Today, Mrs. P stops by to talk with us about her 6th Annual Be-A-Famous Writer Contest, which is for K-4 classrooms. The winning classroom will be filled with books in every format from the contest’s generous sponsors. This year’s contest theme is Time Travel.
We recently sat down to chat with Mrs. P herself – here’s what she had to say!
How did you come up with the theme of time travel?
When I was young I can remember reading books like “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle and watching a T.V. show called “The Time Tunnel”. How I imagined being the book character, Meg Murray; a high school aged girl, or Dr. Ann MacGregor, the electro-biologist supervising the cylindrical hallway like Time Tunnel unit, as they were transported on adventures through time. The idea of time travel provided an irresistible appeal, imaging how I could go back and forth in history, and to places I could only imagine. I have always enjoyed a good workout for the imagination, and the theme of time travel really satisfies it. I thought kids would also enjoy this experience.
What are some of your favorite books about time travel?
Writers have always been fascinated with the idea of traveling through time and space. Some of my personal favorites for kids are: “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, I always recall how the tollbooth transports him to a land called the Kingdom of Wisdom. And of course, “A Wrinkle in Time” as I already mentioned.
Any ideas to get students writing?
I think this could be a good writing prompt: You have been given a time machine and can travel to any point in the history of the Earth. Where will you travel and why?
What’s different about the contest this year?
It is the classroom entering, not an individual student. This will be our 2nd year running the contest this way. The classroom will be recognized as the winner. For example “Mrs. P’s 3rd Grade Class from Dreamy Valley” Everyone in the class that wins is winning books and prizes for their school. The classroom and school library all get their story made into an actual book illustrated by Robin Robinson. and Mrs. P reads the story live to the classroom that wins!
Who are the judges this year?
The stories are judged by a panel of celebrity judges that includes actress Marion Ross, probably best known for her 11-year portrayal of the iconic mother, “Mrs. C” on the hit ABC series Happy Days and Robert L. Forbes author of three books of poetry for children. Robert and I have done a couple of google hangouts with classrooms and had a blast. I loved his sense of humor and thought he would be a wonderful judge. And we have a 5th grade teacher, Jamie Palmer, who also writes the blog The Second Library. He won our teacher twitter contest. I loved his entry that selected Mr. Lemoncello to eat lunch with, as the book “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library has judging essays and is set in a library, so I thought he must be one clever teacher to have selected this to submit!
What are the details of the contest?
The contest is for classrooms only and is FREE to enter. Parents you can still participate by telling your child’s teacher about it.
- ENTRY DATES: SEPTEMBER 1, 2014.
- Contest Closes: November 15, 2014
- Winners Announced January 15, 2015
- For classrooms K – 4th grade
Mrs. P invites classrooms to write a story on the topic of TIME TRAVEL no less than 250 words and not to exceed 1,000 words. It may be fiction or non-fiction. Any classroom from Kindergarten through 4th grade may enter. Just one story per classroom! It can be a collaborative story, or teachers can have their class vote on which child’s story to enter. Find all the details at my contest website.
My amazing sponsors are providing books galore that will benefit the schools of the winners! Books in every format, real books, digital books and audio books! And what school doesn’t need books? See my prize page for details of what classrooms will win. Meet my sponsors: Buy Preferred, myON Reader, Tales2Go, Polka Dots Publishing, Inc. & Powell’s Books.
Learn more about the contest HERE! Thanks for stopping by, Mrs. P!
Novel Novice 
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