Month: March 2021

A quiet roar? Yes! This oxymoron captures the entire book! Lubaya hardly every raises her hand, even when she knows the right answer. She watches the hand-waving picked kids stand in the light of classroom admiration. We learn that introverted Lubaya is a day dreamer, an observer, an artist. She prefers solitude to joining in… Continue reading Lubaya’s Quiet Roar, written by Marilyn Nelson, paintings by Philemona Williamson

It's a quiet Friday morning and as I'm sipping my coffee with this book on my lap, I can't stop thinking how this one book: Standing on Her Shoulders: A Celebration of Women by Monica Clark-Robinson and Laura Freeman can be the curriculum for a whole year. The minute you hold the book, you know… Continue reading Standing on Her Shoulders: A Celebration of Women

I See You See by Richard Jackson and illustrated by Patrice Barton As a teacher I’m always mindful about reading lots and lots of incidental diversity stories to my students. When I think of incidental diversity, I think of a story that has a character (main character) from an underrepresented community, where the story is… Continue reading I See You See

Featuring The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs Written by Kate Messner Illustrated by Matthew Forsythe It starts with one..." If your school, or your child’s school, is like most, literacy is developed through instruction and immersion in three main genres and their related subgenres: narrative, informational, and opinion. As readers, children ascend through… Continue reading Harnessing Curiosity to Grow Literacy and to Change the World

Last week, I listened to an episode of the Choice Literacy Podcast: Empowering Readers with Sara Kajder. I was struck by Sara's honesty as she shared, "Over the past few months, there are times when I've been alive as a reader and there are times when I can't give a book ten pages before I… Continue reading Miss Quimby’s Springtime Stack

National Poetry Month is only two weeks away. Make sure you have a copy of Let's Dance by Valerie Bolling on your shelves to share with your students. Let's Dance is a rhyming text that celebrates different dances from all over the world. In addition to portraying children from various cultures, Let's Dance includes children… Continue reading Let’s Dance

To launch informational writing, we began with a mystery QR CODE, and the kids worked together to figure out how to unlock the code.   A student mentor text children studied throughout the unit. These first graders were so excited to “crack the code.” They were excited to write informational chapter books. But this exploration didn't help… Continue reading Day 75: Cracking the QR Code

This month, I asked my second graders to help me write an opinion piece on a book they think teachers should read to other second graders. One of their favorites this year has been The Barnabus Project, by the Fan Brothers. Similar to their previous work, The Night Gardener, this book invites readers into an… Continue reading The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers

Are you looking to add more books that represent the disability experience to your classroom library? The Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association is a great place to start when looking for new titles. The 2021 winner in the Younger Children category is I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott. This… Continue reading I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott

Dreams for a DaughterBy Carole Boston WeatherfordIllustrated by Brian Pinkney  It’s hard not to think of my three daughters and the women they will become during Women’s History Month. I feel so fortunate to be living in a time where there are so many strong women to serve as examples and role models for my… Continue reading Dreams for a Daughter by Carole Boston Weatherford

No Buddy Like A Book by Allan Wolf, illustrated by Brianne Farley No Buddy Like A Book is a freshly minted book extolling the myriad of things we can learn in a book. So when we launched our Writing a Teaching Book unit for first grade, this seemed like a delicious kick-off mentor text. This… Continue reading No Buddy Like A Book by Allan Wolf

Soccer, the island's national sport! When we read The Field, every boy and girl in the classroom experienced the feeling of freedom that comes with playing soccer with friends. During vacation, our children are outside playing with their friends all day long. And so they immediately and easily connected with the story. A special aspect… Continue reading The Field by Baptiste Paul Illustrations by Jacqueline Alcántara

Someone I love very much is hearing impaired. When I met this person, I thought he was the only person I knew from the deaf and hard of hearing (DHOH) community. Because reading and sharing books is such a huge part of my life, I immediately set to work looking for books and stories including… Continue reading Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus and illustrated by Polly Dunbar

For me, Read Across America Week is a week to celebrate diverse books. One of the books that I chose to read this week is When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb.  This story is about Charley. He sometimes feels different because he can be shy and want to keep to himself. One day, he… Continue reading When Charley Met Emma

I love to read! I love picture books, middle-grade books, YA, and "grown-up" books. I love the subtle crack a new book makes when it is opened for the first time and the new book smell that lightly wafts up and tickles my nose. I love hardcovers, particularly when there’s a surprise "BONUS cover” hiding… Continue reading Free Audiobooks!

Two sides to every story, black and white, all or nothing... These beliefs capture the extremes of human nature which stop us in our tracks; for we are then, unable to see or accept the alternatives. "Room on our Rock" can be read from two perspectives. From front to back, according to my kindergartners, "the… Continue reading Room on Our Rock by Jol and Kate Temple and Terri Rose Baynton