Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is the kind of book you can’t put down until it’s over. It’s the kind of book that you want all your friends to read so you can talk about it. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why you always have a book on your bed […]
Read moreDaisy Daisy wants to learn to read. Perhaps if she lies atop my book bag long enough she’ll do it. Or maybe she wants to be a runner? Or for now, maybe just a snuggler!
Read moreYou know how when you meet someone for the first time and then you keep seeing them everywhere you go? So, you’ve seen them before but you haven’t noticed them because you didn’t know them? I have been thinking a lot about book choice lately both as it relates to my girls and the role […]
Read moreour new dog, Daisy!
Read moreAs Katherine ate her after-school snack yesterday, she started to cry. I could barely make the words out through the sobs but I could tell that she was the last one in her class to finish a test and that she felt really badly about it. I do believe in an academic kindergarten but… I […]
Read moreI’m thrilled to announce that it’s time for the Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literacy Awards) to begin! And I’m even more thrilled to announce that I was chosen to serve as a second round judge for the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book category! Much more to come but for now please head over to Easy […]
Read moreAs often happens these days, my personal and professional lives are focused on the same topic. At the moment, that topic is the reader’s right to choose their own books. When I began working with a new group of teacher’s last week, they were overwhelmed by the thought that their students would be choosing […]
Read moreAgainst 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 […]
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