This is one of those proud moments you have as a teacher where you have an idea for a lesson and it actually happens. I had created an experience that allowed my students to interact with a classic text that might not have been accessible if I had simply handed them an anthology.
readers workshop
Book Review: It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, by Josh Funk
Why I Picked It Up: We got this one in the mail and were thrilled when we saw it was by Josh Funk! There were a few tense moments while we debated who would get to read it first…Sherry politely deferred and I won! We love his books (see our review of Lady Pancake and Sir […]
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: Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, by Chris Barton
Why I Picked It Up: Woosh! was posted on a blog I follow. Unfortunately, I comb through about thirty blog posts a day and I don’t remember which one! However, it was posted and the cover caught my eye. So I tracked it down at our public library. Why I Finished It: As a mom of […]
Safeguard Story Time with Digital Read-Alouds
There probably aren’t any educators who would argue against the power of the read aloud, yet when the pressures of the school day hit, read-aloud time seems to be the first thing to get postponed because it’s “just for fun,” right? Wrong! (You already knew that!) Or maybe you’re just plain tired at the end of the day and your […]
Book Review: Sparky! by Jenny Offill & Chris Appelhans
I picked it up I was casually browsing through the New York Best Sellers list of books and chuckled out loud at the cover of this book. Normally, I’m not drawn to soft watercolor pictures, but this one caught my eye. It is simple, but so very clever. There is a brownish-black sloth who seems […]