Save Ohio’s Libraries!

Save Ohio’s Libraries!
Governor Strickland of Ohio has recommended the elimination of $200+ million from the Public Library Fund over the next two years. This means libraries will close, librarians will be laid off, and children all over Ohio won’t be able to access books!
WHAT YOU CAN DO: You have until July 1, 2009 [...]

Books I’m Pining For

Right now, my world is centered around a tiny 6 lb monster who likes to cry and bark.  :)  I’m reading two puppy training books, Puppies For Dummies and My Smart Puppy: Fun, Effective, and Easy Puppy Training (Book & 60min DVD) without much time for anything else. But here are a few books [...]

Dublin Is Here!

Today was a very exciting and stress-filled day.  My fiance’ and I drove down to Delaware, where we met the breeder and picked up our new puppy- Dublin!

 
He is currently over-tired.  He’s in the crate, crying for his mother and sister.  It’s so sad!

How to Foster Social Reading

A few days ago Jen Robinson wrote a wonderful post at Booklights about “social reading”, after reading my post about student led book clubs in my classroom.  Jen says,
But what I’d also love to see more of is kids recommending books back and forth that aren’t necessarily huge bestsellers. A kid recommending The Magic Thief or Alabama Moon to [...]

Twenty Boy Summer Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the giveaway!  Using the Random Integer Generator, 5 comments were chosen!
The winners are….
 
Kim
Michele
Deedles
Mishia
Tasses
 
 
Enjoy your copies of Twenty Boy Summer, everyone!
 
 
 
Thanks to Big Honcho Media for supplying the copies!

Mark Overmeyer Answers Your Questions about Assessment!

Today Mark Overmeyer, author of What Student Writing Teaches Us: Formative Assessment in the Writing Workshop stops by to answer your questions!
Do you have any suggestions on how to maintain balance with conventions and other areas of writing based on assessments? I know focusing too heavily on conventions will negatively affect their other areas of [...]

“You HAVE to Read This!”

As one of the final activities on our final day of school, I had my students fill out “Recommend a Book” postcards for next year’s 6th graders.  I reminded them that on the first day of school they thought I was out of mind when I said they would read between 20-40 books over the [...]

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride is without a doubt my favorite Sarah Dessen book yet.  The main character, Auden, is one that I easily relate to.  Maybe it’s her sometimes lack of social skills or her dedication to academic achievements- either way, I felt like she was me at times.
Auden has never really seen anything wrong with [...]

Mark Overmeyer Answers Your Questions About Assessment

Right now, you can read What Student Writing Teaches Us: Formative Assessment in the Writing Workshop on the Stenhouse website for FREE! What a fantastic way to start the summer. Even better? Mark Overmeyer will be answering your questions here on June 25th! So get reading and come back to this post [...]

The Clique Summer Collection Giveaway Winner!

Without further ado…..
 
 
drumroll please……

 
The winner of the The Clique Summer Collection  is Liza Lee!  
 
Congratulations, Liza!  You win a copy of all 5 books in the series!
The Clique: Summer Collection Series-

The Clique Summer Collection: Massie
The Clique Summer Collection: Dylan
The Clique Summer Collection: Alicia
The Clique Summer Collection: Kristen
The Clique Summer Collection: Claire