Robert Young

Ahhh…those lazy, hazy days of summer. NOT! There is no haze here (it’s clear as crystal) and no laze, either. There is much work to be done. I’m not composing these days, but tightening and readying. Barry Lane and I have been working on The Nonfiction Toolbox for the past century…er…four years and it’s soon-to-be-published. It’s a book of nonfiction reading and writing lessons grouped by grade levels. I’ve been working on tightening up some of the entries (= editing and revising) as well as connecting the lessons to the six traits of effective writing. that way, if a teacher is looking for a lesson to support the trait of Organization, she can look one up in the index rather than having to page through the book and figure out which lesson will support that trait skill. Making the trait connections is not difficult, just tedious given that there are nearly 150 lessons n the book. There will also be a bibliography of nonfiction picture books that connect to the traits. These can be used as mentor texts by teachers. Our plan is to update the listing of books overtime, and to do it on the Discover Writing website. Clever, huh?