BARBARAGOWAN.COM

For Educators

2009-09-14T22:57:00Z

A recent study found that given a choice of books to read and keep, the vast majority (84%) of the first graders chose non-fiction. This should reinforce teachers' decisions to help primary students by making non-fiction books more a part of the classroom instructions.

Teacher curriculum guides for G is for Grand Canyon and Desert Digits are available to download from Sleeping Bear Press at
http://www.gale.cengage.com/DiscoverAmerica/guides/

The International Reading Association (IRA) http://www.reading.org is the world's leading organization of literacy professionals. For lessons on reading and language arts instruction, standards, student material, and web resources, check out http://www.readwritethink.org. The calendar of classroom activities associated with events in literature and literacy is a favorite of mine.

The 2009 Annual Convention was held in Phoenix and I presented the seminar, C is for Creativity - Writing Classroom ABC Books, to a standing-room only crowd. The School Author Visit for Students and Teachers post outlines the professional development seminars that I offer.

The Arizona Reading Association (ARA) http://www.azreadingassoc.org and its local councils provide networking, community service, and professional growth opportunities through workshops, author visits, and conferences. Your $30 annual dues in the Arizona Reading Association also includes membership in a local council. As past-president of the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council and current ARA board member, I encourage you to join me in the support of literacy in our state. ARA welcomes librarians, reading specialists, classroom teachers, parents, authors, illustrators, and all literacy advocates. Check out the Literacy Events post for a schedule of activities.

The Arizona Library Association (AZLA) http://www.azla.org is a professional organization promoting librarian service in all types of Arizona libraries.

AZLA sponsors the Grand Canyon Reader Award, a students' choice award for books in five categories - picture book, non-fiction (Desert Digits was a past nominee!), intermediate, tween and teen. For this year's list and classroom ideas to promote this award, check out http://www.grandcanyonreaderaward.org .

For Writers

2009-09-05T23:56:00Z

Rockne is my writing partner and greatest critic.

Even as a puppy, she offered encouragement to
sit and focus on my writing.

And yes, I still write the old-fashioned way with paper
and pencil...although that pencil is a foot long!

I am a real believer in professional development and learning from the best so my first piece of
advice to beginning writers is to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
SCBWI http://www.scbwi.org acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, book sellers and others involved with literature for young people. The Arizona chapter http://www.scbwi-az.org hosts meetings, conferences, and workshops. I serve as the Networking Coordinator for the north valley so I encourage you to join this professional organization to learn more about the business of children's publishing. The Journey newszine is online and members can participate in the listserve to receive emails with updated publishing news.

I am also a fan of learning from books and one of my favorites is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books by Harold Underdown and Lynne Rominger. Harold, a children's book editor, also hosts a great website, The Purple Crayon http://www.underdown.org/ for anyone interested in the publishing of children's books.

So, how does a person with a degree in biology become
a children's author?

Serendipity was on my side when my husband came home from a golf writers' conference and announced that he had a new job for me! He had played golf with the owner of this small publishing house in Michigan, Sleeping Bear Press. They were looking for local talent to write and illustrate their new Discover America series (this was in 2000) and Ed offered my services. The rest is history...
and a lot of hard work!

School Author Visits for Students and Teachers

2009-09-05T08:35:00Z

Barbara Gowan offers students and teachers a unique opportunity to explore
Arizona through author visits to your school or library. Celebrate literacy during
Young Author's Week, Read Across America Day or as a Family Literacy Night.

Grade level presentations for K-2 are
30-minute multi-sensory experiences.

Grades 3-6 explore the creative writing
process in a 50-minute presentation.

Presentations work best in a library
setting with no more than 100 students
at a time.

Barbara will present 4-6 sessions in a
full-day or 2-4 in a half-day.

Choose either the G is for Grand Canyon or the Desert Digits program
based on which book you would like presented.

In the G is for Grand Canyon presentation for
the younger students,Barbara reads the alphabet
rhymes while wearing an alphabet apron. Inside
the letter pockets are items for the children to discover-
copper ore, petrified wood, bola tie, saguaro seeds
and more.

Older students take a trip through Arizona testing
their mapping skills locating sites on a large magnetic
map.

With the help of animal puppets and props,
Barbara introduces the number rhymes and
math concepts in her Desert Digits program.

Grades 3-6 discover what's inside a Writer's
Toolbox and learn how a book is made.

During the reading of the book, the author
reinforces math concepts.

In both presentations, posters of the original
manuscript from the rough draft or sloppy copy
through the rewrites and editor's revisions are shared
with the older students.

Teachers appreciate the emphasis on the six traits
of writing and the concept of rewrite, rewrite and rewrite -
the mantra of an author.

Grades 3-6 enjoy time for questions and answers
with the author in their 50-minute presentation.

The Build a Book Writing Workshop for students uses the book, G is for Grand Canyon-
an Arizona Alphabet, as the model for the writing process. Barbara works with one class
at a time in the grade level.

Students create a class ABC book.
The workshop is four hours of writing
instruction that occurs over a 6-week
time period. Additional class time is
needed for research, writing and illustrating.

Students and teachers are proud of their "published" book.

Third graders at Encanto Elementary and fourth graders at
Village Vista, Sierra Verde, Cheyenne Traditional, and
Paradise Valley Christian Prep are just some of the young
authors of classroom alphabet books from the Build a Book
workshop with author Barbara Gowan.

A book sale coincides with the Author Visit. The school
receives a donation based on the number of books sold.
The students and staff have the opportunity to pre-order
books before the visit. Additional books are brought to the
school. Books are signed and personalized. Information
including a pre-order form and sample books are part of
your School Author Visit kit.

Professional development for teachers is an exciting way to discover what's new in children's
literature complemented by hands-on activities for grades K-6. Allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Choose from three themes:
        C is for Creativity - a Writing Workshop
                         Sharing Nature through Picture Books
                                          Read Any Good Math Lately?

Read Any Good Math Lately?
Participants survey a variety of children's
picture books as they relate to the math
standards from Number Sense to Data
Analysis to Measurement. Hands-on
activities including writing math poetry
complement the books.

A bibliography of math books for K-6
is shared.

A specialized version just for kindergarten
teachers was presented to educators of
the Paradise Valley Unified School District.

C is for Creativity
Teachers explore a variety of ABC books
and discover themes that cross the curriculum.
Using popular trade books as writing models,
participants learn how easy and fun it is to
write alphabet books. Samples of student
written books are shared.

A bibliography of alphabet books is available.

A modified version of this workshop was presented
at the International Reading Assn. conference in
Phoenix in February, 2009.

Sharing Nature through Picture Books
Discover the power of picture books to
introduce science/nature topics from life
cycles and habitats to teaching kids to love
the earth. Pair informational texts with
fiction for your early learners. Be prepared
to awaken the child in YOU!

The Tri-County Teachers' Academy enjoyed
this workshop this summer. The Paradise
Valley Unified School District and several
reading councils of the Arizona Reading Assn
have scheduled for fall 2009.

Program fees: Full-day (4-6 presentations)         $600
                           Half-day (2-4 presentations)        $350
                           Family Literacy Night                    $200
                           Staff Development Workshop      $300
A mileage fee is added to the program fee.

Contact Barbara at bgowan54@cox.net to schedule your school author visit.

The Books written by Barbara Gowan

2009-09-04T21:59:00Z

ISBN 1-58536-068-6 40 pgs Hardcover $17.95 ISBN 1-58536-162-3 40 pgs Hardcover $17.95

Published by Sleeping Bear Press and sold at local bookstores and on amazon.com.
Teacher's guides can be downloaded at http://www.sleepingbearpress.com/educators/.

These informational books are written for all ages.
The colorful illustrations and rhymes are enjoyed by the
younger listener while the text in the sidebar is suited
for the older reader. On the Accelerated Reader scale,
G is for Grand Canyon is 6.7 and Desert Digits is 6.5.

Celebrated as a Southwest Children's Book of the Year
in 2002, G is for Grand Canyon is part of the Discover
America State by State series.

Desert Digits was nominated for the Grand Canyon
Reader Award in the nonfiction category in 2007.

Irving Toddy is a Navajo Indian artist Aimee Jackson edited Desert Digits.
and illustrated Desert Digits.

L is for Leprechaun - an ABC book of Notre Dame was published by my company, Learning With Little Folks, in 2008. I was responsible for all aspects of the book from research and writing to hiring an illustrator to printing and marketing. It is an officially licensed product of the University. We topped the 1000 book mark in August. A donation is made to the Hesburgh
Library for each book sold.

ISBN 978-0-9815500-0-8 40 pgs Hardcover $24.95

Available at the Hammes Bookstore on campus and its online catalog http://www.ndcatalog.com

Research for L is for Leprechaun included a look in my college scrapbooks and a visit to the Archives on campus. My rector from freshman year, Jane Pitz, shared her artistic talent and created the art for the
book. She digitized photographs. Look for my daughters, Meghan and Kaitlin, on pages A, G and W.

I am especially proud of the words that former
University president Fr. Hesburgh shared on the
back cover.

And of course,
H is for Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC
a scholar, leader, and priest,
president emeritus, and activist
for civil rights and world peace.

I will be on campus signing books
at the Hammes Bookstore on Friday
and Saturday of the Notre Dame -
Navy weekend, November 6 & 7, 2009.

Jane Pitz will be signing on Friday,
October 2 during the Washington game.

Otherwise, look for me cheering on the
Fighting Irish football team at the Notre
Dame Club of Phoenix watch parties.
Go Irish!

To learn more about forthcoming books, check out the post - Future Writing Projects.

About Barbara Gowan

2009-09-03T21:23:00Z

Growing up in a family with three older brothers in Berea,
Ohio, Barbara enjoyed playing with her dolls, building leaf
forts along the creek, and reading books. The Borrowers
by Mary Norton, The Happy Hollisters series by Jerry West
and all of Louisa May Alcott books were her favorites.

She attended St. Mary's School and was valedictorian of
the Berea High School class in 1972. She headed off to
South Bend as one of the few females (only 125) in the
freshman class as Notre Dame welcomed in the era of
co-education.

Kindergarten graduation!

At the University of Notre Dame,
she majored in biology and took
classes in ecology, botany, and
even entomology (the study of
insects!) - great preparation for
her job as a park naturalist with
the Cleveland Metroparks.

Barbara began sharing her love of nature by leading family discovery walks, night hikes
(she can hoot like a barred owl -hoo,hoo,a,hoooo),
and even woodland wildflower walks dressed
as Mother Nature.

After the birth of their first daughter, Meghan, Ed and Barbara moved to Houston and several years later, they headed west to the Valley of the Sun. Kaitlin joined the family in 1986 and they have called Arizona their home ever since.

The Gowan family lives in Carefree
(on Serene Street!) and shares their yard
with a covey of quail, a family of javelina,
wandering coyotes, and an occasional rattlesnake.

Barbara is a member of the
Society of Children's Book
Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
and is a board member of the
Arizona Reading Association.
She serves as past-president of'
the Greater Paradise Valley
Reading Council.

Check out information for
school visits, family
literacy nights, and
professional development
seminars for educators.