CANSCAIP and SCBWI member, two-time recipient of Canada Council of the Arts grants. Member of Quebec Writers’ Federation and selected mentee for Young Adult fiction in 2020.
Workshops are best for ages 9 to 17. $250.00 for one sixty-minute session. $450 for two sessions. $675 for three sessions and $900 for 4 sessions. + travel (50 cents per kilometer, round-trip for Lanaudière, Laurentides, Montreal, Laval, Mauricie regions.
Virtual Visits: $200 for one 60-minute session, $100 for each additional session on the same day, up to four sessions in one day.
Lea is an experienced English Language Arts teacher who loves to talk about books and writing. As a writer of books for striving readers, she is passionate about bringing accessible literature to all readers and second language learners. Lea believes anyone can be a writer and all it takes is the right tools, some hard work, and the right encouragement. She wants to bring the power of writing to all types of learners. She is experienced working with students will learning difficulties, and can offer flexible workshops to accommodate all learners. She provides graphic organizers and worksheets, including editable digital copies for learners using assistive technologies. She has also been known to bring tasty snacks!
Writing Workshop Topics for ages 9 to 17
Workshops are conducted in English, but Lea is comfortable speaking French to second language learners. She can answer questions/provide translation and communicate fluently in French. Participants who speak languages other than English or French are encouraged to teach Lea some new words!
All workshops use a combination of large and/or small group discussion, group activity/game, writing, revising, and sharing.
Writing Makes Sense: Showing vs. Telling
Lea will use a combination of discussion, group activity and writing to create strong sentences using sensory details.
Words for Humanity: Using Conflict to Write About Emotions
Based on the “Cards Against Humanity” or “Cards Against Maturity” game, with an age-appropriate and positive twist, we will create solutions to problems for our characters.
From Memory to Fiction
Based on the game “Clue,” students will use detective work to piece together memories to create a setting, a character and/or a conflict as a stepping stone for their own creative writing.
Dialogue that doesn’t drag: using dialogue to build character.
Using video clips of well-known characters, students will predict what/how characters will speak. We will use character charts, to create personalities and with them, a way to let characters speak that is dynamic and exciting.
Words, Words, Words: Beyond the Thesaurus.
Based on the game “Taboo,” and incorporating improvisation/acting students will explore their vocabulary by acting out adverbs, describing movements and using action words instead, to create a scene.
These workshops are ideal for groups between 10 and 20 participants. Lea prefers small settings for workshops such as a classroom, library or other space large enough to move around, but not so large that she cannot connect with each participant.
Tech requirements include a blackboard/whiteboard and a screen for the dialogue workshop with internet access, speakers, etc. Participants will require writing materials, including assistive technologies for students who use them in the classroom on a regular basis.
