Picture Books in Secondary Classrooms
Picture books are short, visual, and engaging, which makes them perfect for using as mentor texts with elementary AND secondary students.
Category Archive: Read Aloud
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Remembrance Ideas for the September 11th Anniversary
Educators from around the country share the ways in which they teach about September 11th to their students. This post includes programming and writing ideas, as well as links to videos and picture books you can read aloud.
Teaching the Four Types of Writing Through Texts
Janiel Wagstaff’s books will help you teach primary writers about the four types of writing in an engaging way. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win her series of Stella books.
Nonfiction Picture Book 10 for 10
Today is the annual Nonfiction Picture Book 10 for 10, hosted by Cathy Mere from Reflect and Refine, Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning, and Julie Balen of Write at the Edge. This is my fourth year participating in this event, which provides me with a chance to share ten nonfiction picture books I have been using as mentor texts with elementary school writers.
Waving the White Flag on Valentine’s Day!
There are some days in an elementary school teacher’s life where the white flag must be waved. Halloween. The day before holiday break. Pajama Day. Crazy Hat Day. And, of course, Valentine’s Day…
Lessons from Characters Who Are Writers: Discovering the Writer’s Life
Kids often feel as though that they are the only ones who have ever been stuck for ideas, or been laughed at, or had a story rejected (by a teacher, or friend). No matter where you live, no matter what you write, there is no need to discover every writing problem all on your own. That’s where characters in books come in. Why not learn from them?
Black History Month & Beyond – My #NF10for10 + 10 Book Giveaways
Today is the annual Nonfiction Picture Book 10 for 10, hosted by Cathy Mere from Reflect and Refine, Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning, and Julie Balen of Write at the Edge.… Continue reading
Tuck Everlasting: 40th Anniversary Blog Tour #Tuck40th
I miss many things about being a classroom teacher. I miss the camaraderie with the students, the collegiality with the staff, and the sense that what I’m doing really matters. I miss the… Continue reading
Five on Friday: Picture Books Edition
Find out which five, NEW picture books I’m fawning over this Friday.
Informational Writing that Dazzles + a Giveaway
A couple months back I promised to be more intentional about finding nonfiction picture books to recommend as mentor texts for writing workshop. I’ve been looking at a lot of informational texts in… Continue reading
Raising a Literate Human
I promised myself I would share the new blog I’ve been working on once I reached 20 posts. That promise was made in late February. Life got pretty busy between February and June. … Continue reading
Reading Aloud Builds Better Writers
I’m consulting in a local school today where I’ve been working with the staff since August rolling-out interactive read aloud. Every two months the interactive read aloud text set reflects a particular social… Continue reading
A Wintertime Read Aloud + A Giveaway
One of the little words I’ve been thinking about adopting as my One Little Word for 2012 is wonder. Wonder, as defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, means: 1won·der noun \ˈwən-dər\ Definition of… Continue reading
Happy Chanukah + a Book Giveaway
There are no shortage of books on Chanukah. Despite the fact that Chanukah is not one of the major Jewish holidays, there are lots of books, some of which aren’t so good, written… Continue reading
Every-Day Dress-Up + A Giveaway
Last year I wrote a blog post entitled “Rethinking and Rewriting Princess Stories” which included some of my thoughts about princess culture. I was pregnant with my daughter when I wrote it. Nearly… Continue reading
Stories are essential to our lives.
Yesterday afternoon I attended the Elementary Section Get-Together at the Chicago Hilton. The get-togethers are always fun to attend since they provide me with the opportunity to catch up with people like Karen… Continue reading
An Interview with Leslie Patricelli + Giveaways
About a month or two after my daughter was born, I posted several status updates on my Facebook page complaining about the quality of the board books we had. They were too short,… Continue reading
GUEST BLOG POST: Savor a Book: Reading like a Writer
Edited by Ruth: Pssst…today is Mary Helen’s birthday! Won’t you join me in leaving comments on her blog post about one of her very favorite books? Mary Helen Gensch is currently a literacy… Continue reading
President Obama’s Book + the Final Giveaway of 2010
Last month President Barack Obama published a picture book, of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, which is illustrated exquisitely by Loren Long. I received a review copy of it while… Continue reading