Ragene+Henry-February+2009

=TC Spotlight on Ragene Henry  =

Interviewed by Ann Chappel
Have you always wanted to be a writer? Then read on. Find out how Ragene Henry, an early UPWP founding member, began authoring books in the midst of her busy teaching career.

CHAPPEL: What inspired you to begin authoring books?

HENRY: I always wanted to be a writer…someday. Eventually that day came. I was the reading specialist at K.I.Sawyer Elementary working in a fourth grade classroom when they were studying Michigan history. At the time the book they were using had pages and chapters devoted to the auto industry in Michigan, and one paragraph, one lousy paragraph, that mentioned that steel came from iron ore mined in the Upper Peninsula. “What a shame,” I thought. “We have such a rich and interesting history here, including the discovery of the iron ore, and our kids aren’t learning about it. Someone ought to write a book about that.” Well, that someone turned out to be me.

My inspiration came right out of Upper Peninsula history. I love taking the facts and turning them into an interesting, engaging story with characters who seem just like your friends and family. I always told my students that history is really about interesting people living through interesting events, not dull dry facts and dates. Many of my characters are based on people I actually know, including students I’ve had. I just try to make them seem as real as I can.

CHAPPEL: Tell us about the books you have written.

HENRY: All of my stories are historical fiction about the Upper Peninsula. My first book, The Time of the Shining Rocks, was about the discovery of iron ore. An Enduring Christmas was written about the first devastating Christmas the early settlers of Marquette survived. The Time of the Copper Moon regales the 1913 copper miners’ strike in Calumet, Big Annie and the Italian Hall disaster. Later I wrote The Barefoot Boys of Fayette about the adventures of a group of boys living in the forge town of Fayette during its heyday.

CHAPPEL: What’s an important lesson you taught your students about being a writer?

HENRY: I think that to be a good writer you need to be a good observer. You need to look at everything through the eyes of a writer. On a morning like this I am sitting at the computer up in my loft beside a large window that makes me feel I am sitting in the treetops. A steady fall of snowflakes the size of your tongue are frosting the branches. I watch them thinking about what the falling flakes look like, would taste like, would feel like, what they remind me of. Later if I am writing a winter scene, some of these thoughts might become descriptions in my story.

CHAPPEL: Give an example of how you helped students to see with writers eyes.

HENRY: Here’s an idea I recently shared with a former colleague and UPWP fellow. If the first snowfall of the year happens during the school day you might as well throw the planned lesson out the window. Every kid wants to run to the window to see. You’d think they lived in Florida and had never seen snow. So stand there and watch the snow. Tell them: “Think all your first snow thoughts. What will you do when you get outside? What’s your favorite thing to do in the snow? Do you ever taste it? Have you ever built anything out of it? Hidden in it? Had an adventure in it? What does it remind you of? How does it make you feel?”

Talk about all their snow thoughts for as long as it takes. Then return to seats and make a list of all the things you thought of. That list – with a little tweaking – can become a poem about the first snow or winter. Or several of the items on the list can become pieces in which the story behind them is told or expanded.

Give kids the opportunity to be observant of the world around them. Looking at the world through the eyes of a writer will help them to become writers. I believe this is a gift that probably no one else will give them. To look at the world through the eyes of a writer is so much more important to their lives than knowing what information is on page 76 of their textbook.

Ragene Henry was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula. She received both her undergrad and graduate degrees from NMU. Besides becoming an accomplished author, she’s been recognized on state and local levels for many awards including Michigan Reading Teacher of the Year. She spent her final years teaching fifth grade at K.I. Sawyer School. Fifth graders, she discovered, were old enough to think, be a little independent, got her jokes, but hormones hadn’t started making them crazy yet. She enjoyed her teaching niche until health reasons forced her to retire a year and a half ago from the Gwinn School District. Last September she experienced the miracle of a double transplant of her liver and kidney. With a new lease on life Ragene plans to continue writing and consulting with teachers. Check out her books and teaching guides for suggested uses in your classroom!