Third Flatiron’s new anthology focuses on the theme of longevity. Edtior Juliana Rew graciously included a story of mine among this collection of strong stories. “Abe in Yosemite” explores a major historical what if: how might Abe’s life have turned out had John Wilkes Booth failed to assassinate him? I got to spend time with Abraham Lincoln again, always a worthwhile thing to do, and I think I did some of my best writing. Here’s the Amazon link:
Filed under Front Page, published story
King City High School creative writing students perform “Assassination”.
Some of you might recall “You Are There”, Walter Cronkite’s great, long-running TV series. Cronkite served as host and interviewer in historical reenactments of critical events from our shared past. The show brought history to life with unprecedented immediacy. I’ve tried to capture that immediacy in a readers’ theater script about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I based my retelling on Jim Bishop’s excellent book The Day Lincoln was Shot. By adding several fictional characters and some dialog to the events Bishop detailed, I hoped to create a narrative that would open history for young readers. I decided I needed to find some young readers and hear their thoughts!
King City High School Creative Writing teacher Ashley Russ invited me to share the script with her students. I made two visits to her creative writing class. On the first visit, advanced students Axel Solis, Irie Flores, Gabriela Valencia, Martin Delgado, Emma Deleon, and Gabriel Aguilar read the script twice and made editorial suggestions. I used their suggestions to revise my writing and took it back for a final reading. It went exceedingly well. Both the students’ performance and their intelligent comments afterward convinced me to go ahead and publish “Assassination” on TPT. Here’s the link to the script:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Assassination-Common-Core-for-the-Civil-War-4478213
P.S. I also created vocabulary and reading comprehension activities to accompany this script. They’re also on TPT.Here’s the link for the activities:
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
Third Flatiron’s fall/winter anthology focuses on the theme of longevity. Edtior Juliana Rew graciously included a story of mine among a collection of strong stories. “Abe in Yosemite” explores a major historical what if: what if John Wilkes Booth had failed to assassinate the President? I got to spend time with Abraham Lincoln again, always a worthwhile thing to do, and I think I did some of my best writing. You folks be the judges. It’s coming in October. Here’s a link to the preview: https://www.thirdflatiron.com/liveSite/pages/news?fbclid=IwAR3WUjIPggXoX7S9EC7vU7Iz0ZwGo0XpLTdR4BwUjz4EoSIy-KdZ3Ux72MM
Filed under Front Page, published story
Some of you might recall “You Are There”, Walter Cronkite’s great, long-running TV series. Cronkite served as host and interviewer in historical reenactments of critical events from our shared past. The show brought history to life with unprecedented immediacy. I’ve tried to capture that immediacy in this readers’ theater script about the Lincoln Assassination
No event in our history was more important or more traumatic than the assassination of President Lincoln and I’ve created a new story and teaching unit that explores this tragedy. The unit’s goal is to make these crucial events clear and accessible to students. I’ve based my unit’s narrative on Jim Bishop’s excellent book The Day Lincoln was Shot. By adding several fictional characters and some dialog to the events Bishop detailed, I’ve created a readers’ theater script for middle school and high school students.
I’ve also created vocabulary and reading comprehension activities to enhance and accompany Booth Shot President Lincoln. You’ll recognize both the cooperative learning and reciprocal teaching techniques incorporated in the activities.
Please take a look at the unit’s preview excerpt when you have a chance! Here’s the link:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Booth-Shot-President-Lincoln-4478213
Filed under Front Page, published story, The Civil War Remembered
Author • Educator • Mountaineer 
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