Blog Posts

Harnessing Curiosity to Grow Literacy and to Change the World

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

Blog Posts

History Smashers: Women’s Right To Vote

Get out the Vote!  Kate Messner’s History Smashers: Women’s Right to Vote,  illustrated by Dylan Meconis, is an inspiring and timely history of the centuries of struggle that women waged to vote in America. History Smashers: Women's Right to Vote - Written by Kate Messner and Illustrated by Dylan Meconis When we think of the… Continue reading History Smashers: Women’s Right To Vote

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Launching Readers Workshop with Books as Mirrors and Windows

bOOKS AS mIRRORS AND wINDOWS Dr. Rudine Simms Bishop, in her 1990 article, wrote about the importance of literature as “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors.” Our students come to us during this unique year, in the midst of two pandemics; a global health crisis and the urgent battle to dismantle systemic racism. As we… Continue reading Launching Readers Workshop with Books as Mirrors and Windows

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Towers Falling By Jewell Parker Rhodes

We are all interconnected. Towers Falling, by Jewell Parker Rhodes brilliantly brings this message of societal interconnectedness to life as main character, Deja Barnes uncovers her  community’s and family’s history.  Fifth grader, Deja, is new to school. Deja’s family of five lives in a one room apartment in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. As Deja… Continue reading Towers Falling By Jewell Parker Rhodes