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Field Trips
Field Trips
Collaboration • Publication
Creative Writing
Creative Writing
Imagination •
Students become
Students become
PUBLISHED
authors
Students become
PUBLISHED
WE OFFER TWO FIELD Trips
for classes of first through sixth-grade authors. Teachers bring their class to one of our two bureaux on a Tuesday or Thursday morning (depending on student age group and school proximity) for some lively, imaginative, collaborative story writing and in-house publication.
Guided by our skilled Program Manager along with help from our trained volunteer editors, students discover that writing can be a fun, non-competitive outlet for fearlessly expressing ideas. Students learn about creative collaboration, self-editing, the bookmaking process, and the core elements of successful storytelling–like character, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Each student leaves their field trip as a published author, with a bound and illustrated book of their story.
GEODUCK
The
Publishing Co.
GEODUCK
Grades 1*-3
Tuesdays,
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Offered at Greenwood and Yesler Terrace
Mr. Geoduck is a "very famous" publisher in a terrible fix. He hasn't had a brand new story on his desk in weeks, and he is beginning to think that there aren't any left in Seattle. The way he sees it, his only option is to move Geoduck Publishing to Antarctica where he can enlist penguins to be writers. Lucky for him, your class has arrived, full of creativity, imagination, and ready to show Mr. Geoduck that there are still good stories in Seattle.
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Our Program Manager guides the group collaboration to build an all-original, imaginative tale. One element at a time, the plot works its way toward a "cliffhanger." Then, students break off with volunteer editors to individually craft their unique endings.
Mr. Geoduck, having read all the submissions, gives supportive feedback to each newly published author while his assistant Harriet presents them with a bound and illustrated copy of their story. Finally, Mr. Geoduck announces that the authors have saved the day: Geoduck Publishing will stay in Seattle!
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*First-grade classes are scheduled during the second half of the​ school year. We find this allows for first graders to feel confident during the independent writing part of this field trip.
Both our Field Trips produce chapbooks like this one that student authors get to take home with them!
Featured here (up to its cliffhanger) is "Judy the Mountain's Big Dream" from the Mr. Geoduck Field Trip, written entirely by the students of Ms. Ott's 3rd-grade class from Gatewood Elementary, with Illustrations by Fearless Ideas' resident illustrator, David Lasky.
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(Use the navigation arrow on the right to turn the page, click a page to enlarge it!)
from the Mr. Geoduck Publishing Co. Field Trip, Illustration by David Lasky.
from the Mr. Geoduck Publishing Co. Field Trip
From the Mr. Geoduck Publishing Co. Field Trip
from the Mr. Geoduck Publishing Co. Field Trip, Illustration by David Lasky.
“I really hope that other people can go and be lucky enough to have as much fun as we did.”
–Amara
Grades 4-6
Thursdays,
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Offered at Greenwood and Yesler Terrace
Writer'S ROOM
The
Writer'S ROOM
The Writer's Room is a creative Brave Space, where off-the-wall ideas work together to build original adventures in storytelling. Forget about sitting alone, staring at a blank page as inspiration fizzles away. Here, writer's block gets pulverized by collective brainstorming, spitballing and, and the power tools of teamwork.
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After a short discussion led by our program manager about what makes a thrilling, unique story, students work in small groups to create an original story for younger readers like themselves. Each group works with a volunteer or two who guides them through the writing process and types up their original adventures. All students leave with a printed, illustrated, and bound book of their very own. Authors experience the entire writing process to completion, develop creative collaboration skills, and release the wild imagination within.
TO REQUEST A FIELD TRIP FOR YOUR CLASS:
Teachers must fill out and submit a Field Trip Interest Form—it only takes a minute. With the goal of clear and timely communication, we ask that each teacher fill out and submit their own form rather than assign this task to a volunteer or other classroom teacher. Our Field Trips program is popular, and we usually get more applications than we can fit in the calendar. If your class does not receive a date, you'll automatically be put on a waitlist and contacted if a spot opens up.
PRIOR TO YOUR VISIT:
We recommend you use our Pre-Field Trip Guides to help your class prepare for their upcoming visit to Fearless Ideas. By reviewing the included activities with students, it allows for a much richer experience; students arrive familiarized with some of the terminology, structure, and behaviors that are most conducive to writing collaboratively. Download the guide for your field trip below!
Please email our program manager Bryan Wilson with any questions or concerns.
EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL PARTNERS
We are hard at work developing new ways to support and partner with teachers and their classrooms. Please contact us if you are an educator who would like to collaborate with Fearless Ideas on a creative project with your classroom. Email bryan@fearlessideas.org
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To learn about ways we're responding and adapting during hte COVID-19 Pandemic, click HERE