Against the advice of many wise people, we are getting a new puppy on Thursday. Jenny died less than two months ago and to many, this sounds too soon. Many others though, have told us that we’ll know when the time is right to bring a dog back in to our lives. Our house has […]
Read moreI have read the work put out by the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia Teacher’s College for years. I have quoted Lucy Calkins to parents and teachers. I have watched the workshop method of teaching as both a professional and as a mom. But for some reason, I have never attended a […]
Read moreYesterday was like my first day of school. I presented the first in a series of eight professional development days for a local school district on the topic of reading workshop. I was reminded of both the joy and the frustration of being with a group of teachers. I loved hearing their questions and their […]
Read moreYou know when you don’t see a person ever in your life and then you meet them and you see them every where? This is now happening to me with Read Together Books . Read Together Books are those books that the emergent reader can’t yet read independently in their entirety but that they can tackle with […]
Read more“Ms. Washington would read to us every day after lunch, and her voice was like ten different musical instruments. She could make her voice go low and deep and strong like a tuba, or hop, hop, hop quick and light like a flute. When she’d read, her voice wrapped around my head and my […]
Read moreNext week I begin a new series of professional development sessions with a local group of teachers. This group will be transitioning from a whole group basal based method of teaching to a reading and writing workshop. This is a huge change for teachers and I anticipate many questions, concerns and some hesitation among the […]
Read moreI really met Brian Seznick. And he signed my copy of Wonderstruck. And I got the typical silly smile that I get around these authors alerting me that my brain is shut off and I’m missing a great opportunity to ask all sorts of thoughtful and insightful questions. All I could muster was, “I can’t […]
Read moreI love stumbling upon wonderful books, unknown titles that completely amaze. Last week, when Caroline asked me to read and help settle her ‘first day of school butterflies’, I picked up the closest book I could find. I had grabbed No One But You off the New Books Shelf at the library drawn to […]
Read moreLately, I have had to prevent myself from saying, “Stop reading and play with your sister.” Stop reading? What!? I have been tempted because Katherine so desperately wants to play with her big sister and because the little sister feels particularly left out when Caroline is reading to herself. I always offer to […]
Read moreSomehow the girls and I just discovered the wonderful series of Dodsworth books. In these tales, Dodsworth and his companion, a clever and funny duck, travel the world from New York to London to Paris and Rome. As we finished the first book, Dodsworth in New York, I said that we would read Dodsworth in […]
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