Why I Picked It Up: The title caught my attention right away. Then I read a quick review on Amazon and knew it was for me. Why I Finished It: It’s just adorable. Escoffier tells a simple story from the point of view of the little girl. This little girl is the typical child, we […]
Reading Strategies
Book Review: Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey
Why I Picked It Up: Buzz Kill is one of the books on the 2015 Lone Star List. In preparation for another successful Battle of the Books, I am beginning to read the chosen texts. I should probably start with the ones that don’t necessarily speak to me, but I’m not there in my personal […]
Book Review: A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
Why I Picked It Up: I originally picked up this picture book thinking it would be a biography. Sherry and I are always working on expanding our popular session Historical Fusions, and so we are continuously searching for quality biographies to add to our collection. Why I Finished It: This book is different from any I have […]
App Review: ChatterPix Kids
I am a firm believer that, when it comes to your toolbox of apps for the classroom, less is more. I’ll spare you the soapbox this time (you can read about it in this blog post if you are really interested!) and just tell you that this is one of the apps on my shortlist. ChatterPix lets […]
Book Review: Port Chicago 50 by Steve Sheinkin
Why I Picked It Up: There were several things that came together to confirm that I’d made a good choice when I picked up this book. I found out about it during a session at the recent Texas Council for Teachers of English Language Arts and Reading (TCTELA) conference about non-fiction. The cover flashed up on the […]
Book Review – Update: The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander
** Contact us if you would like to have one of our engaging mentor text sessions come to your campus! ** Almost a year ago, I reviewed The Crossover with lesson ideas and then began shoving it (sometimes unwillingly) into teachers hands. It seemed like the golden ticket to reluctant adolescent readers. Why would they not […]
