Are You Partial to the Spiders? Megan’s Creative Writing Dives into Nature Based Storytelling!
By: Alivia Rhodes
Typically one can find Megan’s Creative Writing Focus Area in small groups, writing, reading, and sometimes illustrating books or projects. Often they are spotted outside, on the grass, reading and writing amongst nature. On June 18, they were residing in their classroom, discussing children’s books about nature, studying their illustrations, meanings, and what the overall impact of the book was. This was their final project in the class, one that the students all began with great vigour and excitement.
The teacher, Megan Sampson, is one of the reasons the class is so excited about creative writing, bringing her passion as an English teacher to her GSP Focus Area. Megan has been with GSP since her time as a scholar in 2012 on the Murray State campus, before becoming an RA and office worker, and then later faculty. She graduated from NKU with an M.A in English and from WKY with a B.A in English for Secondary Teachers. She works as an English teacher at Campbell County High School, and her extensive experience and passion for English and teaching has carried her through 11 years at GSP.
Megan begins her class with a routine, or a “ritual” as she calls it: highs and lows, and then a question from the card deck of the game, We’re Not Really Strangers. This class exemplifies that sentiment, the close knit group seems to work best in the environment Megan has created. They exchange ideas, stories, and during large and small group discussions is where this class thrives. Starting off with a positive note also seems to get the class prepared for the day, and in a more creative mindset as they think about their answers to the Question of the Day and to the highs and lows.
On this day, the class was working on its final project, a two part project that would carry them out of the year. The first part they were all split into groups and assigned a book, the selections being: Finding Wild, The Hike, If You Find a Leaf, Here We Are, Little Tree, and The Lorax. The groups had to read it, summarize it, and find the one line that represented the whole book. This class eagerly took on the challenge, engaging in deep comprehension and animating the stories through acting and character voices. Creative interpretations aren’t just tolerated in this class, they’re encouraged. Megan introduces the project, but it is primarily student led, with students making their own decisions in their groups. This is common for most of the class, Megan letting the class have their creative freedom, with parameters.
The second part of their project was a true creative writing project, to create a children’s book, with themes and ideas from the books they read, and base it around nature. While this seems like a daunting final task, this class was eager to begin the process, and Megan let them begin. Each group had their own way to create the book, some started with storyboarding, some brainstormed verbally, and some went ahead and began. The creativity that circulates throughout the classroom is appreciated by Megan, who consistently walks around, taking pictures, encouraging students, and answering questions. The class began writing and illustrating their own four to five page books, beginning on Friday and expecting to end on Monday.