Why I Picked It Up: One super popular session that Sherry and I present is Historical Fusions: Integrating ELA/R, Social Studies, and Technology. I picked up this book to help first and fourth grade teachers teach their students about Sam Houston. Why I Finished It: Truthfully, I learned a lot about Sam Houston’s early life […]
Book Review
Book Review: Seven Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive the Cafeteria, by John Grandits
Why I Picked It Up: Amazon told me to. I do most things that Amazon tells me to do. It came up on “recommendations for Jessica”. The artwork by Michael Allen Austin is caught my eye and it went into my cart. Why I Finished It: Honestly, I had to find out all the rules! […]
Book Review: Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story, by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Why I Picked It Up: I had been searching for upper elementary novels with some “meat”, something that would spark curiosity and make students think more globally. I can’t tell you how many books made my Amazon cart that day (because then I’d have to admit I have a problem), but this one stood out as […]
Book Review: Cowboy Car, by Jeanie Franz Ransom
Why I Picked It Up: This adorable little book, Cowboy Car, was received from a publisher (along with SPLATypus!), and I knew it would be mine because 1) it had a car on the front, and 2) that car was blue. My three-year-old son is currently obsessed with the Cars movie and he believes everything blue is his. […]
Book Review (and Giveaway!!): SPLATypus, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Why I Picked It Up: This book just came to us – quite literally! It’s a brand new book, written by Children’s Choice Award Nominee Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, published on April 4th, and we were contacted by the publisher who sent us a copy of the book in exchange for our honest review. (We also get […]
Poetry and the Four C’s: Communication
While it may seem like communication is easier than ever with all the technology available to us and our students, quantity is no substitute for quality when it comes to this particular “C”. According to “An Educator’s Guide to the 4Cs,” published by the National Education Association, communication involves “expressing thoughts clearly, crisply articulating opinions, communicating […]
