Three education books set for this year

Hi everyone,

At times I become involved in writing with partners on books for classroom teachers and long periods go by when I don’t pay enough attention to making new trade books. 2021 was like that. The result is that I have three new education books coming out in 2022 and 0 trade books. This has been my pattern for more than two decades. When I quote the number of books I’ve published, I should remind people that those done for teachers have all been with teachers and professors as partners. My role in each case has been to create original work — poems and texts — so my learned colleagues can work with the material to offer teachers learning experiences and follow-up activities for themselves and their students. I know there have been such collaborations involving other trade writers working with educators, but the number, I think, is small. Here’s a summary of titles I’m had the privilege of working on.

The list does not include chapters for teacher books and numerous articles for magazines and juried journals. Since 1999, I’ve written more than 340 original poems specifically for these books, the equivalent of more than twenty trade books of poetry for schools and libraries. It’s the same number of poetry books I’ve published during that time with trade publishers, so education efforts have accounted for half of my lifetime production as a poet. In the world of trade books, there are many lists and a variety of awards available and my work has won a fair number. Most of the awards given in professional organizations for teachers and librarians are designed for deserving members of those professions, so there are far fewer opportunities for trade writers to get much recognition. That goes in the “Oh well” file.

1999   Easy Poetry Lessons that Dazzle and Delight (with Bernice Cullinan); Scholastic
2003   Using the Power of Poetry (with Kathy Holderith, 3rd grade master teacher in Denver); Scholastic
2004   Writing Stories, Fantastic Fiction from Start to Finish; grades 4-6; Scholastic
2009   Partner Poems for Building Fluency (with Tim Rasinski and Gay Fawcett); Scholastic
2013   Let’s Write This Week with David Harrison (DVD series; guide book with Lauren Edmondson);    Phoenix Learning
2013   Learning through Poetry: Short Vowels (with Mary Jo Fresch); Shell
2013   Learning through Poetry: Long Vowels (with Mary Jo Fresch); Shell
2013   Learning through Poetry: Consonants (with Mary Jo Fresch); Shell
2013   Learning through Poetry: Consonants and Blends (with Mary Jo Fresch);  Shell
2013   Learning through Poetry: Rimes (with Mary Jo Fresch); Shell
2016   Social Studies Literacy; Grades 4-6 (with Timothy V. Rasinski); Shell
2017   7 Keys to Research for Writing Success, Grades 3-5 (with Mary Jo Fresch); Scholastic
2000   Empowering Students’ Knowledge of Vocabulary: Learning How Language Works (With Mary Jo Fresch); NCTE
2000   Guided Practice for Reading Growth (with Laura Robb); Corwin
2021   Scope and Sequence Program for Fairfax County Virginia Public Schools System (with Tim Rasinski)
2022   Partner Poems & Word Ladders for Building Foundational Literacy Skills, Grades K-2 (with Tim Rasinski and Mary Jo Flesch); Scholastic
2022   Partner Poems & Word Ladders for Building Foundational Literacy Skills, Grades 1-3 (with Tim Rasinski and Mary Jo Flesch); Scholastic
2022   Differentiating Instruction for Growth in Reading Lessons to Meet Students’ Diverse Needs (with Laura Robb and Tim Rasinski); Shell

This year? I have plans in the works for some new trade books. Time will tell.