Kathy Donovan and Linda Redding
Carolyn
DeCristofano
The love of reading, writing, and science comes through in author Carolyn DeCristofano presentations. In the Silver Lake school district, she did presentations for fifth grade students and will be meeting with high school students in May. We had an opportunity to speak with her during her visits to the Silver Lake District, as well as catching up with her at the Museum of Science in Boston where she works creating curriculum and professional development programs.
Q. Your books combine your science background with your talent for writing. Did you always want to write children's book?
At some level, I think yes, but writing children’s books didn’t become a goal or an official pursuit for me until recently.
As a child, I was always taken in by words, writing, and reading. I had lots of books, visited the library often, and also wrote a lot—poetry, some short stories, and even part of a mystery novel, which I tried to create with a friend of mine. As I grew older, I still wrote, but somehow I never translated that into a sense that I would—or could—try to become a writer. Instead, I started to study science in preparation for a career, I thought, in medicine.
Only when the opportunity emerged from my science education work to write Leonardo’s ABC, did it sort of click inside me that “I’d always wanted to do this”--write and publish a book. Those experiences whet my appetite, and led in a roundabout way to the opportunity to write Big Bang! Now, I want to continue to learn, grow, and create as a writer.
Q. What types of programs do you offer to schools?
All sorts. I try to be pretty flexible about what I offer. As a curriculum developer and professional development specialist, I know that first and foremost it’s really important to fit my program into the reality and the needs of each classroom or school. I prefer small programs over assembly-style settings because I believe the intimacy between adults and children is an important part of the learning experience.
From a content perspective, my programs tend to be highly interactive and focus on writing, creative and critical thinking, and/or science. All programs focus on children building their own knowledge and skills—their own science understandings, their own writing, their own response to my (and other writers’) work.
Often, students and teachers really just want to get to know my work and me better. I enjoy an open Q&A session after reading aloud to students. (I relish reading aloud, and even do this at home with my husband).
Q. You are a Creative Teaching Partner through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. What exactly is that?
A Creative Teaching Partner (CTP) is an artist or “interpretive scientist” who has applied for, and received, recognition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) as someone who can successfully work in educational settings to promote understanding and appreciation of the arts, humanities, and science. Different Partners have different specialty areas. (Mine is a curriculum-planning specialty in writing and science.)
MCC maintains a roster of Creative Teaching Partners on its Web site, in hopes of pointing schools and others in our direction. In addition, MCC offers Creative Schools Grants to schools, and when applicant schools use MCC Creative Teaching Partners in the project, they receive an automatic 20 points on the credit system for rating applications.
(I should point out that my status may expire soon, although I plan to reapply in the coming year.)
Q. Carolyn you are busy! In addition to writing and doing school visits, you work at the Museum of Science in Boston. What do you do at the Museum?
Oh, yes, I am busy. I can’t seem to figure out the right balance of joyful pursuits!
I serve the Museum of Science (Boston) part-time as the Professional Development Director for a program called Engineering is Elementary, or EiE. EiE develops resources to support engineering and technology education for elementary-aged students, with literacy, social studies, and science connections. I work with teachers to help them use these resources and expand their ability to pursue engineering education projects on their own.
Q. Big Bang has a very creative format that students enjoy, Tell us about the set-up and how that came about.
First—What a relief it is to see that (most) readers “get” the creative format! I believed in it from the start, but there were times when I couldn’t help but question whether the concept would work.
The text consists of two layers. The first layer is an alphabetically organized, alliterative verse. It briefly relates the story of the Big Bang and how and why scientists came to understand it as the beginning of our universe. For example, the beginning of this verse reads (over a few pages):
An astronomical Big Bang changed the crunched-up universe, causing the current cosmos.
The second layer is a more developed narrative, delving into the concepts in the verse. On each two-page spread, fragments of the verse appear on one page, in a bold, bright, playful font, while the developing text appears on the other page in eye-friendly, straightforward font.
The spark for the alliterative verse came when I was goofing off. Originally, I had thought about proposing an astronomy ABC book, given that I had published an ABC book before. I listed possible words in columns; one column for each letter.
At some later point, while filled with anxiety about being a fraud and not coming up with any good ideas to propose to the publisher, I just started to play around to blow off steam, sort of verbally doodling.
I had the ABC wordlist in front of me, and I saw that I could make phrases by reading from one column to the next. Once I saw that “an astronomical big bang” could do something that led to E-expansion—I got interested. I giggled and made some more phrases and tried to link them. Pretty quickly, the basics of the verse you see in the book just “fell” out of those lists.
When I proposed the verse to the publisher, I made some initially vague statements about “developing the ideas in prose.” Who knew how challenging this would be? Isn’t it great when playful experiences lead to something to sink your teeth into?
Q. What are some of the things do you do for fun?
Well, my work IS fun, even though it’s not always relaxing. One thing I do for non-work fun--I spend time with children, especially my nieces (who are hardly children anymore) and younger nephew. My husband and I enjoy traveling with the girls, who are now in their late teens. We’ve gone to NYC and Chicago with them; what a joy!
I also enjoy kicking back with Barry and our friends. I cherish the times we travel on our own. We eat out, too—each menu is a mini-adventure.
On a day-to-day basis, I enjoy time at home with Barry. Some people don’t appreciate this, but one of my favorite activities is thinking and talking about science--with Barry, of course. He’s an engineer who loves astronomy, and it’s fascinating to discuss tough ideas with him. It’s kind of like hanging out in the dorm at college.
I also go through phases of hobby enthusiasm, in which I might knit incessantly or maybe garden. These days—it’s all about Monday night yoga for me.
Q What are you working on now?
On the author front, I am attending to three currently active projects. Out of these, the one that I hope will consume me soon is a children’s picture book on another astronomy theme. I’ve recently submitted a manuscript to a publisher. That means that until I hear back, I’ll be working on crossing my fingers while I wait for the official response.
Kathy Donovan, Reading Consultant, Turning Pages
Kathy@authorassemblies.com
Linda Redding, Library Teacher, Halifax Elementary School
lredding@slrsd.org
For more information on Carolyn DeCristofano, please visit
http://www.carolyndecristofano.com
Books by Carolyn DeCristofano,
Big Bang
Leonardo’s ABC