ASSEMBLIES

Teresa's dynamic all-school or all-grade assembly centers around writing and the history of World War II utilizing three themes:

1: Citizenship—by referring to the many and varied ways children were called upon to contribute to the war effort, I show that kids CAN make a difference in their world.

2: True Stories—by talking about the importance of collecting true stories, Teresa show students how to look for and find true stories all around them and turn those stories into engaging reads.

3: Perseverance—by sharing her own writer's journey and her passion to see her words in print, Teresa inspires kids to follow their dreams and work hard at their writing.

45 Minutes

WRITING WORKSHOPS

Life Stories Writing Workshop for upper elementary and middle school students:

Teresa discusses with students where ideas come from. She shows them how we can sometimes draw from real life to inform our writing. She illustrates how her own books are based on interviews with real people and shows the students the difference between a "gold nugget" and a "silver nugget." Gold nuggets are pieces of information that an entire story can be spun around. Silver are those details that enrich a story. She then leads the students in an exercise where they interview each other and share with the class how they could write a story based on what their partner told them. This workshop touches on research and interviewing skills as well as writing and reading skills and does so while sharing fascinating facts from history.

50 minutes

What If? Writing Workshop for primary students:

This engaging workshop walks primary students through the steps involved in creating a story. Teresa starts out by asking the kids about their own reading and writing tastes and then shows them how all of those books they love have certain core elements. Then she has the students help her build a story by first coming up with a character, then giving her a goal, and then putting obstacles in the way of her reaching that goal. The students build on the story by asking themselves "What If." This is all done in a tone that is very friendly and encouraging for young readers/writers.

40 minutes

Teachers get:

1: Library Set of Books
A library set of Teresa’s Home-Front Heroes books will be provided to each participating school.

2: Author Visit
Teresa will provide a one-day author visit to the school. Teachers can choose any of the above writing workshops and assemblies or a combination of workshops and assemblies.

3: Featured Student Work
Teachers can choose to submit their best student work for consideration for Teresa’s “Student Work” page on her website.

4: Fundraising Opportunity
Schools running this program on their own have the option to sell all five of Teresa’s books to parents and community members through a simple, four-step ordering process. 20% of earnings from the book sale will be returned to the schools! There are no stipulations on how that money is spent.Teresa will do a booksigning for the children and adults when she visits the school!

To Sponsor a Visit: If you are a business, individual or organization who would like to support local education by sponsoring Teresa's school or community visits, please contact us.

On more than one occasion, students have opted to skip recess to stay and hear more from Teresa. She takes this as the highest compliment!

"Teresa Funke is a dynamic speaker and compelling story teller. Our students were riveted to their seats and eager to read her books after hearing her speak. Her assembly made history come alive and she easily shifted topics as she noticed increased interest or curiosity in related themes. She helped our students to relate inquiry and research to fictional writing."

-- Martha Petty, Media Specialist, Harris Bilingual Immersion School

"Thank you for visiting our 5th grade. They really enjoyed your visit and are excited to read the books. Your presentation was perfect! The length, information, and time for questions was very appropriate."

-- Mendy Rushing, Fifth Grade Teacher, Werner Elementary School.

"Teresa spoke to our entire student body about the experiences of children and teenagers during the second world war and how they worked to support their communities, their families and their country during this difficult period. Her presentation was an engaging look at the lives of students in the past and how they rose to the challenges of their time. She helped our students to understand that although they are young, they each have a very powerful voice that can inspire, challenge and encourage others to do their best. They can also work in their family, their school and their community to make the lives of others better and to make a positive difference in their world."

--Will Allen, Principal, Zach Elementary School

"Everyone was over-the-top pleased with Teresa Funke's presentation to our intergenerational group of seniors and 8th graders. Teachers, elders 60 and better, and many students praised her thoughtful remarks. Everyone left with sound writing advice that was easy to use."

--Bill Ellis, author and writer-in-residence at Sunset Middle School, Longmont, CO.

"The junior high students truly enjoyed Teresa's motivating talk. And many of them commented they loved her book. She has truly inspired many of us here."

-- Joanna L. Keiss, Librarian, St. Joseph School

"The learning my students received from your books and talk continued throughout the year. Months after we read the book, the kids started talking again about your books, and they remembered so much!! It was awesome! Thanks again for writing books that are interesting for kids and for teaching them about writing and WWII!

--Amy Nicholl, Fifth Grade Teacher

"The kids learned SO much from Teresa about writing and WWII. They were even able to make connections between that war and others!"

-- Jill Fenn, Fifth Grade Teacher

"It was amazing to me how interested I became in what you were saying. I can honestly say that was the quietest I've ever seen the seventh and eighth grade classes!"

--Julie Caito, Middle School Teacher

"One of my "reluctant readers" bought copies of two of your books after your talk and finished one over the weekend. She was SO excited to talk about it! We are all now doing an interview assignment with our grandparents in my class and the kids are having a blast! Thank you for inspiring us all!"

--Andrea Tomlinson, Fourth Grade Teacher

"Thank you for sharing your expertise with us! The students’ energy was buzzing when they got back to the classroom!"

--Katie Boisen, Fifth Grade Teacher

I can’t thank you enough for the time and interest you showed to our students. As we reflect back on the two days you were with us, the fifth graders are buzzing, “Oh, I think this is a golden nugget” or “That’s a silver nugget I can use in this story… I better hang on to that somewhere.” They thoroughly embraced your writing advice on the nuggets and on everything else. Both fifth grade classrooms have a renewed sense of excitement about their creative stories and even the pieces they have to write on Revolutionary War heroes."

--Robyn Franklin, Fifth Grade Teacher

To read more teacher comments and also student endorsements, click on the file in the column at right.