Category: Blog Posts

I don’t know about you, but I need closure, a chance to say goodbye to move on. I’ve been blogging for TBR since it started in 2019, and for all I know, this will be the blog’s last post. So, what can I learn from myself about looking back through four years of blog posts?… Continue reading Farewell TBR: A Look at Four Years of Blogging by the Numbers

Dounia and the Magic Seeds by Marya Zarif is an incredibly beautiful and moving picture book celebrating the resilience of the Syrian people escaping for safer ground. Dounia is a six year old girl whose ”shining hair holds thousands of stories and the kindness in her eyes makes the birds sing”. Her name means ‘the… Continue reading Dounia and the Magic Seeds by Marya Zarif

Kindness. The world needs more kindness. It's a simple statement but a complex idea. How do we grow kindness? One way to start is by reading The Yellow Áo Dài by Hanh Bui. The mother's kindness in the book overwhelmed me. Listen to my in depth conversation with Hanh about why she chose to portray… Continue reading The Yellow Áo Dài

In my district, a child’s elementary school experience comes to an end in the fourth grade.  For the students, this comes with the excitement of summer and end of year celebrations.  For my fourth grade team and I, this means reflections on a year’s worth of growth as we support our students in their culminating… Continue reading Until Someone Listens: A Story about Borders, Family, and One Girl’s Mission

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

Earth Day is tomorrow and undoubtedly many teachers will read books with students that spark interest in environmental stewardship. Some of my favorites are Heather Lang's The Leaf Detective, Jen Swanson's Footprints, and Planet Ocean by Patricia Newman and Annie Crawley. But before April break instead of reading a book about environmental stewardship, I introduced… Continue reading Whale Fall

How To Write A Poem by Kwame Alexander, Deanna Nikaido, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. A follow up to Kwame Alexander and Melissa Sweet’s 2019 book, How to Read a Book, this recently published wonder inspires all of us to write a poem… or two. In a recent collaboration with a teacher, she said, Writing poetry… Continue reading How To Write a Poem

The World's Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His RescueBy: Ralph FletcherIllustrated by Naoko Stoop The World's Loneliest Elephant, written by Ralph Fletcher and illustrated by Naoko Stoop, is a beautiful narrative nonfiction story. The book spans the life of a bull elephant named Kaavan, who came to live a rather… Continue reading The World’s Loneliest Elephant by Ralph Fletcher

In fourth grade, readers have monthly Shelfies to track their independent reading lives throughout the year. Once they complete a book, they write the title on their Shelfie. This practice helps them track their reading volume and book choices. Last year, I decided to add a little math joy to our reading community. This year,… Continue reading Book Count Warm-Ups

Kwame Alexander’s video kicked off our poetry unit of study. After they watched, the kids asked me if I knew how to make fried chicken and mac and cheese as well as Kwame (You will have to watch the video to understand Kwame’s joke.) Through this video, students developed a beginning understanding of ways to… Continue reading Thank You, Kwame Alexander

When I was a little girl, I’d get so immersed in the book I was reading that I’d tune everything else out. I wouldn’t hear people talking to me, I’d miss any commotion happening around me and I’d often blink and look around in confusion when I finally emerged from the page into the read… Continue reading Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner

What does pride mean to you? These ---the parting words from the book, The Meaning of Pride written by Rosiee Thor and illustrated by Sam Kirk have had a powerful impact in my social studies classroom recently.  For some readers, the book is an introduction to Pride, what it means and a celebration of notable… Continue reading The Meaning of Pride

Some days you just want a good laugh with kindergarteners, a playful romp in author's craft, illustrations, predictions, and good old fun. This book by Steve Smallman and Miguel Ordonéz has many opportunities for that playful read aloud fun. After a week of benchmark assessments, I dropped by a kindergarten class and asked if they… Continue reading The Eyebrows of Doom

How We Say I Love YouBy Nicole ChenIllustrated By Lenny Wen How We Say I Love You, by Nicole Chen and illustrated by Lenny Wen, is a perfect book to read as we head into the Valentine's Day season. The story celebrates a multicultural family and all of the ways they show that they care… Continue reading How We Say I Love You

I wrapped up the teaching portion of our mini lesson and began linking our community work to what I wanted readers to try independently. "Okay, you have two important decisions to make as you go off today! First, you'll choose a NEW short story to experience. As I lay out the stacks, I want to… Continue reading Black Boy Joy!

Many people choose a one-word theme to guide their daily living in the year ahead. Since it’s currently January, social media feeds are filled with these one-word themes offering new intentions and inspiration for all.  If you were to choose a one-word theme for your classroom, what would it be? Think about the ways you… Continue reading The Coat by Severine Vidal

Sometimes, All I Need is Me by Juliana Perdomo was the perfect book to read while we reflect on starting a new year. As I read the story to my third grades this morning the room became more settled and a sense of calm filled the air. We usually have a similar feel when we… Continue reading Sometimes, All I Need is Me

Like people, books can be complicated.  A quick glance at the cover and an opinion is formed ---“Now that’s a book I'd like to read, or Nah, I’m not into . . .”  Time spent within the pages can confirm or change the reader’s initial impression, surprising them as the book’s message is revealed and… Continue reading I AM QUIET A Story for the Introvert in ALL of Us

It's just the simplest form; the kids complete it about once a month. All I do is put it on their tables one morning, so they can fill it out after they put their things away. The students know the routine. They can bring it to me and share what they wrote or put it… Continue reading Feelings Check

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

Entering my eighth year of teaching, there are a stack of books that I know I'll read. Of course, there is plenty of room for new books to join and other familiar books to jump back in the pile too. Something that has been fascinating to me this year has been watching how books come… Continue reading With each year, a new purpose