Author: Amanda Tilden

I have an anxious class. For some students, their anxiety is LOUD. It comes out as interruptions, distractions, talking back, work refusal. And on our hardest days, tears. For others, their anxiety is quiet. It comes out as silence. Doodling in the margins, doing just enough to make it seem like work is getting done… Continue reading When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left

As we neared the end of our units on both nonfiction reading and informational writing, I came across A Journey Under the Sea at my local bookstore. While at first browse I was captivated by the beautiful photographs, it was the vivid storytelling that convinced me this was a book I had to share with… Continue reading A Journey Under the Sea

What do a judo-loving guinea pig and a class of fourth graders have in common? Readers discovered that, it turns out, we're all a bit odd. In Zadie Smith & Nick Laird's endearing picture book, a new pet guinea pig named Maud is viewed by the other pets of the house as an "oddball". It… Continue reading The Surprise