Canandaigua Primary-Elementary School
Canandaigua, NY
“Amy seamlessly differentiated the different grade level presentations - just a fantastic day!”
Anne Perrault, Library Media Specialist
Elba Central School District
Elba, NY
“With each story, Amy takes the audience on a playful journey through the writing process that is so inspiring both children and adults alike can't help but to believe that they too, can be writers, poets, and even published authors!”
Lisa Blake, Principal
Pembroke Primary School
Pembroke, NY
Poetry Assemblies
Working with large groups of students, I share the sounds and stories of The Poem Farm. Acting out poems, playing with meter and rhythm, holding objects from the natural world, students learn to develop their own eyes and ears for finding and shaping the poems of their lives. While this program varies depending on the age of participating students, its focus remains the same: from silly to serious, poems can change us from the inside out…as readers, as writers, as humans.
Writing Workshops
I am comfortable teaching a variety of workshops to students of all ages. From finding ideas to keeping notebooks to revising writing to reading others’ texts for craft, I strive to deepen students’ understandings of how writers move between many ways of thinking.
Writing Residencies
Bookended with an assembly and a celebration of student writing, a two to five-day residency allows for exploration into finding writing ideas, structuring these ideas, and using literary techniques to make them sing.
Annual Grade Level Assemblies
Some school districts choose to schedule a poetry assembly for one particular grade as a special literary event each year. I am happy to travel to three different school buildings in one day to share poetry with one grade level as a yearly poetry launch or celebration.
Printables
Bookmarks
“Poemmittens” HERE
Book Guides
Find book guides on their individual book pages.
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Our school absolutely loved our time with Amy. The most common comment I received was -- we wish we had more time. A week was not long enough!
Weston Altman, Library Teacher
Enka School
Istanbul, Turkey
You can also find me here:
