Common Core State Standards The Big Book of Barf Your kids will gobble up this non-fiction book by Vicky Lorencen! The Big Book of Barf: A Spewnami of Sick Science, Hurled History, and Body Oddities is chock-full of gross facts that kids can't get enough of. Made easily digestible in its nonlinear format, kids can flip through
Craft and Structure When the Rain Came Down I’ve been a fan of author/illustrator Leslie Helakoski for a long time. She’s incredibly creative, kind, talented, and she’s been a generous mentor for many years. I asked her about one of her newest picture books, WHEN THE RAIN CAME DOWN, illustrated by Keisha Morris, and
Biography I Am Odd, I Am New “I Am Odd, I Am New” written by Benjamin Giroux and illustrated by Roz MacLean. When Benjamin was ten years old, he wrote a poem about what it’s like for him to live with autism and be surrounded by kids who don’t always understand. This book is his
Craft and Structure April: Poetry, Earth Day, and April Pulley Sayre I had the pleasure of speaking at an early education conference where our theme was literacy and science. I brought stacks of books that tie into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or STEAM (add Art) to share. Rather than just lecture all day, I led a session of “speed-dating” books:
Art Loving Kindness For Us All Loving Kindness written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Tim Hopgood is the perfect book for December. No matter what the faith of your students, this book shares a message we all need to hear. “You are beautiful just as you are. You are loved, and you love.” We see
Biography Try Food as a Way Into Reading Learning is best done through experience, and food is definitely a way into learning for many of us. To tie reading in with some cool hands-on (and mouths-on) experiences, grab this biography, Try It! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat written by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Giselle
Early Learning "We Shall Overcome" Music can reach us in a way that nothing else can. During February – and every month – We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a cross-curricular book you can use to teach American history and social justice. The song, “We
Craft and Structure It's important: "Let's Talk About Race" Talking about race is hard for me, but that doesn’t let me off the hook. Racism isn’t either/or, as in I don’t shout hateful slurs therefore I’m not racist. I’m racist because I’d rather hide any prejudice I have from growing up as
Craft and Structure How-To Poems and My Love of Hedgehogs How-to poems are an easy introduction to poetry, to nonfiction, and to writing what you know. This book of poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Richard Jones has such a wide range of topics that all your students will find at least one poem that they love.
Early Learning WHAT THE FUN?! in July and All Year 'Round Sing it with me! “What the world Needs now Is Fun! WHAT THE FUN?!” I picked something fun for July’s professional development book: WHAT THE FUN?! 427 Simple Ways to Have Fantastic Family Fun by Donna Bozzo. As you can see from my pink sticky tabs, I found lots
Michigan Author Why I've Been Quiet for Six Months MYSTERY OF LONG SILENCE EXPLAINED! December, 2015: My first two books, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA and DRAW WITH A VENGEANCE (under the pen name, Helen Wrath), were published. January, 2016: I had a stroke. I was in Boston at the American Library Association conference, attending for the first time not only
Art "One Family" is one you need for Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but it’s a challenge to find Thanksgiving picture books that connect with kids (I find many “pilgrim and Indian” books that are cringeworthy with stereotypes). This year, I’m focusing on the “thanks” in Thanksgiving and sharing One Family by George Shannon with pictures
Early Learning September Bonus List of Books and Activities! Because I gave a presentation to awesome librarians this month and I couldn’t resist sharing all the great ideas we came up with, you get a bonus post this month! And because you’re getting a bonus post, I hope you’ll allow me to indulge in a bit
Counting Book 27 Books You Can Use This Year During the “Moving Beyond the Basics… Reaching for More” conference on Aug. 11 at the Byron Center High School in Michigan, a roomful of teachers and I read through boxes of books. (Thank you, Annemarie Johnson and Kate DiMeo, for inviting me to share informational picture books and to talk
Art The Poetry of Firebird Because poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, because poetry can tell a story, because the best poetry lights sparks of hope inside of us – this is my choice for April’s Month of Poetry. Firebird is written by Misty Copeland and illustrated by Christopher Myers. A little girl sees ballet
Art You Are Stardust Happy July! This is the month for fireworks and stargazing and wonder, which makes it the perfect month for You Are Stardust written by Elin Kelsey with artwork by Soyeon Kim. It begins like this: “You are stardust. Every tiny atom in your body came from a star that exploded
Early Learning Dig in to fun summer books! These books are so much fun I couldn’t choose just one! Now that summer is here, I’m looking for books that encourage outdoor play. Here are two books that will have kids scurrying to the sandbox: Digger, Dozer, Dumper written by Hope Vestergaard and illustrated by David Slonim
Art "Rah, Rah, Radishes" and Go, STEM! Happy May, everyone! I had the pleasure of speaking at an early education conference where our theme was literacy and science. I brought stacks of books that tie into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or STEAM (add Art) to share. Rather than just lecture all day, I led a session
Craft and Structure A Warm Winter Tail Here’s what you need this chilly January: A Warm Winter Tail by Carrie A. Pearson and illustrated by Christina Wald! This nonfiction picture book about animal adaptations in winter is perfect for a Range of Reading lesson (Core Standard #1 – check!). Carrie Pearson, a Michigander who knows all about
Art You Can't Ride a Bicycle to the Moon! Happy 2014! My goal this year is to share more nonfiction titles with you, so your Common Core Reading Standards Bingo Board will always have Range of Reading covered! I’m enjoying the new “You Can’t” series from Blue Apple books, especially You Can’t Ride a Bicycle to
Michigan Author How to be a better writing teacher The path to publication is packed with peaks and pitfalls (and apparently a plethora of P’s). It takes patience to pursue this path, and the revision process can be particularly painful (as can alliteration, so I’m stopping now). The way my editor guided me through this process taught
Michigan Author My Journey Romelle Broas is a writer who is all about the journey. She was kind enough to ask me about my long, winding road to publishing my first picture book, and you can check out the details here: http://www.romellebroas.blogspot.com/2013/11/debut-author-interview-kristen-remenar.html I’m in Kalamazoo
Art Knock, Knock! Trent, one of my preschool pals, couldn’t stop giggling as he told me this gem, “So, a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘Hey, why the long face?'” Kids love good jokes – and they don’t seem to mind the bad jokes, either! Joke books
Art You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear When it comes to Common Core State Standards, the one that I think is the most fun is Range of Reading. (I know, I know, all the CCSS are fun, but this one is the most fun!) Range of Reading: Informational Text means we want kids to “read and comprehend
Early Learning Wake Up, World! “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” – Maya Angelou Books that celebrate diversity are perfect at the beginning of a new school year. We want our
