Blog Posts

Gert and the Sacred Stones

From the first year that we transitioned to teaching with authentic literature through the Reader’s Workshop model to last spring, my classroom library grew exponentially.  Anytime I heard about new books being published, I ran to the local bookstore and grabbed them.  I follow several blogs and twitter accounts that are focused on children’s literature.… Continue reading Gert and the Sacred Stones

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Templates to Enhance Literacy Instruction

What a year! One thing that has been remarkable about this time is the amount of open sharing that educators have done.  From Bitmoji Classrooms to teaching templates, we have embraced the notion of “We are all in this together.”  In the coming weeks, many schools are returning to a full and in person model… Continue reading Templates to Enhance Literacy Instruction

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Reinventing the Reading Journal

Pre Pandemic, my literacy instruction followed the Readers Workshop model.  Reading journals were essential to the success of my instruction.  This fall I worked with my friend and fellow blogger, Ann Williams to create this journal to support her fourth graders with reading instruction.  While this journal has worked well for Ann’s fourth graders, we… Continue reading Reinventing the Reading Journal

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The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

"A love letter to black America" ~ Kwame Alexander https://youtu.be/pLCLX8xW11k Author Kwame Alexander is a wonderful example of the power of perseverance.  In the video below he talks about getting his book Crossover published, and the seventeen or eighteen rejections he received before being successful. Then he talks about his book The Undefeated . https://youtu.be/6CLWVHObYms… Continue reading The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

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Student Response and Class Discourse with Pear Deck

Remote Learning Distance Learning Hybrid Learning No matter how you say it, teaching has changed.  Experienced teachers have had to reinvent themselves, finding new ways to teach concepts that were once second nature.  More than once this year I have heard, “I feel like this is my first year teaching,” and “Today was not my… Continue reading Student Response and Class Discourse with Pear Deck

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Reading to Students in a Remote Environment

If you walk through an elementary school during the first week of school, at almost any time of day, you will hear teachers reading aloud to their students.  Teachers use books to teach lessons about friendship and about being an individual.  We use old favorites, such as Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester to teach… Continue reading Reading to Students in a Remote Environment

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Celebrating Literature in a Virtual Environment – Part 1

This is the first in a two part series about Book Celebrations in the Virtual Learning Environment.  Both posts were written by Kate Merten and Ann Williams. Check back on 5/28/20 for part two! At home learning is the new normal for the remainder of the school year,  and we are all working very hard… Continue reading Celebrating Literature in a Virtual Environment – Part 1

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Camp by Kayla Miller

Graphic Novels ~ As teachers we hear so much about them.  Many parents (and some educators) feel that graphic novels “don’t count” as reading.  I couldn’t disagree more. There are many, many benefits to reading this type of book. Some benefits that I have found are: Inferring - this is perhaps the biggest benefit to… Continue reading Camp by Kayla Miller

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Spencer’s New Pet, by Jessie Sima

Picture this… 21 students sitting silently “listening” to a story.  Only this story is different. There are no words. There is not a sound- not from the teacher or from the students.  You can hear a pin drop. This wordless picture book is like no other I have read. Illustrated in black and white with… Continue reading Spencer’s New Pet, by Jessie Sima

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Please Don’t Eat Me, by Liz Climo

Have you ever had an unusual friendship?  One in which it seems like your friendship doesn’t seem to work very well, or at all?  Maybe you felt that your friends wouldn’t approve? These were all questions posed before we began reading Please Don’t Eat Me by author and illustrator Liz Climo.  This book highlights the… Continue reading Please Don’t Eat Me, by Liz Climo

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Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jen Hill

“Be Kind” ~ How often have you heard those words? How often have you said them? We spend hour after hour sharing the importance of being kind and trying to teach our students the value of kindness. But what does it mean to be kind? Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller takes the concept of… Continue reading Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jen Hill

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When Pencil Met Eraser by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos, Jr., illustrated by Germán Blanco

https://youtu.be/YiMwpCJ8VWc Pencil was an artist who liked to work alone.  When he met Eraser, he was not interested in seeing anything that Eraser had to offer.  Throughout this story, s Eraser continued to change Pencil’s drawings, and each time Pencil grew angrier and angrier.  He thought his art was amazing, and it didn’t need to… Continue reading When Pencil Met Eraser by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos, Jr., illustrated by Germán Blanco