It rained today. Hard. Really, really hard. I had to run the windshield wipers on the highest setting just so I could see out. Hence, I didn't do everything I had hoped to do today. I actually went to H&H on the Upper East Side this afternoon for lunch. However, it was raining so hard… Continue reading My Last Day in New York City
Author: Stacey Shubitz
Stacey Shubitz is a K-6 literacy consultant and former elementary teacher. She is the author of CRAFT MOVES and other professional books on writing workshop. Her new book, MAKE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WORK FOR YOUR CHILD WITH DISABILITIES (Guilford Press, 2026), empowers parents to navigate the special education system.
WN Entry: Moving
Right now I feel like the young girl (actually Patricia MacLachlan) in Maclachlan's Memoir What You Know First. I'm preparing for a move from one east coast city to another and it feel so enormous and huge. My boxes are stacked up throughout my apartment leaving little room for me to walk. There is an… Continue reading WN Entry: Moving
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Strategy: Use photos to tell a story
I often have my students bring in photographs of them at special times in their lives in order to help them spark their memory (and write a small moment story.) I discourage them from bringing in posed family portraits since, unless you got into a fist-fight with your little sister before the snapshot at Sears,… Continue reading Strategy: Use photos to tell a story
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WN Entry: Fireflies
I stepped out of the car in New Jersey last night. Home sweet home, I thought. I was coming home to my parents' house for two nights. I slammed the passenger door to shut and was about to walk into the house when I saw a spot of yellow light flicker on and off. What… Continue reading WN Entry: Fireflies
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Poetry Friday: Credo (A poem about love)
Credo I believe there is something else entirely going on but no single person can ever know it, so we fall in love. It could also be true that what we use everyday to open cans was something much nobler, that we'll never recognize. I believe the woman sleeping beside me doesn't care about what's… Continue reading Poetry Friday: Credo (A poem about love)
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Looking at Your Place: Making a Memory (WN Entry)
Everyone who attended George Ella Lyon's Session on Saturday Morning had the opportunity to make a memory after thinking about a drawing a floor plan of a home they've lived in. I went through the entire first floor of my parents' house and listed one memory from each of those places, including the garage and… Continue reading Looking at Your Place: Making a Memory (WN Entry)
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I met George Ella Lyon!
George Ella Lyon and I started communicating with each other this past winter when I needed to request permission for my students to mentor their "Where I'm From" Poems after hers when they were writing DEAL WITH IT! Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women. We had dinner in Louisville on Friday night, along with Ann… Continue reading I met George Ella Lyon!
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Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins
I'm still on my Billy Collins kick. This has been going on since Saturday... I'm just loving his work. Here's one I especially like: Introduction to Poetry I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop… Continue reading Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins
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WN Entry: Noticing People
As I walked through my day today, I noticed the small things that people do that we often overlook. For instance, during my layover at O'Hare, I noticed that one of the women who was assembling cheeseburgers was doing it with a smile on her face. There was such love put into each cheeseburger she… Continue reading WN Entry: Noticing People
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Haiku
I pulled the grays out but they're sprouting back again they make me feel old. I wrote this after hearing Billy Collins speak last week. I thought it might be good to write a Haiku, especially if I'm going to teach this form to my students this-coming school year. (I've never taught my kids Haiku… Continue reading Haiku
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Rethinking Independent Writing Projects Plan Sheets
M. Colleen Cruz wrote a stellar professional book, Independent Writing Projects: One Teacher, 32 Needs, Topics, and Plans. Her book inspired me to get my students going in Extended Day last year. I was reflecting on the Independent Writing Project Proposal Form I gave my students in June, which I adapted from Cruz's book, and… Continue reading Rethinking Independent Writing Projects Plan Sheets
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Ode to My Second Cupcake
Ode to My Second Cupcake You come from Buttercup Bake Shop On the Upper West Side. You sat amongst other delectable creations, Waiting to be picked. Your cake is golden. Your icing -- Vanilla with green food coloring Added for effect. I bite into you As a smile spreads across my face. The white sprinkle… Continue reading Ode to My Second Cupcake
