Field Trips

About 826 Seattle Field Trips

Greetings, Educators!
826 Seattle is pleased to offer free, fun filled writing-based field trips throughout the 2010-2011 academic year. 826 Seattle is a creative, inspiring place for teachers to bring their students to improve their writing during the school day. All field trips and use of our space is free.

PLEASE NOTE: FIELD TRIPS ARE OFFERED FOR ONE CLASS OF AROUND 30 STUDENTS AT A TIME AND MAY ONLY BE BOOKED BY THE CLASSROOM TEACHER.

In the interest of clear and timely communication between the 826 Seattle field trip coordinator and classroom teachers, we ask that each teacher fill out and submit their own Field Trip Interest Form rather than assign this task to a volunteer or other classroom teacher.

Due to the volume of responses, the Field Trip Interest Form is only “live” on our website during the following time frames: June 1- June 15 (for 1st semester field trips) and December 1- December 15 (for 2nd semester field trips). For questions, please contact Kathleen, our Programs Director, at 826 Seattle via email: kathleen@826seattle.orgat kathleen AT 826seattle DOT org.

Thank you for your interest in a 826 Seattle field trip experience.
Due to the great volume of requests, we are no longer accepting field trip requests for the 1st Semester of the 2010-2011 school year.
Save The Date: 2nd Semester Field Trip Requests will be accepted starting December 1, 2010!

This year’s field trip offerings include:

Mr. Geoduck Publishing

Recommended for Grades 1*–3
1 weekday session (Tuesdays), 10:00am - 12:00pm

This is our most popular field trip. Students are charged with the task of writing a story as a group, aided by our enthusiastic 826 Seattle volunteers. While the students decide on characters and plot points, an 826 Seattle volunteer types the story, which is projected onto a large screen, enabling students to track their progress. Suddenly, their work is interrupted by a loud and demanding voice from the back room. It is Mr. Geoduck, a grouchy publisher of children’s books. He demands an original, interesting story from this group or there will be trouble! With a renewed sense of urgency, students continue the important work of writers–tracking the story as it is created and making corrections as needed, all the while watching as an artist illustrates their tale. Students are then invited to finish the story — which the group has left at a “cliffhanger” ending — in their own individual ways, and to create their own coordinating illustrations. After our team of volunteers prints and collates the book, each student is given his or her own copy of the book. This field trip teaches students about collaboration, self-editing, the bookmaking process, and elements of successful storytelling. And it’s really a good time for all.

*Because we strive for all students to feel confident and successful during the independent writing portion of this field trip, this class is not recommended for 1st grade classes until the second semester.
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Choose Your Own Adventure

Recommended for grades 4-8
1 weekday session (Thursdays), 10:00am - 12:00pm

During this field trip, students explore the effect that characters’ choices have on story. They will create an original choose-your-own-adventure story, follow its twists and turns, and write its multiple conclusions. At the end of this workshop, each student will take home a copy of the class’s adventures, bound together in a pint-sized book.

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The Space Adventure Comic Book

Recommended for grades 4-8
1 weekday session (Thursdays), 10:00 – 12:00pm

During this field trip, students work with a talented local comic book artist to craft original space adventure stories using powerful words and expressive pictures that create complex characters who find themselves in new exciting situations. At the end of this workshop students will walk away with their very own Space Adventure Comic Book.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located?

Click here for map and directions to 826 Seattle.

How can I prepare my students for a field trip to 826 Seattle?

We recommend you use our pre-field trip guides to help your class prepare for their upcoming visit to 826 Seattle. We strongly encourage teachers to review the included activities with their students as it makes for a much richer experience if they are already somewhat familiar with some of the terminology and necessary structure and behaviors that comes with writing a collaborative story. PDF files of our field trip guides are available for you to download below.

Downloadable Pre-Field Trip Guides for Teachers

• Geoduck Publishing
• Choose Your Own Adventure
• Space Adventure Comic Book

It is a tremendous help to our volunteer field trip staff to have your students equipped with clearly visible nametags.

Where can we eat lunch?

We do not have an eating area in our writing center, so you will need to make other arrangements for lunch. Some teachers contact the Greenwood Public Library, which is only two blocks away, to reserve a conference room where their students may eat. Others go to the Greenwood park, which is a ten minute walk from our location.

Greenwood Public Library 8016 Greenwood Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98103-4282 (206) 684-4086

Greenwood Park 715 N 85th St. Seattle, WA 98103

I hear you have a store. Will the store be open during the time of our field trip?

The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Store Co. does not open until noon. We would appreciate it if you would prepare your class for the fact that they will walk through the store but will not be able to shop on the day of the field trip. We always encourage students to return with their families at a later time.

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Field Trip Registration Policy

How do I register to bring my class to an 826 Seattle Field Trip?

Teachers must fill out and submit a Field Trip Interest Form—it only takes a minute. In the interest of clear and timely communication between the 826 Seattle field trip coordinator and classroom teachers, we ask that each teacher fill out and submit their own Field Trip Interest Form rather than assign this task to a volunteer or other classroom teacher. Please note, due to the volume of responses, the Field Trip Interest Form is only “live” on our website during the following time frames: June 1 – June 15 (For 1st Semester Field Trips) and December 1 – December 15 (For 2nd Semester Field Trips.)

Does everyone who submits a Field Trip Interest Form receive a fieldtrip date?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. We receive many more requests for our field trips than we have the capacity to fulfill. Therefore, we schedule all field trips using a lottery system. Teachers will receive email notification from us regarding the status of their request within two weeks of submitting a Field Trip Interest Form. If your class does not receive a date, you will automatically be placed on a waitlist. If your class does receive a field trip date, we will request an emailed confirmation as well as a refundable registration deposit of $100* from the teacher within 2 additional weeks. If we do not hear back from you, we will assume you no longer want to be scheduled for a field trip and we will offer this spot to a waitlisted classroom.

*Teachers from public schools with a free and reduced lunch percentage of greater than 35% are automatically exempted from the requirement of submitting a refundable registration deposit.

What if we arrive late?

Our field trips are delivered by a dedicated group of volunteers who generously donate time out of their personal and work lives. Should your class arrive late for a field trip, they will receive a shorter program, ending at the scheduled time. We will make every effort to bind and distribute student books. However, if this is not possible, we will make arrangements with you for pick up at a later time.

Deposit Information:

How does the deposit work? A refundable deposit of $100 is required for each field trip (exception noted above.) Once you receive email notification that your class has received a fieldtrip date, you will be instructed to indicate your acceptance by remitting your refundable reservation deposit within a two-week period. We must receive your deposit before we confirm your field trip date. Upon its receipt, your deposit check will be held for you until the date of your field trip. On this day you will receive a post-field trip packet that will include a deposit return label for you to complete as well as a survey—your feedback provides us with the vital information we need to improve and inform our programming. Once we receive your completed survey, we will return your check to the address you noted on the Deposit Return/ Donation Slip.

Can I lose my deposit?

Should you fail to show up for a scheduled and confirmed field trip OR if you should cancel the field trip less than 2 weeks prior to the scheduled date, we will process your deposit check into our general operating fund. What if I want to donate my deposit to 826 Seattle? All of our programs are offered for free, however we do gratefully accept donations from individuals and organizations.

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Field Trip Interest Form

To request a field trip for your class, please click here to fill out our electronic field trip request form.

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