First quarter 2024 talks and workshops by Singapore children's author, Vivian Teo, who wrote popular middle grade book series, My BFF Is an Alien, and what to expect in the sessions.
What a great start to 2024! I visited ten schools for assembly talks and held two writing workshops with the National Library Board (NLB) in the first quarter of the year.
Thank you for having me, Punggol Green Primary, Shuqun Primary, Yuhua Primary, West Spring Primary, Nanyang Primary, Xishan Primary, Ngee Ann Primary, Wellington Primary, Westwood Primary and Kent Ridge Secondary School in the first quarter of 2024!
In case there are educators here who are wondering if they should invite me to their schools, I thought I take the opportunity to let you know what my talks are about.
My primary school talks (usually 20-30-minutes) are focused more on my books and their inspiration, and advice on reading & writing through fun facts and storytelling. My favourite is always the Q&A session and in almost every school I've visited, students are always very enthusiastic about asking questions.
But sometimes I'm unable to do Q&As in some schools as the talks start late due to pre-assembly announcements and schools need the talk to end by a certain time. For a full and better experience for your students, I'd recommend allocating at least 20 minutes for my assembly talks. The most fun I'd had were sessions where I had a full 30 minutes, which means there were ample time for questions and I can tell you, the students are always so excited when I go down the stage to interact with them😄
My talks for secondary school (usually up to an hour) focuses more on book genres & recommendations, author inspiration, and my writing process and publishing experience.
Some secondary schools have used my books as teaching material in English and English Literature lessons. In such instances, I would go into more detail about my books and their inspiration as students are already familiar with my books.
My talks can be arranged with book fairs (physical or online) and/or author book signing - these are definitely lotsa fun and more exciting for the students. It also gives students the opportunity to interact close-up with me.
But I understand that some schools prefer not to hold book fairs for various reasons including space and logistics constraints. So feel free to let me know what is your school's preference!
As for workshops, these are usually 1-1.5-hour sessions where I do guided writing exercises with children. These can be customised and the most recent ones I did was Tweens Write with NLB.
In my latest workshop, Aliens & Adventures: Creating Epic Fantasy Stories, aspiring writers learned to create their own fantasy tale through the understanding of the key elements of exciting stories and guided writing exercises. Participants learned how to find story inspiration and create interesting plot and characters, and at the end of the session, they created plot outlines they could use to write their novels.
If you'd like me to visit your school for assembly/author talks or hold talks/workshops at your event, please feel free to get in touch with me through the Contact Form in my 'About' page.
I'll be visiting more schools in the second quarter this year. So do stay tuned!
Disclaimer: My opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.