feedback
 

19°F

Overcast

Wind: W at 3.5 mph

Windchill: N/A

As of Mar 28 2024, 9:15 am

Students »

  • Each day more than 5,500 students learn and thrive in Moorhead Area Public Schools. We are proud of your successes both inside and outside the classroom.
  • Bullying Prevention

SPUDS Landing »

Parents »

New Families »

Community »

  • From seeing how the district spends tax dollars to providing opportunities for lifelong learning, Moorhead Area Public Schools and the community are partners in education. We welcome your interest.
Lifelong Learning
News225233

Nonfiction author speaks to Robert Asp and Hopkins Elementary students

February 9, 2017

Author Elizabeth Raum began writing nonfiction because she used to read a lot of nonfiction, especially biographies.

“I love investigating,” Raum said. “Successful writers must have curiosity and imagination. Successful readers must have those too.”

Raum visited Robert Asp Elementary and Ellen Hopkins Elementary to talk to grades 3-5 students in January. The author visits are funded by the schools’ Parent Teacher Advisory Councils.

Raum, who lives in Fargo, has written more than 125 children’s books. Most are nonfiction, and the subjects are wide ranging. Raum has written about astronauts, presidents such as Abraham Lincoln and Jimmy Carter, musicians and explorers, and the history of inventions such as the car, camera, telephone, television and computer. Raum told students that it was fun to learn how inventions changed our lives.

“Writers get to learn so many exciting things,” she said.

Besides her numerous nonfiction books, Raum has published two picture books — “Cedric and the Dragon” and “The Christmas Star” — and several choose-your-own adventures.

Sometimes writers take real things that happened and turn them into books, Raum said.

Raum described her research for her books about natural disasters. She needed to find children who had lived through a disaster and tell their stories. The books also include safety tips. Raum used resources like science books, articles in science journals, newspaper accounts and Weather Channel programs to learn about topics like tornados, blizzards and hurricanes.

“I find storms fascinating,” Raum said. “The storms that interest me the most are tornados.”

She shared with students how she found a former Fargo resident who lived through the 1957 tornado when he was 7 years old. He and his family were safe and their home wasn’t damaged during the storm. Now as an adult, he chases tornados.

Raum said she became a writer in third grade. She wrote a poem, and her teacher told her she would be a writer some day.

“The more you read the better reader you are and the better writer you are,” Raum said. “Reading is how you learn.”

Photo caption:  Author Elizabeth Raum talks to students at Robert Asp Elementary School about the research she did for her nonfiction books about natural disasters.

Categorized under: School