| ELAINE SCOTT BIOGRAPHY I BOOKS I PRESENTATIONS I BOOK ORDERING Elaine Scott's school visits are widely acclaimed across the nation. Comments like *I'm still receiving thanks from the teachers whose classes she visited,* to *The passion she has for the work and her willingness to share it with others is inspirational,* are typical phrases that fill her correspondence files. Elaine loves reading, writing, and children, and her delight in sharing that love with others is contagious. Using a mixture of slides and personal anecdotes, Elaine talks about her writing career, encouraging creativity, research, and perserverence.
LENGTH OF EACH PRESENATION AND GRADE LEVEL
Each 45-50 minute presentation is informative, yet lighthearted, emphasizing the joy that writing has brought to her and offering it as an equally joyful experience to her young audiences. She can speak to kindergarten through high school.
NUMBER OF SESSIONS PER DAY
Elaine prefers to do three presentations a day and finds a fourth presentation tiring. However, if the situation calls for it, she will do a fourth.
TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS
Since 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy--as declared by the UN (see http://www.astronomy2009.org/index.php/?option=com_content&view=article&id=123 ), you may want to consider the Science Presentations described below.
Tailored Presentations * Elaine will work with schools and other organizations to tailor her presentation in a way that addresses specific topics or curriculum emphasis, such as research, writing techniques, organization of material, and creativity in non-fiction writing. Elaine's presentations serve as a tool to reinforce and support the work that is going on in the classroom.
Science Presentations * Elaine will talk about the astronauts and the adventures of repairing the Hubble as well as the wealth of scientific information it provided. Since she met the crew who did the repairs, she talks about her experiences and conversations with them. Books mentioned in this presentation include When Is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto and Mars and the Search for Life as well as Adventure in Space: The Flight to Fix the Hubble and Close Encounters: Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space.
The *Images of the Sacred in Children's Literature* Presentation * An essay which Elaine wrote for the Beverly Cleary retrospective that comprised the Spring 1995 issue of the Oregon English Journal is titled *Witches, Owls and Black-nosed Sheep: Ramona's Spiritual Journey.* That essay led to the development of another program that Elaine is frequently asked to present titled, *Images of the Sacred in Children's Literature* that features excerpts from the work of Beverly Cleary, Katherine Paterson, and E.B. White. The work is theirs...the spiritual interpretation is Elaine's.
WRITING WORKSHOPS
In addition to her school visits, schedule permitting, Ms. Scott is available to teach writing workshops to children and adults. She has been a featured presenter at Pathways to Literacy, has taught in the Mesquite (TX) Young Writer's Conference, has been the keynote speaker at Rising Star Young Writer's Conference in Austin (TX), and has taught writing workshops at Rice University, the University of Houston, and Texas Woman's University, among others.
CONFERENCES
Ms. Scott is very comfortable speaking at all kinds of conferences. She has addressed the National Council of Teachers of English, the Children's Literature in the Curriculum (CLIC) conference at North Texas State University, and the Young Adult Conference at Sam Houston State University, among others.
According to Steve Spangler (www.stevespanglerscience.com), who heard her speak at one science conference, Elaine Scott should be a featured speaker at every science conference in the country! TEACHER IN-SERVICE PROGRAMS From two hours to two days, Elaine teaches faculty how to enhance and support classroom instruction with her books.
EQUIPMENT NEEDS
A slide projector and screen, or a Powerpoint projector, computer and screen. Also, a room that can be darkened.
BOOK AS FAR AHEAD AS POSSIBLE
It's best to have several dates in mind and to plan as far ahead as possible. Ms. Scott's calendar is often booked a year in advance.
HONORARIUM
Elaine's honorarium is $1,200 a day, plus expenses, and this is for three programs. If a fourth program is needed, her honorarium is $1,500 a day, plus expenses.
Expenses * The school or organization generally books her into a hotel that offers meals and then pays the hotel bill and meal costs. If they prefer to pay her expenses on a per diem basis, she would charge $88 a day for lodging and $51 a day for meals. The school or organization also generally pays directly for transportation. However, if the transportation involved her driving to/from her home in Houston, the charge is 50.5 cents per mile. (Any personal driving she does, she would of course pay for herself.) Even if she's driving to your town, however, it would be much wiser if the school or organization would have someone pick her up from her hotel and bring her back and forth from the schools. This would relieve the stress of her possibly getting lost and being late for a presentation.
For further information, especially about the expenses (travel, hotel, and meals), click the "Arrange An Appearance" button and see "General Information on the Cost of an Author Appearance" as well as the 'Honorariums' section near the bottom of "How to Plan an Author Appearance."
COMMENTS FROM EDUCATORS
Thank you for writing such wonderful books for us to learn and talk about. We especially enjoyed Twins. -- Ms. Garcia's 3rd grade class, March 11, 2003
Elaine is fabulous! She is engaging and interesting for children and adults alike. The book she highlighted with slides and interesting stories was Adventure in Space: the Flight to Fix the Hubble. I thoroughly enjoyed her! -- Kim Lehman, Youth Specialist, Austin Public Library
It was a great pleasure to have you at our school. I have heard many positive comments about your visit. I hope our paths will cross again. I truly enjoyed meeting you. -- Beverly Bryan
Elaine Scott is a real trooper! Her enthusiasm for the topics she writes about is contagious and children love to hear her stories about research and writing. A perfect presentation. -- Jeanette Larson, Austin Public Library
REFERENCES
For speaking to adults:
Dr. Betty Carter, email bcarter787@comcast.net, tel. 972-462-1252
Dr. Mary Berry, Chair Department of Library Science, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, email mberry@tenet.edu or tel. 409-294-1150
Jeanette Larson, email larsonlibrary@yahoo.com
Casey McCreary, Ass't Dir. of Reading, Texas Education Agency, email cmccrear@tea.state.tx.us
For speaking to children:
Sharon Carr, Director of Library Resources, El Paso ISD, El Paso TX, tel. 915-779-4139
Sue McGown, Lower School Librarian, St. John's School, Houston, TX, email smcgown@sjs.or
Elizabeth Evans, Librarian, Overlook Elementary School, Glenside, PA, tel. 215-242-2855, email eevans@alum.vassar.edu.
Janet Boyd, Lead Librarian, Burkburnett ISD, Wichita Falls, TX, email janet@cst.net
Mary Lou Hodges, Rees Elementary School, Alief ISD, email mhodges@reesmail.alief.isd.tenet.edu
Steve Spangler at www.stevespanglerscience.com
Anne Morrison, retired librarian, El Paso ISD, email gvaz1058@cox.net
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