NOTE: Click here for information and fee structure for Virtual Visits! Please contact me with any questions.
I’m participating in World Read Aloud Day, February 1, 2023. If you’d like me to visit your classroom, please sign up here.
I love to speak with students about two of my favorite subjects: science and writing. Your students will learn how an author researches and writes nonfiction books. They will discover that they are all nonfiction writers, and that nonfiction rocks! My presentations reinforce and support your STEM and ELA curricula. While writing over 90 books and hundreds of poems, articles, and stories for magazines and educational publishers, I’ve researched a myriad of science topics. I’m happy to tailor a program to your classroom needs. Or you can choose one of the following programs:
Slithering Snakes! Nonfiction Stories About Animals
How does an author research a topic? Using examples from Buffy’s informational and narrative nonfiction stories, students brainstorm questions and discuss how to find answers. After learning about snakes through reading an informational text, we discuss how the same information can be structured in a story. Students act out a creative nonfiction story about garter snakes.
Is That a Fact? Researching Animal Secrets
Using examples from Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks? And Other Questions About Animals, students brainstorm animal questions and learn about research, writing, and revision. Different approaches to writing about the same topic are explored including a creative nonfiction story and poetry.
Put On Your Animal Mask! Writing Poems Through Animal Eyes
Imagine you are a praying mantis, waiting for dinner to arrive. How does the world look through mantis eyes? In this workshop students choose a favorite animal and write a mask poem–a slice of life from that animal’s point of view. They learn to collect strong descriptive words from other texts and to write sensory descriptions.
For details about scheduling a school visit, including my current rates, please click here, or contact me.
Here’s what teachers and librarians say about my presentation:
You hooked our students right away and they learned so much as they listened.
Everyone was so pleased with the manner in which you were able to engage the students in your presentation yesterday. All the teachers commented on your ability to reinforce the writing process and keep the children involved.
I was especially pleased to have the kids meet a non-fiction author as they are often asked to write nonfiction pieces in class.
Each presentation was tailored for age appropriateness, including movement for the youngest and humor for the oldest. Her experience managing groups of students was apparent. While the presentations were fun, they were also educational. I would recommend Buffy Silverman for any classroom author presentation for elementary students.
Your program was very engaging–teachers told me their kids were talking about it the rest of the day.
Read a blog post written by a teacher about my visit.
Here’s why a Media Specialist loves author visits, and her tips for planning a successful visit.