If you are a Year 5 or 6 teacher and your class is studying the sinking of the Titanic, please note that I now offer a Titanic-themed author visit. We can do this right at the start of your Titanic unit (as a hook to create interest) or later on when the children have already been studying the topic for some time. It may be that your pupils are already reading my book Survivor Titanic but this is not essential.
Content
The day starts with an hour-long assembly for the whole year group. We do a Titanic-themed quiz (harder or easier questions, depending on how much the children have already studied the topic) and then discuss the importance of primary sources: photographs, deck plans and survivor accounts.
We look at Jack Thayer’s exciting first-hand survival narrative, which influenced Jimmy’s escape story in my own book, and beginning imagining our own passenger on the Titanic, a potential protagonist in an adventure story of our own making.
After the assembly, I lead a writing workshop with each class. The timings for these workshops are entirely flexible, depending on how many classes you want me to work with – anything from one to three classes works well.
Over the course of the workshop, I guide pupils in planning their own survival stories set aboard the Titanic. We work on characterization, suspense and Show Don’t Tell. The workshop is punctuated by short bursts of speed-writing by the children. By the end of the day, pupils should be well on the way to completing the first draft of a short story, a task which could perhaps be completed or redrafted for homework.
The day ends with Q & A and then children have the opportunity to share some of their writing. I give plenty of affirmation and encouragement, along with gentle suggestions for improvement. When I do Titanic themed KS2 visits, pupils often end up wanting their own copy of Survivor Titanic. I am happy to bring copies with me for sale and signing.
Testimonials
Steve’s visit was brilliant; it was a really engaging day that left our Year 6 pupils excited to write. It was great for them to see the process a real author follows when planning a new story and showed them the importance of knowing their characters! Steve created a great atmosphere for learning, celebrating everyone’s ideas and pushing them to think more deeply. The stories produced as a result were excellent and really showed that they’d taken his advice on board.
Ms Jelley, Year 6 teacher, King’s Park Academy, Bournemouth
Stephen Davies has visited our school twice now, and on both occasions the children have been truly inspired. The topic of the Titanic intrigues the children and Stephen’s presentation, knowledge and explanation of how he researched the historical event to write his novel captivated them. The writing workshop engaged all pupils and enabled them to create their own character and consider ways to bring them to life, which resulted in the children producing some outstanding pieces of writing. They thoroughly enjoyed the day because of Stephen’s inspiring words and the time he spent talking to them about books, authors, their interests and his experiences. Fantastic, amazing and inspiring are some of the words used by our children to describe the day, with many commenting that they are now considering becoming an author in the future.
Ms Rochelle, Year 6 teacher, Park Hall Junior School, Walsall
We couldn’t recommend Stephen enough. His knowledge of Titanic was extraordinary and the children were engrossed with the stories and knowledge he could share. The aim of the session was to learn more about the Titanic but also to support our children with story writing. Stephen’s workshop was invaluable. The children were very excited to write their stories and use the advice given from Stephen – their stories were out of this world!
Ms Foster, Year 6 teacher, Manor Community Primary School, Swanscombe
This letter is a thank you for the amazing assembly and class workshop. I found both sessions really inspiring. I appreciated your picking me to get up and share facts about the Titanic. I felt really proud. Another thing that I enjoyed was the class quiz. It was a shame that our class lost. I enjoyed designing my own character that I could later on use in my own survival story. One of the best parts was transferring my planning into an amazing story.
Kerim, Year 6, King’s Park Academy, Bournemouth
Steve visited our group of Y6 pupils as part of our history topic where we were exploring different sources of evidence linked to the Titanic. During his visit, he exposed the children to a range of primary sources such as deck plans, photos and survivor accounts, introducing the children to life on board the ship. As a result of viewing these sources, the children were able to imagine their own character and setting for a short piece of narrative in the first person. Steve also told the children about a young man on board called Jack Thayer who was the inspiration for his own character ‘Jimmy’. The children were incredibly engaged by Steve’s presentation, enjoying the opportunity to ask further questions about the Titanic and listening to him read a few chapters from his book.
Years 6 teachers, Mosborough Primary School
It was a fantastic day which brought our topic to life and sparked the imagination of our children. We would definitely recommend anyone embarking on this topic to invite Steve in!
To book a Titanic-themed author visit, please write to Yvonne Lang at Authors Abroad: yvonne@caboodlebooks.co.uk or contact me for further details.