Biography This book is a hit! In Michigan, we are loving baseball season, because the Tigers are on a winning streak and because we have books like this one: You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter and Andre Carrilho. This picture book biography hits it out of the park. It has a conversational writing
Charlesbridge Girls with Guts! Girls with Guts! The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records written by Debbie Gonzales and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon tells how women and girls throughout history were discouraged from playing sports, but some courageous female athletes and activists - girls with guts - fought for the passing of Title
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 Go! Go! Go! for Kende! Kende! Kende! So many kids will relate to Lolie, who from the time she was little always wanted to go! go! go! But a scary day comes when her family quickly has to go from their home because it is no longer safe. Lolie goes by wheelbarrow, by foot, by truck, and
Early Learning This November, choose WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS This November, celebrate Indigenous People’s month with this wonderful book, the Caldecott winner WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. The art is glorious and the message is important. Our Earth’s water needs protecting for the sake of all life on our
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
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.
Art Celebrate all the BEAUTIFUL HANDS! August is crazy-busy for teachers and parents of little learners, so grab this book for a quick-prep, interactive lesson: BEAUTIFUL HANDS by Kathryn Otoshi and Bret Baumgarten. The book begins with a question, “What will your beautiful hands do today?” which leads to more questions with inspiration-sparking answers: “Will they
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
Craft and Structure I Pledge Allegiance Happy August! Although summer is in full swing in Michigan, one of my local elementary schools is already back in session. Whether your school bell has tolled or you have one more glorious month to enjoy, you’ll want to have this beautiful book in your classroom: I Pledge Allegiance
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
Body Smart Here Come the Humpbacks! Happy March, everyone! This month I’m sharing a terrific informational picture book about humpback whales and a fabulous, free activity guide that will have your students up and moving as they process information. For those Nature Smart students who’re fighting the winter blahs, this kind of reading will
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
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
Art Peace It has been twelve years since the terror attacks on 9/11. Most of the students in elementary classrooms today weren’t even born yet in 2001, so how do we commemorate that day with kids? The kindest way I can think of to honor the lives that were lost
Craft and Structure Words with Wings This novel-in-verse is for the daydreamers and for the teachers who want to guide, not squash, those who have such vivid imaginations. Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes is one of those gorgeously-written books you can read aloud to your class for wonderful group discussions and then watch them eagerly
Early Learning Remember: The Journey to School Integration Yesterday was the 5oth anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream”. School starts for most Michigan students next Tuesday, and I wonder how many of those students realize that there was a time when many school doors were closed
