I keep being invited back to schools, so over the years have created lots of 'days'. Each follows the same format. Click on 'Time table' for a typical day.
I introduce the whole school, one key stage at a time, to the day's theme. Children return to their class bases to create settings, characters and ideas for stories. For the rest of the day, I then work with individual classes - visit 'Class workshops' for more details. 

                1. PROFESSOR PRAGUE 

ALL IN THE HALL: Professor Prague is a writer looking for inspiration. He flies anywhere - to the bottom of Jack's beanstalk, a gravel pit, an imaginary road called April Avenue. He researches and writes - both fiction and non-fiction.  

BACK IN CLASS: create, either with boxes or by drawings, where the Professor has visited. 

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  stories set in the place visited
NON-FICTION  research for stories or writing stimulated by where the Professor visited 

POETRY  depends on the destination 

PREPARATION  photographs of
where he landed, craft materials and construction toys to make characters and buildings

2. CIRCUS STORIES 

ALL IN THE HALL: children create stories based in a circus and think about interesting words to use

BACK IN CLASS: create circuses and the characters who work in and visit them 

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  based in circuses, take a known book character (eg Elmer the Elephant) to the circus

NON-FICTION  tickets, advertising, programmes, newspaper reports, instructions to care for and feed the animals

POETRY  focus on atmosphere, colours, shapes and how performers move

PREPARATION  circus skills apparatus (eg quoits, balls, hoops), craft materials and construction toys to make Big Tops, animal cages and characters, www.circushistory.org has interesting information about circuses, possibly create a circus area in the classroom

3. DICING WITH DRAGONS 

ALL IN THE HALL: a castle and a dragon's foot are the focus to create stories where random objects are used to generate ideas 

BACK IN CLASS: design dragons and dragon habitats and record ideas as story boards

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  about dragons, their habitats and the people they interact with

NON FICTION  labels and recipes in a dragon's kitchen, instructions how (or how not to) scare people, directions to the nearby castle, posters offering rewards to gallant knights, lists of things the dragon needs to do, an invite to a princess's birthday party

POETRY  explore the loneliness and unsociability of being a dragon, what it's like to fly, describe dragons eating together

If KS2, find dice, 6 bags and 10 random objects. A game to generate ideas which uses these items will be modelled during the hall session

4. CHARACTER CAFÉ

ALL IN THE HALL: characters (ie child volunteers) meet in a cafe. Each chooses an envelope with a short piece of non-fiction inside it. The characters and random non-fiction ideas are then woven in to a story

BACK IN CLASS: create non fiction writing, characters who frequent the café and the café itself

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  featuring café stories with non-fiction inserts

NON FICTION  lists, newspaper articles, signs, recipes, bills, time tables, menus; adverts                        

POETRY  write about quirky café characters, why they have come to the café, their feelings, pasts and futures

PREPARATION  craft materials and construction toys to make the cafe and characters; envelopes, examples of non-fiction that characters are reading, dressing up clothes, possibly create a cafe in the classroom, envelopes to copy the idea modelled during the opening session

5. EDITING SPACE 

ALL IN THE HALL: children find out about the vital role an editor plays in the process of making a book before thinking about astronauts, aliens and their habitats. 

BACK IN CLASS: children create space ships, astronauts, planets and aliens before writing about what they have created

FOCUS ON...

NARRATIVE  about happenings in space, possibly written in science fiction genre

NON-FICTION  create an alien's or astronaut's birth certificate, signs in the space craft, newspaper articles (astronauts and aliens are celebrities), character profiles and invitations, create a way that aliens communicate using written symbols

POETRY reflect on feelings of fear, claustrophobia, loneliness, boredom, fascination, exhilaration - and that's all in one day...

PREPARATION  boxes and craft materials to make the astronaut and space craft

ALL IN THE HALL: children act out a story about a baby elephant that is swept away in a mud slide and rescued by another elephant

BACK IN CLASS: work in small groups to create and act out stories that include elephants. One from each class is chosen to share with the rest of the school in a final assembly

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  work in groups to plan, create, script and perform elephant stories

NON-FICTION  information leaflets about elephants, persuasive arguments about the way they are hunted, reviews of 'plays' children produce, debates about whether elephants should live in zoos or the wild

POETRY  focus on how elephants move and what they look like

PREPARATION  craft materials to make props for the story, information and pictures about elephants

7. WORLD OF STORIES

ALL IN THE HALL: children interact with stories from different parts of the world
BACK IN CLASS: Children retell, draw and rewrite stories, manipulating and changing the original narrative. Later, these stories are edited and published in interesting ways.  They are then shared with other children. Each class is split in to 2 - the listeners and the speakers. They swap with another class to share their stories.

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  manipulate and work with the tales; retell them in a different genre

NON FICTION  recipes, menus, directions, newspaper reports

POETRY  how characters' lives change after different experiences

PREPARATION  think about how children's stories will be published

8. PIRATE POEMS

ALL IN THE HALL: a rhyming poem is acted out with props. For KS1, friendly pirates find treasure and crocodiles. KS2's poem is about a peace loving pirate who finds treasure after escaping from ‘The Stinking Bee’

BACK IN CLASS: create islands and pirates, noting good words to use in writing    

FOCUS ON…

NARRATIVE  retell, manipulate and develop the poem (either mine or their own) story line in to prose

NON FICTION  messages, instructions, inventories, articles for the Pirate Times newspaper, recruitment adverts, estate agents' descriptions of an island

POETRY  contrast the rhyming poem heard in the introduction session with non-rhyming poetry forms, create word banks of alliterative phrases, similes, metaphors and atmospheric adjectives, write haikus, shaped poems and limericks using ICT to help with presentations, make sound walls with musical instruments telling stories about pirates, describe life on the ocean wave by matching noun with verbs and adverbs making 3 (or 2) worded lines, write acrostics

PREPARATION  paper to draw, craft materials and construction toys to make islands, travel brochures with photos of islands, mathematical nets to make treasure chests

9. ISLANDS OF INFORMATION

ALL IN THE HALL: a parachute becomes an island. Children think of non-fiction writing that could be found on the island such as messages in bottles, pirate maps, menus, lists, newspaper articles

BACK IN CLASS: create an island and mark on where non-fiction writing can be found, then write the non-fiction

FOCUS ON

NARRATIVE stories set on an island. These could include non-fiction inserts or be generated by non-fiction writing

NON-FICTION  make banners, posters, adverts, labels from clothes and litter as well as those already listed above

POETRY think about the sounds heard on islands to make onomatopoeic poems

PREPARATION boxes and craft materials to make islands, pictures of islands (travel agents' brochures are good)


                                               10. DAHL DIARIES/DIARY DAY

ALL IN THE HALL: children sit round the numbers of a clock face. At 8 o'clock, clothes designer Jeremy Pointer is preparing to go to an art exhibition (possibly Quentin Blake's) at Pudding Lane Art gallery for inspiration for his new collection.  At 9.30 he is at the bus stop. Other characters (possibly Mrs Twit) are there too. At 11.15 he is looking at art work. At 12.30 he meets someone else (possibly the BFG).
BACK IN CLASS: children write diaries of Jeremy Pointer's day.

FOCUS ON
NARRATIVE of what happened at Pudding Lane Art Gallery that day, with Dahl characters behaving as only they can 
NON-FICTION diaries, menus in the art gallery's cafe (eg stewed eye balls), annotated designs, explanations and descriptions to accompany artwork, advertising posters and adverts, time tables, brochures 
POETRY contrasting the serenity of an art gallery with outrageous characters

PREPARATION if focussing on Dahl's books, read some... especially The Twits and The BFG

ALTERNATIVELY...

If you have a theme already chosen, contact me to see whether I can generate a day specially for your school. Lots of the days above have begun life with such a request.

WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE DAYS

"An excellent session, particularly appreciated by less able year 6 boys. Loads of ideas. Many thanks."

Kingsfield Primary School, Chatteris, Cambs

"It was a pleasure to see the children respond with so much enthusiasm, interest and animated conversation to the fantastic stimulus you provided. The range of work produced in response was incredible. You left us inspired. We cannot wait for next year when you visit us again."
Galley Hill Primary School & Nursery, Hemel Hempstead

"We were very impressed with how you kept the attention of all year groups from reception to year 6. But you did and it was great. Where did you get that bird?!!"

Little Spring, Chesham, Bucks

"A wonderful way to meet a writer. The work my class did was just brilliant. Look forward to seeing you next year."

Manor Farm Community Junior School, Hazlemere, Bucks