Passing the bottle

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I finished my parts for the book with LAURA ROBB and TIM RASINSKI for Teacher Created Materials. There could still be tweaks and fixes in my future, but at this point I feel like celebrating. Tonight SANDY says she’s buying champagne.

This book began with exploratory talks among the three of us in January and February, 2021. By March we were ready and submitted our proposal to TCM. I committed to write 25 poems and 25 500-word essays, starting July 1 and finishing by October 1. It would be a killer pace but timing was critical to meet an early 2022 publication date.

I couldn’t start before July because Tim, MARY JO FRESCH, and I were finishing two books for Scholastic Teacher Resources that began with discussions in late 2000 and took nearly all my time through the first half of 2001. One of those books came out last month. The second is due out ten days from now.

When Fairfax County Virginia Public Schools approached Tim to re-write its Scope and Sequence program for grades K-2 and Tim invited me to join him, we asked for and received permission from TCM and Laura to delay pub date for our book long enough to insert the new project. For a matter of months, all I did was work on that project. The day I finished the last of 70+ poems, I turned back to the TCM project and jumped back into that.

It took from November 15 to yesterday, March 3, without a break, to finish the poems and essays for the TCM book. I hope my wife gets a BIG bottle of the bubbly.

Today? I’m sorting out where to start tackling a 16-month backlog of ideas and commitments in the trade world. I’m ready!

Two new books posted on Amazon.com

Hi everyone,

Volumes I and II of PARTNER POEMS FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS are now up on Amazon.

These books were a three-way partnership of Harrison, Tim Rasinski, and Mary Jo Fresch. My contribution was to write the partner poems. Tim created word ladders for each, and Mary Jo wrote classroom lessons for each to reinforce the literacy skill being taught. It’s always great fun and an honor to work with Tim and Mary Jo. My thanks to our editor, Maria L. Chang, Editorial Director, Classroom Activities & Teachables, and Tara Welty, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Teaching Solutions, Education Solutions, Scholastic Inc.

Still on schedule

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I enjoyed making a 25-minute video with Mary Jo Fresch and Tim Rasinski that will be posted for the California Reading Association virtual conference, October 22-23. We presented aspects of a book we’re finishing for Scholastic, which will be published January 22, titled PARTNER POEMS & WORD LADDERS FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS.

Starting today I’ll be away from the Fairfax project for twelve days, the longest hiatus since I started. When I return, I’ll have 19 work-days to write the final 15 poems. If all goes as planned, I should finish on time. By work days I mean weekdays between now and November 15 when I don’t have other commitments already on the schedule. Fingers crossed!

Contract signed for new book

Hi everyone,

Yay. I just signed the contract for the new 170-200 page book for Teacher Created Materials with Tim Rasinski and Laura Robb. The finished manuscript will be due December 15 so much has to happen between now and then. Today I’m sending my last six poems to Tim and Mary Jo Fresch for the two-book set for Scholastic so the way will soon be clear for me to return to some trade book projects. I think I have six weeks or so before I’ll need to get started on the TCM book. Happy guy.

I apologize for still being clumsy at times with the recent changes in WordPress. I’m all thumbs with placement of pictures. I have a devil of a time moving them around. Here I got Laura by herself when I meant to place Mary Jo and Tim with her. At least my friends are all together on the page. A dynamic trio if there ever was one!

Laura

• 

• 

Mary Jo and Tim

I want to talk about my books for teachers, #3

Hi everyone,

In September of 2009 the offices of Scholastic Professional Books was one of my stops during my annual trek to New York City to see editors. We visited about my first two titles with Scholastic and the idea came up about pairing me with Timothy V. Rasinski, a professor at Kent State University and noted authority on reading development. When I returned home, I sent Tim a note and we corresponded for two and a half months while we considered ways of combining our talents and interests. By December we’d honed in on doing a book of poems for two or more voices — partner poems — with me writing the poems and Tim providing classroom activities. We would each write an introduction and Tim would bring in one of his former doctoral students, Gay Fawcett, to do some of the classroom activities. The range would be for grades 2-4.

I loved writing all those partner poems and we felt good about the finished book. But when our samples arrived, the cover read: PARTNER POEMS FOR BUILDING FLUENCY, GRADES 4-6. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I alerted Tim and Gay and then called our editor. She was apologetic but said at the last minute someone discovered they already had a book with that exact title, for grades 2-4, so they had no choice but to change our grade range to avoid confusion. She was sorry but there was nothing she could do.

Tim and I insisted they destroy the books, change the title, and keep our 2-4 grade range because most of the poems, as well as the activities, would make little sense to kids in the 5th or 6th grade. The answer came back, “Sorry.”

As predicted, I took some arrows from teachers who quite rightly pointed out that my poetry was not suitable for grades 4-6 and accused me of not understanding my audience. I still burn when I think of how stupid it was to pull that switch at the last minute and without even discussing it with us. The book did okay but should have done much better. A poem that emerged as a favorite is this one, which I’ve presented several times at conferences and in classrooms over the year.

It’s a Lollity Popity Day

(1st voice)
It’s a lollity popity day

(2nd voice)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seekity day.

(1st)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seektiy
read a good bookity day.

(2nd)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seekity
read a good bookity
roll in the grassity day.

(1st)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seekity
read a good bookity
roll in the grassity
talk with a friendity day.

(2nd)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seektiy
read a good bookity
roll in the grassity
talk with a friendity
sit on a lapity day.

(1st)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seekity
read a good bookity
roll in the grassity
talk with a friendity
sit on a lapity
play with your petity day.

(2nd)
It’s a lollity popity
hide-and-go-seektiy
read a good bookity
roll in the grassity
talk with a friendity
sit on a lapity
play with your petity
happy-go-luckity day.

(Together)
Hooray!
Hooray!