P.S. McFadden: Children’s Writer

“All the fun is in how you say a thing” Robert Frost

Miss Pat believes that all children can be successful writers. She has mentored young writers of all ages and uses proven techniques that motivate even the most reluctant students, strengthen their writing skills and help them discover the “fun in how you say a thing.”

Teacher Training is available, in conjunction with either the One-Day or Writer-in-Residence program. During this time, Miss Pat will share her techniques, tools, games and ideas to make classroom writing time both more effective and more fun for everyone.

For More information contact us here.

The Visiting Muse Program gives schools the opportunity to bring Miss Pat for a one-day Author Visit or a week-long Dragon Writer Author-in-Residence intensive. Teacher Training sessions are also offered with tips and techniques for inspiring students to soar to new writing heights.

For more information contact us here.

This page has the following sub pages.

• One Day Author Visit
• Dragon Writer Artist-in-Residence Program
• Teacher Training

This week-long program for grades 3 - 6 covers all the basics of good writing and is designed to address the benchmarks of the Colorado State Elementary Writing Process Continuum.

Miss Pat works intensively with up to four classes during the week. During this time, she guides students, scale by scale, through both the “right dragon wing” rules and mechanics of writing and the “left dragon wing” specifics of the creative writing process. By the end of the week, students have a basic understanding of both “wings” of effective writing and have soared to the completion of an individual creative writing project.

Miss Pat employs enjoyable exercises and interactive activities while covering such topics as paragraph and sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, spelling, author purpose, parts of speech and types of writing.

Thank you so much for coming to visit us. It was a fantastic experience for all! ~Elementary School Principal

For more Information contact us here.

 Miss Pat’s school programs are generally presented to pre-K through fifth or sixth grade. The goals of Miss Pat’s presentations are to encourage a love of books and reading and to help students discover the delights of creative writing.

Miss Pat donates 20% of Turtle Island and Dragon Dilemma book sales to the school to help offset the cost of her visit. Books for the sale should be ordered at least four to six weeks ahead of time. Teacher guidelines and group discounts are available for classes that wish to read Dragon Dilemma or Turtle Island ahead of time.

Usually there are two programs in the morning and two in the afternoon, with some time scheduled for book signings. There are four programs availabe which may be mixed-and-matched to fit the needs of your school:

Pre-K to 1st Grade:

Bug-O-Rama

Miss Pat reads Oh, No Wooly Bear to the children, which leads into a discussion of insects in winter, after which the children are encouraged to write a bug story or make a bug illustration of their own.

What a great experience for the kids! They loved it!
~First Grade Teacher

Grades 2-4:

Pet Project

Following a reading of Dragon Dilemma, Miss Pat discusses the “APCs” (action, problem, conclusion) of the story and uses creative writing exercises and games to help students discover their own writing voice.

Grades 5-6

Fantasy Fandango

Depending on whether the class has read Turtle Island or not, there will be either a question and answer period about the book or a general discussion about creating a fantasy world and some writing exercises.

Your activities were thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by my class. Thank you! .~Fourth Grade Teacher

One-On-One With Young Writers

Instead of one of the classroom sessions, you may request that Miss Pat do up to six 10-minute critiquing sessions with students who wish extra help with their writing. This is a plan ahead activity with the students’ work being sent to Miss Pat at least two weeks before her visit.

Thank you for sharing your expertise with our future authors!
~Fifth Grade Teacher

For more information or to schedule a visit contact us here.

Patricia McFadden

P.O. Box 892

Paonia, CO 81428

phone and fax: (907) 527-4491

cell: (303) 918-8203

“Keep me away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy which does
not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.”
Kahlil Gibran

Many of P.S. McFadden’s childhood friends and mentors came to her in the guise of books.  Sadly, she lost track of them during her decades of trying to be a grown-up. Deciding that adulthood was vastly over-rated, “Miss Pat” found her way back to the World of Make-Believe through the gate marked WRITER.

In the past ten years, she has amassed not only a backpack full of colorful characters, thrilling plots and memorable settings, but a hefty collection of writing tips and publishing lore. This website is all about sharing these riches with anyone who can use them.  It is also–since even recovering adults need to eat–about selling books and doing author visits.  Mostly, though, it’s about crying, laughing and–especially–bowing before children. 

WELCOME!

PS McFadden (Miss Pat) is a former pre-school teacher and children’s librarian with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Children. She writes teaching materials for various educational publishers as well as award winning fiction and non-fiction for and about children.

Miss Pat has written eleven books for teachers and children, as well as five children’s plays. Her stories and articles have appeared in such publications as Children’s Digest, Turtle Magazine, Highlights for Children, Sidewalks, Mountain Parent and The Healthy Planet. Her early chapter book, Dragon Dilemma, has been adapted and performed as a children’s play. The manuscript for her middle grade novel, Turtle Island, won an award in the Paul Gillette Memorial Writing Contest, and her story A Light for Lena won a Highlight’s Editor’s Choice Award.

When she isn’t on the road doing her Visiting Muse School Program and author appearances, Miss Pat writes at her home in the Colorado Rockies, occasionally making a quick trip to Boulder for sushi.

Miss Pat is available to speak at bookstores, libraries and conferences. Please contact us here for more information or to schedule an appearance