Vocabulary

A collection of 40 posts

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:

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

Art

Go, Shapes, Go!

One of my favorite ways to hook readers during March is Reading Month is to do an author study, and one of my all-time favorite author/illustrators for the elementary crowd is Denise Fleming. I’ve had a book crush on Fleming since 1991 when I first read In the

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

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

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

Art

Rosie Revere, Engineer

I have the best of reasons for posting late this week: I’ve been on Mackinac Island at the Michigan Reading Association conference, being inspired by dedicated educators and loving the slower pace of an island with no automobiles. Now I’m sitting in a white wicker rocking chair with

Craft and Structure

All the Water in the World

Summer in Michigan means swimming in lakes, running through sprinklers, diving into pools. It’s a good time of year to share  All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson. Science, poetry, and art swirl together in this gorgeous picture book. “That rain that cascaded

Body Smart

Body Actions

There seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of days left in a school year and the amount of time students are able to sit still and focus.  Now is the time to grab interesting, interactive, move-your-body books like Body Actions by Shelley Rotner and David A. White.

Art

Iggy Peck, Architect

Long have I loved Andrea Beaty’s picture book series about a bear named Ted (grab Doctor Ted, Firefighter Ted, and Artist Ted from your local library and prepare to be charmed.) Then, I saw sitting on the shelf by the Ted books this gem, just waiting to tie in

Craft and Structure

The Pet Project

As soon as I picked up this new poetry book, The Pet Project, I thought of the animal reports many of my students are doing and I knew I must get this book into the hands of those kids and their teachers! The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses

Craft and Structure

Dear Hot Dog

When writing poetry with kids, one of the biggest complaints I hear is “I don’t know what to write about.” I can’t blame them. There are plenty of times when I look at a blank sheet of paper and I don’t know what to write about, either.

Art

A Ball for Daisy and the Power of Wordless Books

I am super-geeked that I am a guest blogger for Nerdy Book Club. Nerdy Book Club is a great resource, especially for those readers who are hard to match with just the right book. I like their Top Ten lists, like Top Ten Middle Grade Novels featuring Homeschoolers  and Top

Art

Drummer Boy of John John

Maybe it’s the vibrant art or maybe it’s the tropical setting of Trinidad, but on this snowy March day, I am in love with Drummer Boy of John John by Mark Greenwood with illustrations by Frane Lessac. Knowing that it’s a biography (so it hits the Common

Craft and Structure

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate

If you’re craving engaging nonfiction to share with early elementary students, I have a book that will satisfy the pickiest readers: From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate by Robin Nelson. It is arguably the yummiest title in the “Start to Finish” series by Lerner (although From Milk to Ice Cream

Body Smart

Go, Go, Grapes!

Hip, hip, hooray for April Pulley Sayre and Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant! How do you make healthy eating fun? With Sayre’s vibrant photos of fruits taken at her local farmer’s market paired with her contagious rhymes: “Nectarines, tangerines, hit the spot. Glum? Go plum. Or apricot!

Art

Planting the Wild Garden

Everywhere in my yard, plants are growing, many of which I didn’t plant (some call them weeds, I call them uninvited green guests.) How do all those plants in the meadows, by the creek beds, in fields, and by the sides of roads get there? In Planting the Wild

Art

Why Wordless Books Work: The Lion and the Mouse

If we’re trying to help our kids learn to read, why read wordless picture books? Isn’t reading all about letters and words? Yes and no. Reading is: to inspect and apprehend the meaning of writing or other signs or characters. (Thanks, dictionary.com based on the Random House

Art

Go Graphic with Binky the Space Cat!

Summertime for kids means no alarm clocks, no spelling tests, no book reports. Summertime shouldn’t mean “no reading” – we just have to find ways to make reading part of the fun. Graphic novels like Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires are perfect for summer reading. Some kids (and

Biography

Dream Something Big

Dream Something Big: the Story of the Watts Towers, written by Dianna Hutts Aston with collages by Susan L. Roth, is a visually stunning biography of an artist you may never have heard of before. Simon Rodia was simply Uncle Sam to his neighbors in Los Angeles. Over 34 years,