School Visits That Move Nonfiction Off the Shelf

Kay Jackson is an author,  teacher and submarine builder. She has written over 17 nonfiction books on topics ranging from biomes to plate tectonics to submarines. Her nonfiction books help kids find answers, solve problems, explore the world, and ignite dreams. Kay taught for 20 years in 5 states, 3 countries, and on 3 continents.

Want to get your kids engaged in reading and learning? Try nonfiction and watch those books move off the library shelves and into your kids’ hands!

Nonfiction books help kids find answers, solve problems, explore the world, and ignite dreams.

My husband Doug and I are living proof of this. We have lived in deserts, grasslands, rain forests, and by the ocean. We were always lead there by nonfiction books and I, in turn, have written books using those experiences. It was also nonfiction books that led us to white-water canoeing, sailing, scuba diving, and building an underwater ROV and our submarine, Seeker, pictured here.

I offer three school presentations:

1.   Nonfiction: Action Books for Your Life
 
2.   Seeker the Submarine (Beginning April ’09)
 
3.   Exploring the World through Nonfiction

1.   Nonfiction: Action Books for Your Life
For grades K-8
 
Sure, nonfiction books are about people, places, things, and ideas. They are information books. But are they really action books? You bet! During this presentation, I help students make the connection between reading and action by taking students through these four steps:

1. What’s going on in my life?
     Kids think about the events and issues in their lives, about their interests or their dreams.
2. What do I want to learn more about?
     In this step, kids identify the project they want to do, the places they want to visit, the people who they admire and want to
     emulate, problems they want to solve.
3. What do I need?
     Kids find the resources they need to answers to their questions, and Nonfiction books are great resources for finding
     answers to questions.
4. What am I going to do?
     Knowledge without action is like a tree without fruit. Kids need to do something with their new found knowledge. This
     question gets them to put nonfiction into action and make it a positive part of their lives.
 

Here’s a common scenario – How do I …. ?

Allison, a middle school student, dreams of being an Indycar driver like Danica Patrick. After reading a biography about Danica, Allison realizes she also needs to understand how cars work. So she checks out a nonfiction book on the basics of combustion engines. Allison then finds a used lawn mower engine to tear down and rebuild. She uses the information in those nonfiction books to help. It’s the first step in realizing her dream. And it may take her on a different path than she first imagined. Allison may decide to design cars rather than race them.

My message to students, “Don’t wait until you’re older, or in high school, or in college or have more money. You can start now.”


Fees and Formats
I offer two formats for this presentation: large group sessions (50 or more students) and individual writing workshops for grades 3 and up.

Here are some sample schedules:

2 General Presentations + 1 Read Aloud + 2 Individual Workshops
• 1 general presentation for grades 1-3, 45 minutes
• 1 general presentation for grades 4-8, 60 minutes
• Read aloud to PreK and K, 30 minutes
• 2 individual writing workshops, one for each grade 4 and 5
• Lunch with a group of students

1 General Presentation + 1 Read Aloud + 3 Individual Workshops
• 1 general presentation for grades 3-5, 60 minutes
• Read aloud to PreK - 2, 30 minutes
• 3 individual writing workshops, one for each grade 3-5
• Lunch with a group of students

I’m flexible! I can create a school visit schedule that works best for your school.

Within a 30 mile radius
Use "Get Directions" on Google Maps starting at 2128 E. Ute Street, Tulsa, OK, to calculate distance.
$800 for a full day = 5 sessions + lunch with a group of children
$400 for a half day = 2 sessions + lunch, or, 3 sessions

Outside 30 miles radius
$1000 for a full day or $550 for a half day, plus travel expenses: airfare or mileage if I’m driving, hotel, food, rental car if I fly in.
These costs can be shared if multiple schools are booked.

2.   Seeker the Submarine (Beginning April ’09)
For grades 4-12

Seeker is the extreme Do-It-Yourself project. She’s a two-person sub that skims along the surface like a boat and then submerges to explore lakes and oceans.

Seeker also is the perfect example of using nonfiction books to fulfill a dream. Doug, my husband, is her designer. Doug used many books to learn more the basics about submarines, engines, metal boat building, electronics, etc. He used those books to create Seeker. And, he and I together built her – first in our garage and then in our front yard!

I can bring Seeker to your school. Your students will be able to view and tour the sub. And, through my presentation, students will learn how she was designed and built.

Doug is also available to appear. You can have all three of us for the day. Together, we can conduct up to 8 presentations. Doug is outside with Seeker, and I’m inside.

This presentation is great for middle and high school science, technology or votech classes.

Fees for Kay and Seeker
Here are some sample scheduling configurations:

At an elementary school
• 4 general presentations – 30 minutes long
• 6 individual classroom tours of Seeker – 30 minutes long

At a middle or high school
• 2 morning presentations + 2 afternoon presentations
• A presentation could include 30 minutes in the classroom and 30 minutes with Seeker
• After school presentation for 45 minutes for a student organization

Within 30 mile radius
Use "Get Directions" on Google Maps starting at 2128 E. Ute Street, Tulsa, OK, to calculate distance.
$1500 for a full day = 6 sessions + lunch with a group of children

Outside 30 mile radius
$1500 for a full day plus travel expenses: mileage, hotel, food. These costs can be shared if multiple schools are booked.

Kay, Doug, and Seeker
Here are some sample scheduling configurations:

At an elementary school
• 6 general presentations by Kay – 30 minutes long
• 8 individual classroom tours of Seeker by Doug – 30 minutes long
• Lunch with a group of students

At a middle or high school
• 5 presentations by Kay – 1 class period long
• 5 presentations by Doug with Seeker – 1 class period long
• After school presentation for 45 minutes for a student organization

Fees: Add $500


3.   Writing Children’s Nonfiction
For adults - This presentation can be part of your in-service training or an evening session at a local library.

Did you know rocks can speak? That grasses and trees are at war?

In this presentation, I describe how I create a story for the “characters” in my books. I show how I dig for that shining bit of information that will spark a child’s curiosity.

Within 30 mile radius
Use "Get Directions" on Google Maps starting at 2128 E. Ute Street, Tulsa, OK, to calculate distance.
$200 per session

Outside 30 mile radius
$200 per session plus travel expenses: mileage, hotel, food. These costs can be shared if multiple schools are booked.

Equipment needed for presentations
• A screen, as large as you can find!
• A digital projector with power cords and cables for hooking up to a PC laptop
• An overhead projector in case you can’t get a digital projector
• A microphone, preferably clip-on
• A table to set up books


Contact me to plan a visit for your school!

Kay Jackson
Email: NF4Kids@aol.com
Phone: (918) 382-9961
 

My Books

Explore the Desert, Explore the Grasslands, and Explore the Ocean
Capstone's FactFinders for Early Readers, 2006

Designed for readers ages 7 to 10, these books create a "you are there" feeling using journal notes and sidebars. Each ends with the description of a scientist and his or her work. For example, Explore Grasslands highlights Con Slobodchikoff who studies how prairie dogs communicate. He believes these little creatures have at a vocabulary of at least 20 words!
 

Deserts, Lakes, Oceans, and Rivers
Capstone's Bridgestone Books, 2006

These short books highlight the plants, animals, people, and weather of a specific earthform as well as how it was formed. Vivid photos, amazing facts, and maps complete these fascinating geography introductions.

The places and spaces of our world fascinate me. I’ve hiked the deserts of Arizona, California and New Mexico. I’ve rafted, canoed, and waded in rivers of both North and South America. I’ve swam in the warm waters on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and jumped into the cold waters of the Pacific. I’ve also explored the green waters and muddy bottoms of the lakes in American Midwest. With each of these little books, I drew upon those experiences to create a personal yet accurate picture of the biomes of the world.

Life in a Freshwater Lake
Gale's Kidhaven Press, 2006

While freshwater lakes cover only a fraction of the earth’s surface, these bodies of freshwater are home to thousands of different species of plants and animals. Freshwater Lakes explains the processes that form lakes, describes the plants and animals that live in lakes, and shows how people affect lakes.

As I wrote Lakes I looked back on our experiences diving the lakes of Oklahoma and Arkansas as well as the freshwater spring pools of Florida. These memories inspired topics such as "Stuck in the Mud," "Everything Depends on Algae", "Floaters, Skimmers and Swimmers," and "Hunters, Paddlers, and Waders."

Plate Tectonics
Gale's Lucent Books, 2005

In seconds, mountains explode, earthquakes topple skyscrapers, and tsunamis race across entire oceans. Tectonic forces are the cause of these disasters. The Earth’s surface is a dynamic mosaic of giant crustal plates that drift across the planet’s face. Plate Tectonics explains the ancient geological forces that continue to shape our planet and the fragile life on it.

When I wrote Plate Tectonics, I thought about my middle school students. What about plate tectonics would capture their interest? As I read the first-hand accounts of the geologists who developed and refined the theory of plate tectonics, it was clear that this was a time of excitement. These scientists, many only graduate students in their twenties, broke through long-held traditions and well-established views to create a theory that literally changed how we see our world. I wanted to transmit to my readers that sense of thrill and adventure. To that end, Plate Tectonics is filled with quotes from the earth scientists whose ideas, discoveries, and experiences have given us, as Helen Prager states in Earth’s Fury, a way for “us understand the present, past and future shape of the Earth's surface, and its earth-shaking, fiery, and watery displays of power."