Cedar Pruitt, M.Ed., leads workshops in schools, libraries, fairs, conferences and more. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator and former host of hundreds of author visits in public schools, she creates moments that pop for students as they explore ideas, poetry, reading, writing and revising. Based in greater Boston, Massachusetts, she offers classroom visits and assemblies across New England, and is also willing to travel.
Hop over to her speaker page to book her for visits. Both virtual and in-person options are available through How Now Booking.
Third grade teacher, Devereux School, Marblehead MA
“Cedar’s use of photos, sounds and personal experiences made for an engaging presentation and read aloud of Fire Flight. Our students were truly inspired. They immediately began writing poetry and took to the post-reading activities she provided with great enthusiasm! “
Cedar provided an engaging and thoughtful presentation for our elementary school students! She brought the story of Fire Flight to life with photographs, sound clips, and questions that piqued the curiosity and wonder of our kindergarteners through fifth graders. We also appreciated her honesty in sharing her perseverance throughout her writing and publishing journey!
School Librarian, White River Valley Elementary, Bethel VT
Cedar Pruitt’s author visit was as captivating for the kindergarten class as it was for the fifth grade, because she created a program attuned to the interests of each grade level. It got them thinking about ideas, publishing and collaboration, not to mention owls, forest fires and helicopters! Her reading of Fire Flight is highly engaging, and so is the discussion and activity that precedes and follows the book.
School Librarian, Horace Mann Elementary and Mason Rice Elementary, Newton MA
“I’m passionate about helping others feel connected. I feel connected to the natural world and excited to get outside, and connected to humanity through the empathy that literature offers us. My goal is for every student to feel those passions, too. My workshops, assemblies and poetry unit can all scale up or down in complexity and detail depending on grade level. All are 45 minutes unless marked and include a few minutes of Q&A at the end.”
– Cedar
ASSEMBLY AND GRADE-LEVEL PRESENTATIONS
Cedar’s assemblies, workshops and poetry units all correlate to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5
Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems). - CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. - CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses. - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
OPTIONS
Download my Author Visit Info Sheet right here!
In Workshop format only:
- Let’s Write a Poem!
Since she first learned to write, Cedar has loved writing poetry. (Her favorite thing about poems? They can be about ANYTHING!) Now, one of her poems has become a published children’s book. After a reading of Fire Flight: A Wildfire Escape, students will learn how key details can bring a nonfiction narrative to life, and together describe the characters, setting, conflict, and events in this true story. We will identify poetic elements like alliteration, rhymes, repetition, and onomatopoeia in the text, and ponder why Cedar chose exciting words like “tapestry” and “quivered.” We will read 2-3 other poems, and write our own, either individually or as a small group.
In Assembly or Workshop format:
- How Ideas Become Books: Soar with Fire Flight!
In this interactive presentation, the lyrical nonfiction book Fire Flight: A Wildfire Escape provides an example of how ideas ripped from the headlines can become books. Cedar reads Fire Flight to the students and shares its journey from inspiration to bedtime story. Students can volunteer to be agent, art director, editor and more, in order to demonstrate the big team that it takes to bring a book into the world, and how each reader is part of that circle, too. In the case of Fire Flight, we will include the owl, the pilot, the pilot’s friend and the journalist who first shared the incredible story with the world.
- Themes from Fire Flight: Wildfire, Climate Change, and Wild Animals
Can the actions of people on the East Coast REALLY impact one little owl on the West Coast? It turns out that yes, we are all interconnected and our choices do impact others…in a big way. For instance, vehicle emissions help cause heat retention, which leads to drought conditions, which leads to wildfires…in owl habitat. We will talk together about the signs of climate change that we are seeing around us, and what we can do to make our world better. Cedar will read Fire Flight: A Wildfire Escape to students, and use this feel-good story, packed with hope, to explore the topics of wildfire and climate change with students. We will talk about other animals impacted by wildfire, learn about some of what humans have already done to mitigate climate change, and dive into some of the tips in the Author’s Note to brainstorm what more we can all do.
*Cedar is not a climate expert, and this discussion will be framed as a collaborative learning experience for her as a nonfiction author. Student questions and ideas will be encouraged and written down for further investigation on their part, but will not all be able to be answered.
- Fire Flight Story Time with Q&A – 30 minutes only
Cedar starts with an interactive Q&A of the students! Then she reads Fire Flight: A Wildfire Escape, shows photographs of screech owls, including the one taken by a pilot in a forest fire, and together we listen to the amazing sound that screech owls make. (Some students say it sounds like a ghost, and others are reminded of a loon, but no one thinks it’s a screech!) We finish with Q&A of the author.
You can find all details available here on my speaker’s page.
Rates
Rates are $1400 + travel fees for 3 presentations, optional lunch and signing. An additional session is available for a fee. For a morning or afternoon with 2 presentations within 80 miles of the Boston, MA metro area, rates are $950. More options are available on Cedar’s speaker page.
You can also download a free Educator’s Guide for your own review of Fire Flight.
AN EDUCATOR’S DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR FIRE FLIGHT
Designed for Educators of Children Ages 5-9
Includes:
- An Overview of the Story
- Discussion Questions: Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading
- Climate Change: Kid-Friendly Explanations and Actions
- Did You Know: Owl Facts
- Activity Sheet: Owl True and False
- Activity Sheet: Label the Parts of a Firefighting Helicopter
Download it right here!
Cedar Pruitt 