Tool Box

World Kindness Day

Friday, November 13th was WORLD KINDNESS DAY, a day set aside by the World Kindness Movement, a nonprofit established “to highlight our good deeds in our communities, cities, and nations; it is for us to further focus on the positive power and common thread of kindness, which binds us together.” In recognition of the day,… Read more »

The Heart of the Matter

  Heart Maps: Helping Students Create and Craft Authentic Writing (Heinemann, 2016) is Georgia Heard’s newest book and while I haven’t had time yet to dig deeply into my personal copy, it seems an appropriate book to suggest for teachers looking for ways to help students make sense of the events in our world. Maps have been part… Read more »

Writing Teachers Writing…

TEACHERS WRITE 2016! is a “community of teachers, librarians, and authors who believe that people who teach writing are most effective when they are truly writers themselves.” Started in 2012 by Kate Messner, Jen Vincent, and Gae Polisner, Teachers Write is an opportunity for educators to explore writing in a relaxed, virtual “class,” alongside a growing community of more than 2500 enthusiastic teachers… Read more »

Storytime Singalong with Emily Arrow

Songs have many of the same attributes as picture books – rhythm, repetition, rhyme. Like picture books, they’re written to be sang (read) and performed (shared aloud). Which is one of the reasons that Emily Arrow’s new CD of Kid-lit tunes is such a treat. A collection of picture book-inspired and kid-friendly songs, Storytime Singalong… Read more »

Teacher Melissa Guerrette on Writing and Student Collaboration with Author Linda Urban: Pt. 3

This past Fall at the 2015 NCTE conference, I heard Linda Urban (and several other authors) speak with teacher, Melissa Guerrette about writing. It was fascinating!  They also talked about MILO SPECK, and an interesting collaboration that developed between Linda and Melissa’s class.Today we share Part 3 of a 3-part post about Milo and that collaboration. (Part 1 can be found HERE,… Read more »

Teacher Melissa Guerrette on Writing and Student Collaboration with Author Linda Urban: Pt. 2

This past Fall at the 2015 NCTE conference, I heard Linda Urban (and several other authors) speak with teacher, Melissa Guerrette about writing. It was fascinating!  They also talked about MILO SPECK, and an interesting collaboration that developed between Linda and Melissa’s class. I’m excited to share Part 2 of a 3-part post about Milo and that collaboration. (Part 1 can… Read more »

Why Read Aloud?

Reading aloud is one of those things that seems to fall by the wayside these days.  It’s a shame.  Kids, parents, teachers, librarians. We’re all over-scheduled, over-worked, over-tired.  And yet, for those of us who love to read and who believe in the power of story,  those 15 or 20 minutes we spend sharing a… Read more »