Paul Nolan - Writing
Paul Nolan
AIM High Writing
Summary
Age range - KS1 - KS3
Books KS2 - KS3
DBS Checked Yes - enhanced and registered with the DBS update service
Booking
Contact
+44 (0)1535 656015
aimhigh@caboodlebooks.co.uk
One history lesson on WW2 inspired Paul Nolan, the teacher, to become Paul Nolan, the children’s author.
About Paul
Nearly 10 years after finding inspiration in a history lesson, Paul now has 8 children’s books to his name, along with over 100 school visits under his belt.
Paul is an experienced Key Stage Two Teacher (ex-Deputy Headteacher and English Lead) and now has one foot planted in the classroom and the other stepping into schools for history and writing workshops and our fabulous A.I.M. High days.
Paul’s AIM High Writing Day
The day will begin with children using a 'fearometer' in which pupils show their reactions as Paul reads some of the most exciting extracts from some of his books.
Paul will then teach the children his 6 tension techniques for creating pulsating action in their own sequences. Paul will also explain the importance of creating characters to root for, and how they should grow as the story develops.
Pupils will then create their own characters, pulling ideas from the character bags or adding their own ideas. Alongside this, Paul will also model how to portrait characters' reactions to danger before supporting the pupils in doing the same.
The young writers will then have the opportunity to pull these threads together to create an action-packed story sequence of their own, with Paul providing support along the way.
The day will culminate with the young authors reading their own action sequences, with their peers showing their reactions, once again, through their own fearometers.
Recent feedback from Paul’s AIM High Writing day at Milford-On-Sea CE Primary School, Hampshire:
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I was a bit concerned that they might run out of enthusiasm by the end of the day but they loved it!
Here's a direct quote from Wilf:
"I enjoyed it. I found the writing interesting – I like the extracts from his book. The style of writing was my thing – mystery-style. I enjoyed that we got a lot of free time to let our mind go out on the page and just write. I thought his strategies were great and I will use them in school or if I become an author. We had two adjectives such as ‘screaming’ and ‘running’ and we swapped them round."
Content was great!
Paul’s GET GOING Literacy Workshop
"I don't know how to start.."
"I don't know what to write.."
Teachers: do you have pupils who say this? Do you have children daunted by the sight of a long, blank page? Well, Paul can help! Paul’s GET GOING workshop will provide your reluctant and hesitant writers with ideas and inspiration to help them write. In this engaging workshop, your pupils will gain independence, confidence and new strategies which they will take back to school to help them become better writers.
A Selection of Paul’s Books
It is the year 1940. Charlie's mother and father work at a Spitfire factory in the fishing port of Hamble. After a run in with a brutal instructor on the naval training ship Mercury, the teenager finds himself on the run from the British navy. His father hooks him up with William - the Captain of the a fishing boat called the White Feather. A few days later, the pair find themselves caught up in (arguably) the most heroic retreat of World War 2 - the Dunkirk evacuation.
When a boy and girl wake up within a stone circle, their minds are blank. They don't know where they are, where they're from or even who they are. Before these questions can be answered they find themselves about to be sacrificed by a Bronze Age tribe. Then the mysterious Foreseer arrives and saves them. He tells them that before they can return home to their own time, they have to steal an artefact from the vicious Beaker Tribe and restore the stone circle to its former glory. Will they succeed? Or will they be cast in Bronze forever?
For ages 9-12
Meet John - England's worst King. Notorious for his mean character, disgusting personal habits and fiery temper, he was loathed by everyone - including his own mother. There was nothing this right royal reprobate wouldn't stoop to in order to elbow his way to the English crown. Find out how it all started with this diary account of John's early life. This text is rich in vocabulary and will provide a page turning insight into the English King who put the 'evil' into medieval.
Bookings
To book Paul please contact us now at aimhigh@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Paul also offers visits to schools and other settings, click here for more information.