This post is the first of four posts I'll be writing this month about bullying-related literature you can use with your students. Click here to learn more about this special series on bullying. Be sure to check out the giveaway Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division is doing this week for readers of this blog… Continue reading Boss Baby + Giveaways: Bullying Series
Category: Read Aloud
A Special Series on Bullying
Everyone's talking about bullying these days... and for good reason. The recent suicides of teens, from New Brunswick, NJ to Mentor, OH, have made front page headlines. The deaths of these students leave us all asking, "What else could have been done to prevent this child from taking his/her life?" Quite frankly, there's a lot… Continue reading A Special Series on Bullying
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Winding Down the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy
Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, by Mo Willems, was released last week. This book is the final part of the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy. Initially I felt sad when I learned Knuffle Bunny Free would be the final installment of the "series." After all, I had such joy reading aloud from the first two books… Continue reading Winding Down the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy
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Planning Read Alouds that Support the Workshop Model
lock·step noun, often attributive \ˈläk-ˌstep\ Definition of LOCKSTEP 1: a mode of marching in step by a body of persons going one after another as closely as possible 2: a standard method or procedure that is mindlessly adhered to or that minimizes individuality — in lockstep : in perfect or rigid often mindless conformity or… Continue reading Planning Read Alouds that Support the Workshop Model
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Fall Into Books with Your Students This Fall
Up until last week, if you had asked me what book I'd recommend you read to your students to get them excited about Reading Workshop (Yes, Reading Workshop. I know, I know, this is a blog about Writing Workshop, but sometimes we have to write about reading!), I'd suggest Wolf by Becky Bloom. Sure there… Continue reading Fall Into Books with Your Students This Fall
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Journey Around a Topic
Earlier this month, The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice, which is written by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by Linda Bleck, was released by Dutton Children's Books. The Longest Day is non-fiction, but it reads like fiction since Pfeffer paints vivid in the reader's mind with the language she purposefully selects. The vivid language she… Continue reading Journey Around a Topic
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A Mentor Text that Deals with Social Issues
We’ve all had that kid in our class. You know who I mean. It’s the kid who sticks out like a sore thumb because of his weight, because of his hair, or because of the way his voice sounds. I had that kid in my class each year… sometimes more than one per year. That… Continue reading A Mentor Text that Deals with Social Issues
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Scaredy Squirrel Books in the Primary Writing Classroom
Ruth was shocked when she learned that I had never heard of Scaredy Squirrel Books when we passed the Kids Can Press Booth at the NCTE Conference. Quite frankly, once I started paging Mélanie Watt's first Scaredy Squirrel Book, which was published four years ago, I, too, was shocked. It was humorous! I found the… Continue reading Scaredy Squirrel Books in the Primary Writing Classroom
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Picture Books in Upper Elementary School
The Fall of 2006 brought me the savviest class I ever taught. Nearly all 32 of them scoffed at me on Wednesday, September 6th when I pulled out Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. "A picture book?" one student said disdainfully. "Yes, a picture book," I replied. "We're going to read lots of picture books… Continue reading Picture Books in Upper Elementary School
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Mentor Texts That Keep Students’ Interest
Every now and then I'd pick a dud-of-a-book to read aloud. However, more often than not, my students loved the books I read aloud and subsequently used as touchstone texts. Was it that they were all interested in the topics of every book? Not necessarily. Was it that they admired the illustrators for their artistic… Continue reading Mentor Texts That Keep Students’ Interest
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What book will you read aloud on the first day of school?
When I was a middle school teacher, and now in most workshops that I lead, my favorite first read aloud is Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss (with some help from Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith). This book is not only perfect in its message, but a rich source for a mentor text. It… Continue reading What book will you read aloud on the first day of school?
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Teaching About ALL of the December Holidays
My students know I celebrate Chanukah, not Christmas. That's all they know. I have never gone into greater detail about the Festival of Lights since I didn't want to seem as though I was endorsing my own religion. However, after a child asked me, "Aren't Chanukah and Christmas kind of the same thing?" this past… Continue reading Teaching About ALL of the December Holidays
