How a school visit by an author helped turn Kate Temple into one
Stand aside, screen time – the humble school visit by Australian authors remains a powerful, personal tool for turning kids into readers and writers. Just ask Kate Temple, former naughty kid
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Kids News is delighted to welcome best-selling children’s author Kate Temple to share her memories of a master storyteller visiting her school when she was a child and how author visits help kids lean into literacy, as the free, fun Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee enters week three of registrations with over 48,000 students already in the hive
I’ve signed a lot of weird stuff: a pet rock, a plastic severed hand, and more lunch boxes than I can count.
“You’re my favourite author,” said one girl, who offered me a tiny scrap of paper to sign.
“No way! That’s so exciting,” I said.
At the end of a row of excited kids, a boy with an impressive mullet was being separated from his friends and warned not to misbehave. He crossed his legs and slumped, casting a sour look in my direction.
I gave him a wink. I was that kid once, I get it.
The author visit. A scene played out in primary school halls Australia wide and one of the most memorable days on the calendar.
I say this not just because I’ve heard hundreds of kids, teachers and parents recount their own experiences, but because it’s the one day from primary school I remember vividly myself (and the one day I didn’t misbehave).
I was lucky. We had John Marsden* visit. I’d never seen an author before. I loved to read, but I didn’t really know who those mythical* people were with their names under the titles of my favourite novels.
John stood at the front of the class and told us we were going to write a story about a haunted house. Then he asked us for all the words we’d need to write it. We shouted them out and he wrote them up on the board. Haunted! House! Spooky! Ghost! Scream! (You get the idea.)
The board was full of terrifying words and I couldn’t wait to get started. But that’s when he dropped the bomb: “You can’t use any of those words.”
We were aghast* and after that, inspired. The class began furiously penning weird and wonderful stories that skipped the cliches* and sparked the imagination.
The school visit has always been an exciting experience but it would be reasonable to think that might have changed with the advent* of social media, online gaming and countless hours of YouTube.
Today, kids have more distractions than you can poke a bookmark at, but in the face of these challenges, author visits still have an immediate impact on even the most reluctant reader.
Teacher librarians consistently report that after an author talk library borrowing goes through the roof, and not just for the visiting author’s books, but across the collection.
It ignites real momentum in literacy.
When I say the impact is instant I’m not joking. Last month a boy came up to me at a regional school talk and told me he had an idea for my next Mega Rich Guinea Pigs book. He told me the idea and I said, “That’s great! But you should write it.”
By that afternoon, the boy returned with the book written.
Later his teacher told me that he’d returned to maths class and insisted that he needed to write his story. To her credit, she let him, because he had not written more than a few words all year.
Why do author visits have this impact?
Perhaps it’s because they put the focus on reading for pleasure, not as a chore.
They demonstrate just how universal reading and creativity can be and they offer a pathway for young people to explore their own interests.
It offers a space to speak about the joy of reading, peel back the writing process and let kids loose with their own creativity.
Author visits are vital to developing reading cultures, because they spark engagement that can be harnessed by teachers. Even in this digital storm, when kids are presented with unique opportunities like this to engage with books, their enthusiasm is boundless. That’s because an author visit isn’t really about the author at all. It’s about the child. It’s about exploring their own interest and developing a lifelong love of reading.
How do I know?
When I look out at the sea of waving hands, all bursting to ask a question, it’s obvious the appetite for these real experiences that boost literacy is there. The only thing left to do is pick someone, and I can’t help it: I pick that (now) smiling kid with the impressive mullet, his hand waving excitedly.
ABOUT THE BEE
- The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is a free, digital competition for students in Year 3-8.
- Registrations and the School Round remain open until 5pm AEST on Friday 21 August
- Supervised by teachers, students compete at their school in three levels: Green level for Year 3-4, Orange level for Year 5-6 and Red level for
Year 7-8. - They get 30 randomly selected words from their competition level and have 25 seconds to type each answer. The students with the most correct words in the fastest time progress to finals.
- The school round ends on August 21. State and territory finals will be held August 31 to September 4 and the national finals on September 9-10.
- The national champion in each age group wins a trip to Canberra to meet the Prime Minister, an iPad, HarperCollins book pack and a $1000 voucher for their school.
Details: spelling-bee.com.au
POLL
GLOSSARY
- John Marsden: John Marsden (1950-2024) was an Australian educator and writer of young adult fiction and nonfiction. He wrote more than 40 books, including the immensely popular Tomorrow series and Ellie Chronicles
- mythical: existing only in stories
- aghast: filled with strong feelings of shock or amazement
- advent: the beginning of an event, the invention of something, or the arrival of a person
- cliches: a phrase, remark, or opinion that has very often been said or expressed before and is therefore not original and not interesting
EXTRA READING
Bee breaks opening week records
PM builds bridge to Spelling Bee
The best books for wintry wonders
QUICK QUIZ
- Who was the author who visited Kate Temple’s school when she was a child?
- Kate said author visits aren’t about the author – so who are they about?
- The boy at the regional school visit wrote a story based on which series by the Temples?
- What kind of story did John Marsden have Kate’s class brainstorm?
- What trend do librarians report in school libraries after author visits?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Follow the five Ws
Write down the key points from this Kids News article in short, succinct sentences:
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
Why:
How:
Possible headline for the article:
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Write a story about a real author visit or an imaginary one in which your favourite author comes to your school, intentionally including 10 spelling errors. Swap stories with a partner and correct each other’s work.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
I spy nouns
Nouns are places, names (of people and objects), and time (months or days of the week).
How many nouns can you find in Kate Temple’s piece?
Can you sort them into places, names and time?
Pick three nouns and add an adjective (describing word) to the nouns.