Monica Ruth Edinger, a very interesting fourth grade teacher at the Dalton School, was born in North Carolina.  She moved around a lot because her father was a professor and taught in many different places.  She now lives on the Upper Westside of New York City with her new toy poodle pup, Lucy.  Monica is passionate about reading and writing, and she also is a runner.  Lucy sometimes runs with her!   Ms. Edinger attended Barnard College Columbia University .  After graduating, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, Africa.   Monica ‘s family is from Germany and Monica is fluent in German.   She enjoys traveling abroad; this summer she went to Peru.  Monica also enjoys sweets, especially chocolate.   Her classroom is full of ladybugs for good luck.  “ After 25 years of teaching at Dalton, being with the fourth grade is still fantastic,” Monica says.

I like it!

Now this is what I’d like you to do:

• After writing your first draft, using information from your interview, read it over carefully.  Does it read well?  Is there a good leading sentence to make your readers want to know more about your subject?  Is everything of interest to your readers (or perhaps is some of it just interesting to you or your subject)?  Do you have enough interesting information?  Do you end the blurb with something interesting? (Perhaps you want to use a quote as Ms. Stokien did for mine.)

• Once you are done revising do your final proofreading.  As you did with your journal letter, check for spelling, sense, capitals, and punctuation.

• Show it to your subject to be sure he/she is comfortable and happy with your blurb.

• Now give it to a teacher who will do a final check.

• Make a final publishable copy on a large index card and put it, along with the photograph, on a piece of cardboard (first using tissue paper to decorate it). Make it unique, creative, and beautiful!

Often books have one or two paragraphs about the author, which are called blurbs. In fact, there are people who specialize in writing blurbs. It is a tricky job because the blurb writer wants to provide as much interesting information as possible about the author in one or two paragraphs.

For your first writing project, you will be interviewing a classmate and using your interview notes to create a blurb.

Looking at a Model of a Blurb

First we are going to look at two different blurbs for the same author, E. B. White.  What do you notice about them?

• where he worked
• when he died
• awards & honors he received
• where born
• where he went to school, graduation date
• books & essays written & how many (for children & adults)
• family
• quote

The Interview

Next you will be assigned a partner. Each of you will interview each other. Later in the year, you will be doing a larger project involving interviewing an immigrant. This is a much shorter interview, but you should be sure to listen carefully, take good notes, and allow your partner to say as much as he/she wishes in answer to each question.  Before you do yours, here is a model for you to consider: Ms. Stokien interviewing Ms. Edinger:

What is your full name and where do you live?

Monica Ruth Edinger, lives in apt. on W. side NYC nr. Columbia Univ.

Where were you born? Do you have any interesting family stories about your birth and/or early years?

born in Greensboro, NC for 6 mos., never been back, father was a professor, moved to Alabama, moved a lot

Tell me about your family.

my family were my parents from Germany, no longer alive, younger sister in Boston w/ children now in college

Tell me about any pets, hobbies, and favorite in-school and out-of-school activities.

just got a toy poodle this summer named Lucy, very involved w/ rdg. children’s lit, on Newbery Committe last yr., runner,

Tell about some of your favorite things:
books, reading, writing, used to be illustrator, puppy, sweets esp. chocolate & salty things

Is there anything else you would like to tell me?

enjoy traveling, speak German fluently, went to Peru this summer

love being at Dalton, been here 25 years!

Next up — the first draft of the blurb!  Here is the one Ms. Stokien wrote with your help:

Monica Ruth Edinger, a very interesting teacher /author  of fourth grade at the Dalton School, was born in North  Carolina.  She now lives in New York City.  In her spare time, she loves to read and write and spend time with her new toy poodle, Lucy.  Lucy sometimes goes running with Ms Edinger!  Ms. Edinger attended Barnard College near  Columbia. And then spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer  teaching  in Sierra Leone, Africa.   Ms Edinger ‘s family is from Germany  and she is fluent in German.    Besides reading and writing,  she enjoys traveling and sweets like chocolate.    “After the 25 years of teaching at Dalton,  fourth grade is still the fantastic,” Ms. Edinger says.

Now Ms. Stokien will go off to work on her final draft.  Tomorrow you will do your interviews of each other and then begin your own drafts.

For your first writing project, you will be interviewing a classmate and using your interview notes to create a blurb.

Looking at a Model of a Blurb

We looked first at two different blurbs for the same author, E. B. White. Here are some things we noticed about them:

• where born
• awards
• job
• accomplishments
• education
• when he died
• family
• quote from the person that tells something special about him/her

The Interview

You will be assigned a partner. Each of you will interview each other. Later in the year, you will be doing a larger project involving interviewing an immigrant. This is a much shorter interview, but you should be sure to listen carefully, take good notes, and allow your partner to say as much as he/she wishes in answer to each question.

Here’s my interview of Ms. Stokien:
What is your full name and where do you live?
Julia Stokien. Lives on Upper West side of Manhattan.

2. Where were you born? Do you have any interesting family stories about your birth and/or early years?
Born at Lenox Hill Hospital. Grew up in the country about 1 1/2 hours from NYC. 4 younger sisters all with names beginning with J. Lots of animals — sort of a mini farm.

Tell me about your family.
I have a mother, father, stepfather. Sister now live all across the country. Married. Has two daughters. Emma is a hs senior. Katie is a junior in college. Husband is James. Lot of Js!

Tell me about any pets, hobbies, and favorite in-school and out-of-school activities.
Two cats, wants a dog. Babysat a bulldog last winter. Loves to do different activities in NYC. Movies, museums, hanging out with family.

Tell about some of your favorite things:
Book I’m reading — Letters of E. B. White.

Is there anything else you would like to tell me?
Been a teacher for almost 30 years. Been at Dalton since 1988. Was a 4th grade teacher before coming to Dalton. Now a 6th grade HA and Middle School preceptor (learning specialist).

Now it is your turn.  Interview your partner.

Next up — the first draft of the blurb!