Sarah is available for school assemblies, individual class visits, workshops and multi-day residencies. She also leads workshops for adult writers and gives presentations to teachers, parent/teacher groups and other organizations.

Some of the programs she presents are:

CATFISH AND POPSICLES: Where Stories Come From

Using a power point or slide presentation and samples of her own picture books in various stages of completion, Sarah explains how a picture book is made, from initial idea to published book. She tells how she turned childhood memories of summers spent in Virginia with her grandparents into the picture book Root Beer and Banana and how memories of being the little sister led her to write Dear Baby. All ages.

TELL ME YOUR STORY: Workshop in Personal Narrative

Using Root Beer and Banana or Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother as a model, Sarah shows students how to craft stories out of their own life experience. Much of the focus is on discovery of descriptive details and sense memory, as Sarah guides students through an exercise to remember sights, sounds, smells and textures associated with a particular time and place in their lives. Students then write about that time and place, creating a story or scene based upon material gleaned from the exercise. Suitable for grades 4 and above.

"I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT": Poetry Workshop

After sharing examples of persona or "mask" poems with students, Sarah leads them in a brainstorming session to gather ideas for writing poems of their own. Students then take on the persona of a fairy tale character or animal or insect or mythical beast or even an inanimate object and write in the "voice" of that character. Writing poems in the voice of another person, animal or thing helps students boost creativity and develop empathy for others. Suitable for grades 2 and above.

PERSUASIVE WRITING

Drawing on her experience as a lawyer and former Legal Writing instructor, Sarah teaches students how to write a persuasive essay. Using op-ed articles from leading newspapers, students analyze topic sentences, ordering of supportive arguments and conclusions. Students also learn to recognize and use rhetorical devices. Recommended for middle school and above.