Carol McDougall

Readings

A Salmon’s Sky View is the story of the life cycle of the salmon from the salmon’s perspective looking up through the water. There are art directions at the end of the story to engage the readers. When possible, after a reading, students are given the opportunity to participate in the permanent ink and watercolour art from the story (workshop). As an educator, I spend a lot of time discussing the creative process of writing the story, illustrating and explaining about learning styles to kids.

Book Sales:

Copies of the books can be brought to the readings for students to purchase and have autographed.

Workshops

A Salmon’s Sky View is the story of the life cycle of the salmon from the salmon’s perspective looking up through the water. There are art directions at the end of the story to engage the readers. When possible, after a reading, students are given the opportunity to participate in the permanent ink and watercolour art from the story (workshop). As an educator, I spend a lot of time discussing the creative process of writing the story, illustrating and explaining about learning styles to kids.

Special Equipment:

Access to a sink is nice if we are painting.

Book Sales:

Copies of the books can be brought to the readings for students to purchase and have autographed.

Other Presentations

I am available for presentations on learning through the arts. I have experience providing professional development workshops for teachers.

Biography

Carol McDougall received her B.Ed. from the University of Victoria (U.Vic) with a concentration in music and language arts. Upon graduation, she volunteered with W.U.S.C. (World University Services of Canada) and taught English at Gaborone West Junior Secondary School for two years in Botswana. She also taught music methodology at the University of Gaborone.

She returned to Victoria and has taught in classrooms and as a fine arts (art, music and drama) specialist for over two decades. She has also taught student teachers at the University of Victoria. As a teacher and the parent of two creative kids, she had the idea to create a book which would be fun and engaging for kids. It would be a picture book with an art response (the art directions provided so that young readers could do the art after reading). After choosing a permanent ink and water colour medium, she wrote the story of the life cycle of the salmon. A Salmon’s Sky View was enthusiastically received by Ms. McDougall’s students.

She decided to use her book as the basis for graduate work and received her M.A. from Gonzaga University in Leadership and Administration. Her research involved collaborating with teachers involved in the stewardship program of incubating salmon in the classroom. During her graduate work she became aware of an opportunity for students to exchange artwork with children from other countries. The Global Arts program through the University of Victoria connects children through the art theme “The World We Want”.

With a thorough understanding of creativity, literacy and the value of art integration, A Salmon’s Sky View was published and Ms McDougall made herself available for conferences, talks, workshops and author visits. Ms. McDougall continues to teach in a middle school and enjoys art and writing in her spare time.