Author: Maureen Markelz

Friends are Friends, Forever, by Dane Liu is a sweet story of Dandan and her move from Northeastern China to the United States. The story traces how she says goodbye to her good friend Yueyue, sharing their Lunar New Year’s Eve tradition of making paper snowflakes, and how she introduces that tradition to her new… Continue reading Friends Are Friends, Forever by Dane Liu

What a joy it is to return to kindergarten classrooms and be able to share a picture book with them! All nice and close on the rug, their expectant eyes peering over their masks - I had been waiting to be able to read this way for a long time. And I brought with me… Continue reading What I Am by Divya Srinivasan

I started my career as a first grade teacher and spent ten years in the primary grades before transitioning to becoming a literacy specialist. Even so, when my district asked me to go back into the classroom this year to help provide cohorts small enough to teach in person, I did have that sneaking fear:… Continue reading What I Learned from Going Back to the Classroom…and What I’m Reading This Summer to Learn More

The Spirit of Springer: The Real-Life Rescue of an Orphaned Orca by Amanda Abler I’ve got a second-grade class full of animal lovers this year, so I knew I’d need to share The Spirit of Springer: The Real-Life Rescue of an Orphaned Orca with them when it crossed my desk. In text by Amanda Abler… Continue reading The Spirit of Springer: The Real-Life Rescue of an Orphaned Orca

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

In this year of pandemic schooling, it can feel like there is bad news all around us. Covid-19, political turmoil, social unrest - I have sometimes struggled to conduct class discussions that acknowledge all that we are going through but at the same time don’t lead us to despair. I feel the need to have… Continue reading No Voice Too Small : Fourteen Young Americans Making History

My district has had the good fortune to be able to teach in person this year. In so many ways, this is a blessing - and yet it is still hard. Social distancing means no group work or games and lots of reminders to “stay six-feet apart.” In my room, where we’ve taped boxes on… Continue reading Writing Collaborative Nonfiction Books

Last year, We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins was one of my students’ favorite beginning of the year read alouds. Kindergarten, first, and second grade kids giggled with delight and fell in love with Penelope the dinosaur and her struggle to not eat the delicious children in her class. This year, Ryan… Continue reading We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

Last spring, teaching online with no preparation was an exercise in trial and error. Video lessons, live lessons, using document cameras, holding papers up to screens - it was basically a hot mess most of the time (at least for me). I loved a sentiment I heard from Natalie Louis at the Phonics Institute a… Continue reading Gather Round the Read Aloud

This spring, when it became clear that our schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year, I set about with my fellow coaches trying to envision ways to engage our students in authentic reading and writing that could be done at home.  After exploring some great resources, I decided on recording minilessons… Continue reading Nature Journals and Remote Lessons

The Paper Kingdom, written by Helena Ku Rhee and illustrated by Pascal Campion, hits the perfect balance. The simple, enchanting story line will enrapture younger readers, who will love the magical tales Daniel’s parents tell him. At the same time, the underlying story of Daniel and his parents will leave older readers with important lessons… Continue reading The Paper Kingdom by Helena Ku Rhee

“Life at home was no bushel of peaches either.”  “It was plain as the ears on a mule that he was born to ride.” “He took flight and kissed the ground.” Filled with sayings and phrases from the Old West, Let ‘Er Buck! tells the true story of George Fletcher, a black cowboy in Pendleton,… Continue reading Let ‘Er Buck! George Fletcher, the People’s Champion

“Even though he comes home tired, he always has time for me.” Daisy Ramona races through her hometown with her father on his motorcycle, taking in the sights and sounds of the people and places she loves. Through strong literary language and comic/graphic novel-style illustrations, Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña show the all that make… Continue reading My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero