Writing Residencies for Elementary and Middle Schools

A residency is the most cost-effective way to spend cultural programming dollars. It is my favorite way to spend a week or longer; because every child, teacher and parent has a chance to participate, work on their writing over a number of days, see progress, and receive follow-up support.

Each school helps me design their residency based on their needs and interests. Schools have found these residencies a particularly effective way to prepare students and teachers for upcoming writing activities and testing.

The Schedule:

The week begins with assembly programs for all of the students (see below for in-depth description). These are followed-up with classroom writing workshops. The rest of the week is based on the school's needs. Some schools opt to have every child participate in more than one workshop. Other schools ask me to devote the balance of the week working with a particular grade. For instance, in a school I may work with the just the first graders to create a picture book in which each child contributes writing and artwork for one page.

Free Time:

When not in class, I can be found in the school's library or other available room, where I am available to meet with children and teachers for one-on-one help with writing, or to work on lesson plans and classroom strategies. During the week I am often asked to present additional programming - an evening workshop for parents, or a teacher in-service training. A number of schools have had me perform an evening concert for families and the community, and used it as a fundraiser to offset the cost of my visit. We work together to create the design.

Please contact my booking agent for fees and scheduling here: info@TomMcCabe.com

Looking forward to seeing you this year!

School Assembly Programs
Tom's Assembly programs are 45 minutes to an hour in length. They are designed to be age appropriate and highly interactive. Tom considers himself a Teaching Teller. At the center of every performance is a story building/writing activity during which Tom teaches the students and the teachers a simple technique for creating stories and generating writing. The children help Tom create an original story and Tom asks the teachers to keep the list of the ideas to use for follow-up in the classroom. When the story is complete, Tom asks the teachers, all at once, to tell the story out loud. Everyone speaks so no one needs to be shy. The children love it and the teachers directly experience a writing system that calls for writers to brainstorm out a story and then to tell the first draft before they attempt to write. It is quite effective.

For younger children the stories are a combination of listening stories and audience participation. For older students, Tom's tales are listening stories.