Recommend a book for me

I am a person who reads in the morning while having my morning coffee, at lunch while eating my soup, in the afternoon while grading student homework, in the evening with a hockey game on TV (my husband's choice) in the background, at night when all the world around has fallen asleep... I'd also read at the lessons but I know it is impossible, unfortunately.

I am an omnivore. I read everything. But I have my preferences.

The books you see in the picture have been taken from the shelf randomly, not because they are my favourites, although I loved these too.

I read travel books and crime stories, I read memoirs and biographies, I read psychological thrillers and children's books, I read drama, romance and love stories, I read action and adventure books, I read cookbooks and gardening books, and of course I read books on methodology and didactics.

For me, a good book should open up a new world (like Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul), make me fall about laughing (like Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There), shock me (like Kate Long's The Daughter Game), surprise me (like Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife), shake me (like Anita Shreve's Testimony), entertain me (like Jo Nesbo Nemesis),  terrify me (like James Rollins' Amazonia) and soothe me (like Maeve Binchy's Evening Class).

I'd like you to suggest a book for me which I could read next. I have been given great recommendations before (like Elif Shafak's book suggested by someone on Twitter - I am hugely grateful for it), and this is the time when I ask you, my readers. I am curious and I am impatient to make new discoveries in my world of written word.

Exploring the possibilities of Storybird

Finally I've got to making my first story on Storybird which I had been planning to do for a while. Easter break gave me this chance and I did not get disappointed. Working on the story got my creative juices flowing and though I realized I can hardly be an author who writes perfect stories in English, I managed to build my first tale. Here it is.

A night in the city on Storybird

What I like on Storybird is the amazing, fantastic and awesome artwork offered to the writers. The pictures are varied in colour, theme, characters, atmosphere, style etc. I went through tons of images and loved so many of them that my initial problem was to choose the most attractive ones for my first story.

But, as I was trying to decide on which pictures I would be going to use, I realized that it is not us who decide on the idea of the story but the pictures which lead us where they want, and we just have to follow them.

For a story you get an assortment of pictures and you can choose only from them, no possibility of adding images from another bunch or replacing them. It may be considered a drawback if you do not like any restrictions but such are the conditions on Storybird - take it or leave it.

If you are going to use Storybird with your students, they will probably be grateful that they are offered a ready-made set of pictures which certainly makes it easier to decide on what to use. You may start with a very short story, no longer than 2-3 pages to show the students the way it is done and get the knack of digital storytelling. I am sure they will take to it eventually and create original, witty and sparkling stories.

Meanwhile, I have composed another story, and while I am now waiting for it to be approved by the site administrators, I am asking myself - has Storybird got me enchanted?

April 27. Here is my second Storybird - The cat who flew to the moon.

More presentations on creative writing

Following my presentation on writing mini sagas, here are two more presentations giving quick tips for writing diamond poems or diamantes and limericks.

A diamante is a seven line poem, shaped like a diamond, hence the name. It is perfect for revising adjectives, participles or gerunds.
To learn more, see my presentation.

Creative writing: Diamond poems

More PowerPoint presentations from baiba svenca

Limericks are short poems of vague origin but the name most obviously has been borrowed from the Irish town of Limerick which is why limericks are often associated with Ireland.

This presentation gives examples and suggestions how to write a limerick.

All these forms of creative writing - mini sagas, diamond poems and limericks - are suitable for developing students' creativity, imagination and thinking skills. They work well with students of all ages.

Mini sagas

Recently I have noticed the literary term mini saga appearing here and there. As a relatively new type of creative writing (first mini sagas appeared in 1982), it has not been widely used, and I wonder why.

Mini sagas are easy to use in the classroom with students of all ages. The themes will differ but not the format which is exactly 50 words. Twitter messages are very long in comparison. Students may like this type of class/home work because it is short. On the other hand, in the beginning they won't know that it is rather difficult to create a meaningful and coherent text using only 50 words. Why not give it a go?

I made a PowerPoint presentation which explains the idea and gives some examples borrowed from the internet.
See if you may find it helpful in your teaching.

The Poetry Channel

I just discovered a new website The Poetry Channel which presents poetry in videos.
The poems are read by the authors themselves. The site is not big yet because they have just started but I liked it at once because it is exciting and inspiring to watch the poets and listen to their voices.
There are poems which are fantastic for classroom use.

I loved this poem http://thepoetrychannel.org.uk/poems/back-in-the-playground-blues/