Literature Workshops on Zoom, Spring 2025

Recommended for ages 7-12. Held live online; parents provide supplies, so this series is budget-friendly.

We're all about teaching literature in fun, hands-on ways! Our workshops are delightful for kids who love reading already, and inspiring for kids who don't. In fact, we've turned hundreds of reluctant readers into avid enthusiasts since 2010.  What's more, everything we do is loaded with meaningful layers. It's amazing how much kids can learn while they're "just" having fun!

"I don't know how you do it! Today's class was unbelievable!  There was a surprise at every turn and so much about literature to learn! I am so thankful for your creativity and your passion for teaching. I cannot fathom how you put all of that together for the price that you did."   

Our online spring workshops on

FOUR GREAT BOOKS!

Available as a series or individually


Purchase each workshop separately for $50/family, or buy the whole series and save $80!

What's included in each workshop


 WHAT YOUR CHILD GETS

  • all worksheets and printables needed (and then some!)

  • an audiovisual introduction to the author

  • the geographical context of author and story

  • a walk-through of the story’s plot, pausing to “do what the characters (or author) did,” including:

  • a creative writing assignment based on writing done by the author or a character

  • at least one meaningful project that imparts lessons in fun, hands-on ways

  • a straight-from-the-story snack (supplied by you)—what we call “BookBites”

  • intangible takeaways from discussions and creativity, such as:

  • a great time exploring a great book, and the desire to read many more

  • an empathetic literary model of someone who learned invaluable lessons about coping, growing, and overcoming


WHAT  YOU GET

  • your child's Zoom access to each 2-hour workshop purchased

  • the chance to bond with your child (or whole family) over a great book

  • the sight of your smiling child learning literary and life lessons from a great book, while you do something else!

"BRAVO!  You both are amazing and creative. Your communication is clear, your activities are thoughtful, and your BookBites are crowd-pleasers. LitWits (and life) are so great in person, but the way you ladies Zoom works great too!"

How it works

Before each workshop:

  • For our online workshops, you'll print some provided worksheets and templates, and gather a few easy, inexpensive supplies.

  • Your child/ren will read or listen to the story for fun, with no assignments in mind. (You'll provide the book.)

During each workshop, we'll unpack that book's lessons together as we go through the narrative arc, reaching into the story to "do what the characters did" in creative, memorable ways.

THE DETAILS

NOTE: Supplies are DIY for online workshops. That means you'll print some provided worksheets and templates, and gather a few easy, inexpensive supplies. After checkout, the details will be in your dashboard under each book title.

Ages: 7 and up. Our activities are geared to accommodate a range of ages simultaneously.

Dates: 

Tue Feb 18 - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry* by Mildred D. Taylor (1976) Please note that because of its subject matter, this book has some language and violence our chosen books don't usually include.

Tue Mar 18 - Homer Price* by Robert McCloskey (1943)

Tue Apr 15 - Gentle Ben* by Walt Morey (1965)

Tue May 13 - From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler* by E.L. Konigsburg (1967)

*Titles link to Amazon. We make a small commission on anything you buy through our Amazon affiliate links.

Hours: 1:00-3:00P PST

Location:  All four workshops are held nationwide, via Zoom; the link(s) will be in your dashboard.

Cost:  Prices include all printables and worksheets. Each workshop purchased individually is $50 per family. The cost for the 4-workshop series is $120 per family (a savings of $80).

Charter schools:  LitWits is an approved vendor for Ocean Grove, South Sutter, and Sky Mountain charter schools. If you're with one of those schools, enter discount code CHARTER to save a seat and check out without prepaying. 

Cancellation Policy: Cancel anytime before the workshop for a 100% refund. There are no refunds for no-shows.

The instructors

Becky and Jenny, sisters and LitWits founders.

Becky's a literature-based homeschool teacher, author of a study skills curriculum, and a journalism major who spent four years as a newspaper staff writer. She's working on the biography of a fascinating Bay Area woman of history whose diaries she found at the flea market.

Jenny's been a K-6 teacher and a K-12 language arts tutor. She has a BA in English literature and an MFA in creative nonfiction and poetry writing. She’s the author of MINE, a creative historical biography, and her scholarship, essays, and poems have appeared in several journals.

Want all four?

If you're using Ocean Grove, South Sutter, or Sky Mountain charter school funds, apply code CHARTER to enroll without prepaying.

Four "field trips" through four great stories!

We're all about experiencing literature in fun, hands-on ways—because when kids do what the characters did, they learn what they learned. Best of all, kids want to read more!  After all, what’s not to love about making, tasting, smelling, inventing, building, feeling, imagining, writing, and doing what the characters did? 

There are oodles of academic and life lessons woven throughout every excellent book, and everything we do is loaded with meaningful layers. Teachers love LitWits! Our workshops are delightful for kids who love reading already, and inspiring for kids who don't. In fact, we've turned hundreds of reluctant readers into avid enthusiasts since 2010.

Want to see what else we're teaching live on Zoom?