Author Visit - Natasha Mac a' Bháird

Missing Ellen

The other day, our class had a visit from Natasha Mac a'Bháird, the author of her wonderful new book, "Missing Ellen" in the school library as it was world book day.

Her book is about a strong friendship between two girls, Ellen and Maggie who have been bestfriends for as long as they can remember – sharing clothes, passions and secrets. When Ellen goes missing, Maggie feels completely alone. Maggie needs her bestfriend now more than ever, but where is Ellen? Looking back over the upheaval that led to Ellen’s disappearance, Maggie tries to make sense of her friend’s actions.

Natasha read a few extracts from her book to us during her visit. Although she only read a few  pages of the book, I immediately connected with the characters and found them very interesting. The plot of the story is very mysterious and makes you want to keep reading on. It is definitely a book that I would like to read and will enjoy.

During her visit, Natasha also explained to us how she started off writing this book and I was surprised to find out that "Missing Ellen" started off in a number of small hand written notebooks that she also showed us. She then explained to us how the editors changed a number of things in her book including her title which originally was called "Dear Ellen". I really enjoyed looking at all the possible covers for Missing Ellen as each one was completely different to another and it was interesting to see how a cover can attract different readers and make you want to read it or not. The class thought that some of the covers made the book seem like a horror story and I agree and I think that Natasha chose the best cover for her book.

Natasha was very inspirational and it was great to be introduced to a book that I would like reading and I really enjoyed her visit!

Author Margaret Scott visits for World Book Day

World Book Day

As part of World Book Day, the author Margaret Scott visited our school. She has written the book 'Between You and Me' and is currently working on the sequel to the book which will be released in June as part of a trilogy. 

Author Margaret Scott talks to pupils during World Book Day activities here in the school.(More Images)

Our TY class met with Margaret on the 5^th of March in the library. She told us about her journey to becoming an author and all the obstacles she experienced along the way, writing her book and the process she had to go through to get it from computer screen to paper. She also spoke to us about the life of a writer and some difficulties that you have to face as a writer. 

We then went on to discuss books that we had read and loved, books that we couldn’t finish and what makes a book good or bad. It was an interesting conversation and there were lots of books recommended to us. Lots of teenagers have stopped reading and we came up with some possibilities as to why this is happening.

Margaret’s visit opened the eyes of many students in our class to the world of reading. It resulted in a very enjoyable discussion and hopefully encouraged more students to begin reading again. 


Aoibhín Tutty-Bardon  

Margaret Scott Visits by Roisin King

 Margaret Scott came to our school last Wednesday the 5th March. I can remember being tired and fed-up, before she arrived. I hadn’t thought that she would say anything of interest, however from the moment Scott walked in she had my full attention. She looked as if she knew what she would say to us, and how she would say it. First impressions are important, they can judge whether or not we give our full attention to something, or someone. The author later told us that first impressions mean an awful lot, especially when it comes to reading. If you don’t enjoy the first paragraph of a book, chances are that the entire book won’t interest you. 

  

She also mentioned how this first impression is never perfect from the writer’s point of view. As the book is being written, the first page is chopped and changed as often as the overall story is added to.

  

We then heard an article written by Scott for an English website writing.ie. The piece was all about first impressions, and included the opening sentence from a few of Ms. Scott’s favourite books. According to the successful author, a book needs to immediately involve the reader and make them ask questions. They will want to read more to find out the answers!

  

The inspiring woman proceeded then to tell us the story of her first published novel, ‘Between You and Me’. We heard of the tornado of hard work, hope and rejection before she finally found a publisher who believed in her abilities. The writing world is a harsh world, and it is extremely difficult to make it as a unestablished author, unless you have the necessary hope and ambition to achieve your dreams.

  

Another valuable writing tip for aspiring authors given by Scott was to get your own style of writing. She stressed the importance of not copying other writers’ styles and voices, but rather to find your own personal feel for story-writing. For this reason, Scott shared her inability to read a fictional book while trying to write a novel to a deadline. She explained to us how she would end up twisting ideas from her reading material to suit the story, which distorted the overall plot of her unfinished book. Therefore, to resist the temptation, Scott shared that she read a huge amount of biographies and other non-fiction. 

Scott’s priceless tips given to us were worth more to every one of us than she could have ever thought. We eagerly asked question after question, parched with a thirst for good advice. The experience was one that I will never forget.

Her novel ‘Between You and Me’ is out in bookshops at the moment and the sequel is coming soon!

 

ICT in English 2014 and Beyond

This is a Prezi of a talk I gave at the INOTE conference in Hotel Kilkenny on October 19th 2013. It attempted to look at the new Junior Certificate English Draft Specification and show how ICT could be used to meet the new Learning Outcomes. At the time of making the Prezi, and this blog post, there were 59 Learning Outcomes but the Prezi below should now have the final 39. Some minor adjustments were also made from the version presented on the day and what people can now see below. I hope it may be of benefit to teachers going forward.

Transition Year Production

It's that time of year again....the TY Production!!  

On Tuesday 30th April, students will be transported to an ancient Chinese palace complete with an Emperor and of course a love story.  This is no ordinary tale, and to make it more intriguing it is relayed through the eyes of three Leaving Cert students.  Don't miss this comic but heart-wrenching narrative.  

Ms Murphy

World Book Day 2013: Visiting Author

Margaret began by telling us about her life. 
She gave us tips on writing a book and then read us a chapter from her book.

 On Wednesday 6^th March our English teacher Miss Carey invited Margaret Scott, a local author, to our school. Margaret has just published her first novel “Between You & Me”.

Sarah Henry presents Margaret with a bunch of flowers on behalf of the class.

After her book reading we had a question and answer session where we asked her where her inspiration came from and what types of books she enjoys herself. She gave us a copy of her book as a prize for whoever could write the best opening paragraph of a novel in class the following day. Eleanor Younge won the novel on Thursday.

TYD would like to thank Margaret for giving us an intriguing and informative insight into her life and writing a book. We would also like to thank Miss Carey for organizing the visit. Margaret has secured a three book deal with Poolbeg Publishers and we hope to see her next novel on the shelves in the coming months.

Miss Carey and Margaret Scott.