Award winning and critically acclaimed author Michael R. Strickland collected Poems That Sing to You, an anthology of 55 Poems about music that are musical in their language in 1993. It was followed by Families: Poems Celebrating the African American Experience co-edited by his mother, Dr. Dorothy S. Strickland of Rutgers University, for K-3. Both books are published by Boyds Mills Press. Next came African American Poets (1996) ten biographies of famous black poets. It was published by Enslow Publishers Inc. His fall 1997 release is My Own Song and Other Poems to Groove To, the sequel to Poems That Sing To You. His first storybook was about a trip to the barbershop, Haircuts at Sleepy Sam's. In 2000, Michael published African American Writers: A Dictionary an ABC-CLIO book, followed by A to Z of African American History (2001), Random House, Black Snake and the Eggs: A Tale told in Liberia ((2001) Wright Group McGraw Hill, and The Club (2001) (w/ Lisa Bahlinger), a hi-lo novel for adolescents, published by Perfection Learning. 2002 saw the hi-lo novel Shell's Gold also for adolescents. Works in press include a book for teachers on using poetry across the curriculum. Michael shares time between Pocatello, Idaho, and Logan, Utah, where he lives with his lovely wife, Gwynnith and amazing daughter Neala. Michael travels nationally, performing poetry, story, and song for students. He speaks to teachers and parents about language and learning for all children. He also talks about the use of computers in reading and writing and technology across the curriculum.

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Consider booking Michael for one of his presentation topics, including: 1) "STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION;" and 2) "BETTER READING AND WRITING THROUGH WORD STUDY, PHONEMIC AWARENESS, VOCABULARY, AND PHONICS;" 3) GUIDED READING: AN INTRODUCTION;" 4)"BEST PRACTICES FOR DIRECT INSTRUCTION;" 5)"TEACHING SPELLING;" 6)"CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE: FINDING A BETTER WAY;" 7) "HELPING CHILDREN EXPRESS THEMSELVES THROUGH THE MAGIC AND MUSIC OF POETRY;" 8)"CREATING COMMUNITIES FOR COMPLEX THINKING;" and 9)"MEETING YOUNG LEARNER'S NEEDS -- TEACHING FOR HIGH STAKES TESTS;"