SCHOOL VISITS
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HOW TO SCHEDULE AN AUTHOR VISIT
To request an author visit to your school, book club, conference or other speaking event please contact THE BOOKING TREE.
SCHOOL VISIT PROGRAMS
(All school visits can be customized to align with your curriculum or class goals, eg. writing, research, revising, punctuation)
20 MIN. VIRTUAL "ASK AN AUTHOR" Q & A
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Virtual visit
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Brief greeting and intro.
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​Do your students have questions about what it's like to be an author, how authors come up with ideas, what inspires them to write? Or their favorite ice cream flavor? Here's their chance to ask!
30 - 45 MIN. SCHOOL VISIT PRESENTATIONS
(Virtual or In-person)
PROGRAM: "You Can Be A Storyteller Too!"
Kindergarten to 2nd grade (30 mins.)
Recommended Books: Goldy Luck & The Three Pandas; The Rock Maiden; Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum; Like Mother, Like Daughter; Lunar New Year.
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Presentation: My journey as an author: Where do ideas come from? What inspired my books? What is the BEST part about being an author?
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Story time! Interactive Read Aloud.
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Demonstration: Stories are everywhere! "You can be a Storyteller too"—Using my books as examples, I'll show your students how to find the stories in their lives and weave them into their own creative works. Storytelling can also take many forms from writing, art, poetry to drama.
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​Q & A
PROGRAM: "The Life Cycle of a Book"
3rd to 5th grade (30 to 45 mins.)
Recommended Books: Goldy Luck & The Three Pandas; The Rock Maiden; Mulan's Lunar New Year; Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum; Like Mother, Like Daughter; Lunar New Year.
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Presentation: My journey as an author: Where do ideas come from? What inspired my books? What is the BEST part about being an author?
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Story time! Interactive Read Aloud.
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Demonstration: "The Life Cycle of a Book"—from manuscript to printed book. I'll share my original manuscript and revised passages, editors' revision notes, discuss revision as an important part of the publication process, and show samples of the illustrator's initial sketches to final colored art.
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​Q & A
PROGRAM: "The Art of Revision" and/or "Diversity Matters!"
6th to 8th grade (30 to 45 mins.)
Recommended Books: Goldy Luck & The Three Pandas; The Rock Maiden; Mulan's Lunar New Year; Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum; Like Mother, Like Daughter; Lunar New Year.
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Presentation: My journey as an author: Where do ideas come from? What inspired my books? What is the BEST part about being an author?
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Demonstration: "The Art of Revision"—revision is an important part of the writing and publication process. I'll share revision and editorial notes, original and revised passages, discuss decisions for the editorial changes, show samples of the illustrator's initial sketches to final colored art. "Diversity Matters"—It's important for students to learn and know about different cultures and peoples. There is a wider world than the one they are living in. I write books that are inspired by my Asian upbringing and culture. I'll use my own books and other mentor texts to show students how they can weave their own experiences into stories, and what they can learn about other cultures through the books they read.
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​Q & A
45 - 60 MIN. WRITING WORKSHOPS
(In-person or virtual)
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Weaving Old Fairy Tales into New Tales: Exploring ways to give original fairy tales a unique twist
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Writing From Your Culture (it can be ethnic culture, social culture, family culture, gender culture): Creating fresh stories from the students' experiences and perspectives - food, clothing, traditions, holiday and religious festivals.
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Story Structure and the 5 Ws: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and the occasional H: How.
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Your Character Said What?: Showing a character's personality and intentions through dialogue.
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Storytelling Medley: Storytelling can take many forms. We'll explore telling stories through Art, Poetry, Prose, and Drama
Click on the headings below for more information or right-click to download the PDF:
TESTIMONIALS
​Kristi McCullough, Administrator
Shanel Valley Academy, Hopland, CA.
Shanél Valley Academy had the opportunity to experience Mendocino County's local author, Natasha Yim, for a school visit during Read Across America Week!
Natasha shared her culture and passion for writing and reading, along with read alouds for the entire school of her recent projects! She promotes equity and inclusion in her books and her collaborative and welcoming presence engaged all the students and staff. We plan to invite Natasha back each year to visit our school as she has a positive impact on our students' education!
Cassie Johnson, Home School parent
Willits, CA.
Natasha’s visit to our Book Club was delightful. The students were engaged as she shared her experiences as an author. She was very age appropriate, informative and approachable for all of the kids. She took time to autograph her books and was patient to answer all the kids questions. If I had to predict, I think our group will see budding book authors from her inspiring visit!
Bella, 1st grade
Thank you for visiting my school. Your books are the best books ever!
Emma, 1st grade
Thank you for visiting my school. I love your books! I wonder if you have books with animals?
Zoe, 1st grade
Thank you for visiting my school. I love how you make books! I wonder how you think of all the ideas.
Khloe, 2nd grade
I love to write stories just like you do. Last year I wrote a nonfiction book about the 50 states. I loved the book, "Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas". It was awesome! One day, I want to be an author and an illustrator.
Trinity Pelkofer, 4th grade teacher, Mary Collins Cherry Valley Charter School
Petaluma, CA.
Natasha Yim was amazing! She visited our 4th and 5th grade students at Mary Collins Cherry Valley Charter School and wowed us with an in-depth, super interesting digital presentation about her book, Sacajawea of the Shoshone, her writing process, her personal story and more. It was like watching a personal "TED" talk of the importance of Sacajawea in our North American history, while still being completely age-appropriate and totally engaging! I had to purchase the book for my class as I wanted to learn more!