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Elementary students, teenagers, young adults, adults
and the staff welcomed first-time novelist, and a former
National Book Foundation intern, Nelly Rosario
to Seneca Center in the Bronx. From June 3
to June 7, Nelly visited two neighboring schools,
and met with diverse groups of participants attending
Seneca's numerous programs.
Third and fourth graders in Seneca's after-school program
were the first group to meet Nelly. She introduced herself
to this overactive group as a fiction writer and said
that she made up stories in order to tell truth. When
Nelly opened the flap of the book to a photo of herself,
students asked her to pass the book so that they can
see for themselves that she was actually the same person.
Once they believed that she was the author, they began
to calm down. Each student was asked to make up a name
for themselves and told that they will use this name
for the time being. Drawings of a nose, ear, finger,
eyes, and mouth re-introduced them to the five senses.
They wrote using the senses to describe their experiences
from a prior weekend camping trip. When it was time
for them to read their work, Nelly told them to introduce
themselves under their pen names and read like roaring
loin and lioness.
Once again Nelly used the "five senses" approach
to have the students interpret writing. Because she
received a BS in environmental engineering, meeting
with English classes at Gompers Vocational Technical
High School, confirmed to students, and teachers the
possibility of having more than one interest and the
courage to pursue all of them. She stressed to students
the importance of studying your history to find out
how it relates to your life.
The visit ended with the staff having an informal conversation
centered on Nelly's author residency and her observations
and how they can engage and retain readers and writers.
Nelly's suggested that Seneca provide pre-teens and
teens with a small notebook to record what they see,
take them on a trip to a bookstore, so that they can
view the various types of books that are published,
and to make available books that evoke emotions and
sparks debates. And for those that are in the field
of building computers, start an online newsletter so
that this group will have the overall responsibility
for the content.
The National Book Foundation Settlement House Author
residency program is made possible through funding from
the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, R.R. Donnelley, and
the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York
State Council on the Arts.
Pantheon Books of Random House
Inc., Random House Books for Young Readers, and Simon
& Schuster Children's Books donated books to participants.
Boyds Mills Press offered the authors' books at a discount,
which were donated by the Foundation to the participants.
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