School Visits

Elizabeth Rusch is an award-winning magazine writer and book author. She writes both fiction and nonfiction for children and adults in the areas of science, art, humor, child development, health, the environment, sports, outdoors, travel, and social issues — anything that catches her fancy. She loves teaching, inspiring and mentoring students and adults about writing and about the topics she has grown to love, including: volcanoes, art exploration, and youth activism.

Below you'll find more information about her school visit, presentation and workshop topics.

Liz loves to tailor her visit to each school’s particular needs, so please contact Liz directly with any questions: author@elizabethrusch.com.

Elizabeth Rusch charges $400 for auditorium type talks and $200 per classroom workshop. She will stay for signings and book fairs at no additional cost. If she has to travel more than an hour to the school, she must make a minimum of $600. For long trips, Rusch asks the host to arrange or reimburse for travel and lodging expenses.

Materials

Some of Liz’s best hands-on workshops require some simple, easy-to-find materials, such as straws or flour. The host school or organization can either procure the list of materials to have on-hand or reimburse Liz for the materials expenses. The bonus: Liz will leave the materials with the school and the hand-on activities can be done again and again for years to come or reused in other ways.

Books for Sale and Signing

School visits are most productive when students are familiar with the author’s books. Schools can pre-order books directly from Liz to be shipped to the school before the visit. Or Liz will provide an order sheet to send to families for pre-order and pre-pay and bring pre-signed books with her. If a book signing is set up, Liz can pre-sign or sign on-site and can bring some extra books for sale on site. (Cash or check only.)

Schoolwide Presentation on Writing and Researching

Elizabeth Rusch loves visiting elementary, middle and high schools to share her writing and researching experiences. She prefers spending a full day at a school, tailoring a combination of schoolwide or multi-class presentations and classroom writing workshops to best fit the schools needs.

The school-wide writing and research presentation includes:

• A photo journey as she researches Mount St. Helens, the story behind what happened to Pluto, and other book and article topics. (Including why she had to wear the same socks for 10 days straight without washing them!)
• Her struggles to get her books from initial idea to published book.
• How she uses real-life experience when she makes up stories and how she writes true stories that are as gripping as fiction.
• How important good research and revision are in the writing process.

Classroom Hands-On Workshops on Writing

Elizabeth Rusch has spoken at schools, writing conferences and universities on many writing topics including how to create a character, writing scenes, picking powerful words, writing for children, magazine writing, nonfiction writing, book marketing, and researching for writing. Her lively, interactive workshops always offer inspiration, exercises, practical advice, and hand-outs. Topics for students include:

• My Writing Process and Yours
• Where to Get Ideas
• Writing a Scene
• From Senses to Setting
• Bringing Characters to Life
• Listen Up About Dialogue
• Mixing It Up About Conflict in a Story
• Ramping Up the Suspense
• Picking Powerful Words
• On Critiquing
• Edit Yourself to Excellence
• How to Get Published
• Peanut Butter and Jelly and Why Details are Important
• How and Why to Interview Experts

Classroom Hands-On Workshop on Volcanoes

Inspired by her book Will it Blow?: Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens, Rusch has created a fun and educational hands-on workshop on the science of volcanoes and volcano monitoring, appropriate for children of all ages. Possible activities include:

• How is a spit-ball like hardened lava?
• Floating rocks (pumice)
• Human seismograph
• Build a bulge (and crater)
• Baking soda volcano

Inspired by her book The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto, Rusch leads classes through an exploration of what is right and what is misleading about most models of our solar system. Hands-on activities include mapping out the real distance between planets using a roll of toilet paper, discovering the real relative sizes of planets, and learning how craters are formed on planets and the moons.

In addition to reading and talking about her book A Day with No Crayons, Elizabeth Rusch can run hands-on art workshops on found-art and unusual crayon art, appropriate for preschool, elementary, and middle schools. Possible activities include:

• Bean mosaics
• Edible art work
• Spaghetti and marshmallow figures
• Create your own color names
• Antiquing paper with tea
• Found art projects

Unusual crayon activities (some more appropriate for older children and requiring a heating source) include:

• Nightime painting drawing (by painting over crayons)
• Wax-paper sun catchers from melted crayons
• Crayon scrap candle
• Colored textures (crayons on sandpaper, wallpaper scrapes, corrugated board etc.)
• Crayon rubbings
• Recycled multi-colored crayons
• Gluing crayon shavings
• Painting with crayons

School Visits and Talks for On Youth Volunteerism

Inspired by her book Generation Fix: Young ideas for a better world, Liz welcomes invitations to give presentations on youth volunteerism to any relevant group, including students, parents, teachers, librarians, reading groups, civic leaders and educators of all sorts. She will design her talk to be relevant to the group's interests. Rusch is especially delighted to talk with young people about their ideas to make the world better and to adults about Generation Fix and how to tap into their incredible energy and creativity. For instance, she can lead discussions on:

• Why kids roughly between the ages of 8-16 have a natural inclination to community service.
• How parents and teachers can encourage that natural inclination.
• Why parents and teachers should talk with kids about serious world problems including hunger, homelessness, violence, and discrimination.
• How to get those conversations going.

Other Talk Topics

Liz has presentation jam packed with ideas for parents, teachers and librarian called: Science Sleuthing: How to use detectives and mysteries to spur interest in science”

A talk specially designed for teachers introduces Elizabeth Rusch’s books and how to fit them into your curriculum and classroom, including suggested hands-on activities to extend students’ learning.

Liz gives many talks and workshops on writing for both children and adults. Please click here or go to Appearances/On Writing to learn more.