Join us for the 2007 TAA Conference at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo in downtown Buffalo, NY, June 22-23

Register for the Conference
Register Now!

Preliminary Conference Schedule now available
click for conference schedule
click for conference events schedule

Book Raffle
IIL Publishing, New York will raffle four books at the 2007 TAA Conference
click for info

Coming to Buffalo? Put these two books on your reading list
City of Light by Lauren Belfer
Trip to Niagara Falls by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic)
click for info

Mentoring Sessions
Several veteran authors have agreed to serve as mentors at the conference. Attendees will be able to sign up at the conference registration desk for 15-minute sessions with a mentor. A list of mentors will be available soon.

Roundtable Discussions Luncheon
Saturday, June 23
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Choose from 10 different moderated roundtable discussions related to textbook and academic authoring.
click for info

Dinner at The Anchor Bar
Thursday, June 21, 6 p.m.
The restaurant where Buffalo-style wings were invented
click for info

Buffalo, NY Waterfront Tour
Friday, June 22, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Take a guided tour of the Buffalo waterfront
click for info

Karpeles Manuscript Musuem and Library Tour
Friday, June 22, 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
View Walt Disney illustrations and documents, among others
click for info

Social Networking Event: A Chartered 3-hour Dinner Cruise Aboard the Grand Lady
Friday, June 22, 6:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.
click for info

Four-hour Guided Tour to Niagara Falls (American side)
Saturday, June 23, 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tour full.
click for info

Free one-on-one sessions with an authoring attorney or literary agent
click for info

Click here for information from the 2006 TAA Convention:

• Articles
• Convention Q&A
• Convention Materials
• Photo Gallery

Archive of past conventions

Writing for K-12 Students  
Presenters:
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante,  a Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University, and the author of several academic books and the successful high school textbook, African American History: Journey of Liberation; 
Don Collins, former managing editor of the nation's best-selling Pre-Algebra text and author and co-author of several mathematics textbooks;
Monica Gilligan, former chair of a curriculum committee for a rural school district, and currently teacher of Composition at SUNY Brockport;
Charles Williams, Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, at the University of Florida, and author of Personal Fitness: Looking Good/Feeling Good

Friday, June 22
1:15 - 2:45 p.m.
Preliminary conference schedule

Dr. Molefi Kete Asante will discuss the content in high school African American history textbooks. He will seek to explain the process of the authentic voice as a basis for choosing content in African American history. Among the objectives of the presentation is the discovery of hidden voices and the centering of marginal voices. He will do this by pointing to techniques that illustrate both ideas.

Former managing editor Don Collins will tell how K-12 textbook authors are selected; your first steps; how to find a publisher; what is the right publisher; what to do; what not to do; who to contact; what is involved in the publishing process; and whether writing a textbook for K-12 students is worth your efforts.

Monica Gilligan shares advice for authors of K-12 textbooks concerning the breadth and depth of scholarship in texts; addressing levels of ability in ability-integrated classrooms; who chooses texts in states where control is local, and fighting competition with the photocopy machine.

Charles Williams will offer suggestions on how to write at the desired reading level and the importance of organizing material so that basic definitions, knowledge, and skills build upon one another. Further discussion on how to assist the student in reaching an understanding of the cognitive concepts that will allow them to accomplish established objectives outlined in state course frameworks and student performance standards will be held. Examples will be given on how to utilize various learning theories, such as "whole-part-whole" and "recall facilitates learning better than re-reading" in a textbook format. The presenter will also share examples of how concepts presented in the text can be reinforced with various learning experiences provided in the ancillary material. He will also touch upon how to write a teacher's wrap around edition, the importance of writing to state specifications and adoption presentations.

About the presenters

Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is a Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University. He is considered by his peers to be one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars. He has published 65 books, among the most recent are The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony (2007), Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait (2006), Spear Masters: Introduction to African Religion (2007), Handbook of Black Studies, (2005), co-edited with Maulana Karenga, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, (2004), co-edited with Ama Mazama, Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, (2003), Ancient Egyptian Philosophers (2003), Scattered to the Wind, Custom and Culture of Egypt, and 100 Greatest African Americans. The second edition of his high school text, African American History: Journey of Liberation, 2nd Edition, (2001), is used in more than 400 schools throughout North America.

Don Collins graduated from West Texas State University with a BS in mathematics. He has taught middle school/junior high mathematics in Texas and Illinois. After earning an MA in mathematics from Boston College, the next several years were spent in the publishing industry. He was the editor of one of the nation's first Pre-Algebra texts. Later, as managing editor he put together the authorship team and guided the production of the nation's best selling Pre-Algebra text. As his children graduated from college, he left the publishing industry and went back to school earning his doctorate from the University of Houston. Dr. Collins has taught mathematics and mathematics methods courses at Ohio State University, Sam Houston State, and Texas Tech before settling at Western Kentucky University. He has served as a reviewer, consultant and co-author on several mathematics texts and is a frequent speaker at NCTM and other conferences.

Monica Gilligan taught English Language and Literature, Speech /Drama, Philosophy for Children, and Latin I at the secondary and elementary levels. She served as coordinator of programs for gifted students in rural school district and chaired the curriculum committee. She taught Creative Problem Solving at SUC Buffalo, Public Speaking for Cayuga Community College, and currently teaches Composition at SUNY Brockport.

Charles Williams currently serves as a Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, at the University of Florida. He has served as an administrator for over 25 years as assistant department chair, program director, and assistant/associate dean. He has published 26 books and developed eight commercial videotapes and three CD's. In addition, he has developed three educational computer programs. His most recent project involves the development of fourteen e-books on CD for the college level. They are entitled "Health and Physical Activity Series" and are published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

He has received awards from his professional organizations at both the state and national level. In 2005, Dr. Williams received both the Texty and McGuffey Awards from TAA for his publication Personal Fitness: Looking Good/Feeling Good that is used throughout the United States and has been adopted by the Department of Defense schools for use in Europe and Asia.

back to other sessions