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Tales to Tell: Exploring Author's Voice Through Picture Books
When we read a truly wonderful picture book, one whose words resonate as much as the pictures themselves, we should take the opportunity to stand back and ask ourselves, "How did the author do that?"...
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Valentines for Vermin: Love Poems for the Unloved
Looking for a fun writing activity that integrates well with Valentine's Day? Then look no further than Vulture Verses: Love Poems for the Unloved.This book is a funny and fact-filled collection of...
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Fightin' Words: Using Picture Books to Teach Argumentative Writing
So what's the difference between persuasive writing and argumentative writing? In persuasive writing, students passionately defend their point of view, relying upon opinion, personal experience,...
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Celebrate Something! Creating Culminating Activities for Reading Units
I'm pleased this week to be part of Kid Lit Blog Hop #10, a well-attended online party of some of the most dedicated and talented children's literature bloggers around. So in the spirit of parties,...
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The Secret to Descriptive Writing
Either I’ve encountered a conspiracy to confound teachers of writing, or I’ve discovered an “obvious secret” of descriptive writing. To paraphrase a classic School House Rock Video, it appears that...
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Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad? and Other Prehistoric Picture Books
In Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad? young Dave's uneventful trip to the museum takes an unlikely and entertaining twist. From the book's inside flap:Dad takes Dave to the museum to see the dinosaurs. Dad...
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Five Ways to Share Picture Books More Effectively
In my workshops, teachers often express the desire to use picture books in their classroom, but wonder how to do it most effectively. The answer to that question depends entirely upon what we want to...
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Holocaust Picture Books: An Annotated List
After many requests, I've finished compiling an annotated list of Holocaust books. I resisted the urge to categorize them by grade level, as I feel they can be used effectively in both upper elementary...
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Prairie Chicken Little: The Sky is Falling! Again!
Win this book! See below.In a funny and frenetic remake of the traditional tale, Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins chronicles the over-reaction of one prairie chicken who thinks the sky is...
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Teaching That Makes Sense: An Uncommonly Good Resource
Years ago I first posted on Teaching That Makes Sense, founded by Steve Peha, an impressive web site full of well-organized, original resources on reading and writing.They're all in pdf format and...
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Failure IS an Option; A Really Funny One
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Pearls Before Swine strip creator Stephan Pastis is a hilarious new title guaranteed to win big with fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dear Dumb Diary.I read it with...
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Purposes for Poetry: Ten Ways to Use Poetry in Your Instruction
Often when I mention poetry during a workshop, at least one teacher laments, "I would love to do more poetry with students, but there's so much else to teach in my curriculum!" What I try to encourage...
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Betsy's Day at the Game: A Review and Giveaway
Peanuts, Cracker Jack, cotton candy, and hot dogs! Those are my fondest memories of the ball park, and they certainly top my daughters' lists as well. But one equally hallowed tradition of baseball had...
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We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
"I want to go to jail," (third grader) Audrey told her mother. Since Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks thought that was a good idea, they helped her get ready.Cynthia Levinson's stunning and moving We've Got a...
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Heroes of History
Read below for Marceau's amazing story!One popular conversation in education centers around "What is worth knowing?" To that conversation I'd like to add the question, "Who is worth knowing?"When I ask...
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How to Create Interactive Timelines
If you're looking for an awesome online report option for biographies or nonfiction texts, you'll love Hstry.co. Hstry is a site where students can create cool looking, interactive timelines with text,...
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Heroes of History, Part II
In an earlier post I shared how students used biography picture books to practice summarizing, recognizing opposing viewpoints, and citing textual evidence. Using the four-step process modeled there,...
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Animal Attraction: Exploring Animals with Picture Books
Children love animals, so it's not surprising that the canon of children's literature is populated with iconic rabbits, bears, elephant, and mice. So how can we continue to take advantage of this...
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Mentor Text Display Cards
I love using mentor texts in the classroom, and students find them incredibly useful as exemplars for their own writing. But how many times have I asked, "Do you remember when we saw examples of this...
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A Game Your Students Can Play Tomorrow
Games are the most elevated form of investigation. ~ Albert EinsteinI just finished reading Cathy N. Davidson's wonderful Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We...
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Another Game You Can Play in Class Tomorrow!
I received some nice emails about the Bug game our class designed, so I wanted to share what we played this past Friday. I call it The Mysterious Box of Mystery.Worst name ever.I know, but my students...
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Yet Another Game to Play in Class Tomorrow!
If you're looking for a game that students will beg to play every week, this is it. I've used it in classrooms and academic enrichment programs at summer camp with fantastic results. Add this to Bug...
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How to Create Readers with Sustained Silent Reading
One way that motivation and engagement are instilled and maintained is to provide students with opportunities to select for themselves the materials they read and topics they research. One of the...
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Will's Words: Learning to Love Language with William Shakespeare
Students are never too young to begin immersing themselves in the language of William Shakespeare. Will's Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk, is a wonderful place to start. Author...
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How to Effortlessly Pair Fiction and Nonfiction Texts
Q: I know that pairing fiction with nonfiction can benefit students in many ways, but I'm often at a loss to find short sources of nonfiction at an appropriate level for my students. How can I pair...
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