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Steve
in Texas
Texas Loves Steve!
Check out this wonderful recommendation from a Texas teacher.
Aileen Kirkham
Rosehill Elementary School Library
17950 Waller Tomball Road
Tomball, Texas 77377
Akirkham@tomballisd.net
March 6, 2006
Dear Librarians,
It is with genuine pleasure that I recommend author, Stephen Swinburne, for
school programs for elementary school students and staff! His From Blank Page
to Book program is customized to meet the developmental needs of elementary
students. His presentation targets an integrated curriculum. These are examples:
Writing – use of strong introductory paragraphs with examples of ways
to create them.
· Writing – use of strong verbs to enhance meaning.
· Science – conservation and life cycles of wild animals.
· Music – rhythms of animal life and sounds.
· Graphic Organizers – an example is the “cats” chart
in his Bobcat…book
At our February presentation, the students and staff were equally attentive
with the
animal life exploration, the writing information, and the crowd management
skills that Steve built into the program. There were numerous positive comments
from students and staff following the presentation. To all teaching librarians
I give this advice, “Make it a priority one budget item to include Steve’s
presentation as part of your quality library programming for next year”.
Should funding be a concern, due to the writing elements that he includes in
his program, local, state, or federal funding such as Title V could be proposed,
approved and allocated to pay for some or all of his presentation and expenses.
You would be totally justified in making such a proposal due to the content
of the program.
Sincerely,
Aileen Kirkham,
Librarian & Author of the Collaborative Bridges Series, Grades 3-5
Steve performs
in Texas Schools: Windows Media Player Clip
Steve in Nebraska
From March 12-20, 2006, Steve visited Nebraska schools
and went down to the Platte River to watch 500,000
sandhill cranes migrate through the area. Some
Nebraska kids were inspired by Steve's visit to do
a research project on sandhill cranes.
Take
a peek at this Quicktime
Movie. Awards
for Turtle Tide
TURTLE TIDE is one of 26 books nominated for the
South Carolina Book Award, Picture Book, PreK-2nd
Grade category for
the 2007-2008 school year.
TURTLE TIDE was chosen as the best
nonfiction book for transitional readers published
in 2005 in the Maryland Library Association Blue
Crab Young Reader 2005 Award.
Learn how
illustrator Bruce Hiscock made the pictures for Turtle
Tide
Teacher
and Library Conferences
Steve is presenting
at the following conferences:
Keystone State Reading Association Oct. 22, 2007
Minnesota Reading Association Nov. 2, 2007
New York State Reading Association Nov. 8-9, 2007
West Virginia Reading Association Dec. 15, 2007
Indiana State Reading Association March 4, 2008
Maryland State Reading April 16 - 18, 2008
International Reading Association, Atlanta, GA May 5-8, 2008
What else
is Steve doing?
Steve
still has some days available for school visits in spring 2008.
Click
here to view a page from Steve’s new book, Armadillo
Way. He loves
strong verbs and interesting details.
Two of the best ways to strengthen your writing is
to change weak verbs into strong verbs (I call them Arnold Schwarzenegger
Verbs!) and include plenty of interesting details.
Use
strong, active verbs! Don’t say move, say slither or pounce or tumble
or creep or . . . can you think of one?
Fill
your writing with specific, interesting details. What sounds better? Steve
likes candy or Steve likes dark chocolate M&M’s? The second example
puts a clearer picture in the reader’s mind by using concrete information
and replacing general words with detailed language.
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