The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA
Education:How To
Welcome to the first episode of the author spotlight series here at Spark Creativity!
In this series, you’ll hear from authors sharing their work directly into your classroom. Today we’re hearing from Megan E. Freeman, reading from her book, Alone. Stay tuned throughout the year to hear from many more wonderful authors, including Matt de la Peña, Payal Doshi, and Nancy Tandon.
Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week to teach poetry, and she has been a writer ever since. Her bestselling novel in verse, ALONE, won the Colorado Book Award, the Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont children’s book awards, is an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and is included on over two dozen "best of" and state reading lists. Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet.
My hope is that you'll play this episode to your students on an upcoming Friday, sharing the guiding sketchnotes handout featured below with them so they can jot down their key takeaways as they listen.
Grab the sketchnotes handout here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ox4NNN9SZOG2oR1AQsHxyf0txLrrcR81gFP1sLbsIo0/copy
You can find the text of the first 60 pages of the book available free on Overdrive.
If you'd like to project this episode on Youtube with an image of Megan and her book to give kids a visual as they listen, you can find it here.
Learn more about Megan E. Freeman
Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week to teach poetry, and she has been a writer ever since. Her bestselling novel in verse, ALONE, won the Colorado Book Award, the Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont Children’s Book Awards, is an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and is included on over two dozen "best of" and state reading lists. Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, and her poetry chapbook, Lessons on Sleeping Alone, was published by Liquid Light Press.
An award-winning teacher with decades of classroom experience, Megan taught multiple subjects across the arts and humanities to students K-16, and she is nationally recognized for presenting workshops and speaking to audiences across the country. She studied theater and dramatic literature for many years, earning degrees from Occidental College and the Ohio State University.
Megan is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Northern Colorado Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Columbine Poets of Colorado, and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. She is an Impact on Education Award winner, a National Writing Project fellow , a Fund for Teachers fellow, and a member of the Colorado Poets Center. She used to live in northeast Los Angeles, central Ohio, northern Norway, and on Caribbean cruise ships. Now she divides her time between northern Colorado and the Texas Gulf Coast.
Visit her website here.
230: Creative Short Story Station Ideas for ELA
229: Highly Recommended: These Stunning Posters
228: Taylor Made for ELA: The Swift Collabisode
227: Highly Recommended: Don't Play Email Whack-a-Mole
226: Banned Books Week Starts Now (Here's Help)
225: Highly Recommended: Present or Publish your Work this Year
224: Here's How to Help Quieter Students into Discussion
223: Highly Recommended: The Bread Loaf School of English
222: Creative Halloween Activities for October in ELA
221: Highly Recommended: Ask for What you Want
220: Try Teaching The College Essay like This
219: Highly Recommended: Vocaroo
218: A Beginner's Guide to using Podcasts in the Classroom
217: Highly Recommended: Research with a Twist
216: Let's Talk Graphic Novels with Jerry Craft
215: Highly Recommended: Book Trailers
214: Build a Bridge to the Library this Year
213: Highly Recommended: The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel
212: The Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Digital Bookshelves
211: Highly Recommended: An Easier Back-to-School Night
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Navigating Life After 40
LifeBlood
The Minimal Mom
Science of Reading: The Podcast
The Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast: Pass the Bar Exam with Less Stress