Going to BEA!

I’m making plans for BEA (Book Expo America) in New York City next week. And I’m not the only one! There are numerous conferences and events being held in the city at the same time. (This is when you need a clone – so you can be in three places at once!)

Thanks to Shelf Awareness, SLJ and ABC Children’s Group I’ve collected a passel of links about children’s book events that week. (25 and counting!)

This link is a MUST! Add the Publishers Marketplace BEA to Go app to your phone. (You can set up a “My BEA List” of exhibitors and events online NOW so everything is ready to go next week. Just click on the star by the exhibitor’s name and it is added to your list. Adding a star to an event or an author signing adds it to your events list, with the event or author name, location and time. And the times are listed chronologically, so you’ll have your entire day organized.)

I hope to see you there!

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EdcampPlano

The first edcamp in Texas is in my school district this Saturday, so I’ll be there…

edcampPlano – Serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex

Date:
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Registration is Now Open!

Site:
Sockwell Center for Professional Development
6301 Chapel Hill Blvd
Plano, Texas 75093

What, you may ask, is an edcamp?

It’s an educator’s camp, but it’s more than. It’s also an UNconference — a conference where the attendees set the agenda and present all of the sessions. (That’s why the schedule is blank! It will all be decided on the day of the event.)

Now I’ve been to LOTS of professional development events over the years — on both sides of the podium — so I’m eager to see how this all works.

I hope to see you there!

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Read and Write Sports

My latest book, Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3–8, just came out, but it’s a book I’ve been writing my entire life.

I grew up in one of those households where we were always told to go out and play, so we spend a lot of time outdoors. At the same time, I was an avid reader and writer. In fact I wrote my first book when I was 11 years old. When I began teaching elementary school in 1977, I brought all of this with me to the classroom. I wrote for my young students and they wrote for me. We read and wrote and moved together. (It’s very hard for young children to sit still. Why not use that to your advantage?)

teaching

Many years later when I was a published author, I was asked to work on a sports series. Of course I said yes! I wrote 6 hi-lo sports history books.

The Story of Soccer

Then I was asked to write sports fiction. I started with BMX

BMX Bully

and moved on to skateboarding…  I wrote novels about six different sports with the pen name Jake Maddox, but when I visited schools to talk about my books, the children were always very surprised. How could a lady write about sports, especially when there was a boy’s name on the book?

BMX Bully

Once I began talking about the details, however, everything changed. I shared my sports stories with them, and they shared their sports stories with me. We had a great time!

The Story of Figure Skating

When I developed a writing program for a local school district, I decided to tap that strong interest students had in sports. It helped me teach them an academic skill using their life experience. After I told the students that they could write about sports, in classroom after classroom my reluctant writers became active writers. They couldn’t wait to share their sports stories.

Over the years many teachers asked me to write a book that they could use in the classroom after my visit was over. This is that book.

Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3–8

Inside the covers you will find readers theatre plays to perform in the classroom and writing activities for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. The speaking parts for each play have a reading level listed. The lines of dialogue are quite short, making the reading levels very low. This hi-lo approach allows everyone in your classroom to participate.

After students read about each of the 10 sports in this book, they are invited to write about them.

  1. Football
  2. Basketball
  3. Hockey
  4. Skating
  5. Baseball
  6. Soccer
  7. Track
  8. Gymnastics
  9. BMX
  10. Skateboarding

I write all three genres, so I teach them, too. Students will be asked to research and write an expository paragraph using three graphic organizers. Then they’ll be asked to write a narrative scene, using graphic organizers to help them plan their writing. The third writing section has graphic organizers to help students write an action-reaction poem. (Sports are about movement!)

One thing I discovered in all my years of teaching is that students work better with mentor texts. For many teachers, that means using a great book to guide young writers. I’ve taken it a step further and moved it into the pre-writing stage. Yes, I use mentor texts with graphic organizers. Throughout this book, students will see graphic organizers with someone’s thoughts written down. A blank page can be intimidating, but when you see how someone else has done it, then you know what to do. (I use this approach with ALL of my writers, from kindergarten to college. Graphic organizers are called GO Charts for a reason — they help student writing go, go, go!)

See Anastasia Suen
on the Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks and Activities for Your Library panel
June 26 at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

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May 2011 online workshops

I begin new workshops on the first Wednesday of the month.
The May 2011 workshops will begin on Wednesday, May 4th.

New to children’s books?
Learn about the different types of children’s books in the Children’s Book Genres Workshop.

Ready to write?
Write and edit your book in the Intensive Picture Book Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop.

An online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours, so my students have come from six continents. (No driving needed!)

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Frisco Public Library May 7, 2011

On May 7, I will be speaking at the Frisco Public Library from 3-4 pm.

Here is a copy of the press release the library sent to the paper:

Is There a Book Inside You?
Overcome writer’s block, stay creative and find an agent
Free and open to the public

Aspiring writers from age 12 to adult will have the opportunity to learn the tips of the trade from Anastasia Suen, local publishing industry consultant and author of more than 125 books for kids and adults. Frisco Public Library is sponsoring this free workshop as part of Children’s Book Week. Suen is best known for her series, Robot and Rico, and the Jake Maddox sport series both for elementary age readers.

The workshop is open to the public. No tickets or registration required. Two continuing education credits are offered through the Northeast Texas Library System. Participants must register for the credits in advance at www.netls.org.

Frisco Public Library
3:00 p.m., Saturday, May 7
Vivian McCallum Room
6101 Frisco Square Blvd.
972-292-5669

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Write with me during Poetry Month

For Poetry Month, I invite students of all ages to send me an EduHaiku poem…

Q. What is EduHaiku?

A. A 3 line poem about something you learned at school today.

Q. How do you write an EduHaiku?

A. Try this.

  1. Select a topic from one of your school subjects.
  2. Brainstorm a list of words about your topic.
  3. Count the syllables in each word.
  4. Use the words to share a short thought with the haiku format.

Q. What is the haiku format?

A. Haiku has 3 lines.

  1. The first line has 5 syllables.
  2. The second line has 7 syllables.
  3. The third and final line has 5 syllables.

Share your poems with me on the EduHaiku blog or the Twitter. (Send it as a message to @EduHaiku or use the #eduhaiku hashtag so I’ll see it.)

Teachers, I’d love to hear from you and your entire class!

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Hamster Chase for Little Bay Primary

Hip, hip, hooray! 20 copies of Hamster Chase came in for my visit to Little Bay Primary on Wednesday!

Hamster Chase

The hamster is loose! When Peter takes Mikey, the class hamster, out of his cage to pet him, Mikey escapes. Peter and his friends search the classroom, but everytime they come close, Mikey runs away again! How can they get Mikey back to his cage? $4 including tax

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April 2011 workshops

I begin new workshops on the first Wednesday of the month.
The April 2011 workshops will begin on Wednesday, April 6th.

New to children’s books?
Learn about the different types of children’s books in the Children’s Book Genres Workshop.

Ready to write?
Write and edit your book in the Intensive Picture Book Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop.

Published your book?
Get your programs ready in the School Visits 101 Workshop (offered in January, April, July and October.)

An online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours, so my students have come from six continents. (Antarctica is next!)

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