I am honored! NCTE’s Voices from the Middle focuses on YA Literature this month and I have been perusing it bit by bit over the last few weeks. Thanks to Mrs. V. for pointing out that I am actually mentioned in one of the articles! I am honestly gobsmacked! The article, Technology Toolkit: Making the Shift: [...]
Filed under: 21st Century Literacies, NCTE | Tagged: great teacher blogs, NCTE, teacher blogs, voices from the middle, ya lit 1.5 | 3 Comments »
I have been a terrible blogger lately, and I apologize. The end of the year is kicking my butt with grades, sending out applications, doing placement for next year, and all of the various odds-and-ends that take over for the last few weeks. I promise I will be back to normal soon! However, this week [...]
Filed under: BEA | 3 Comments »
On Wednesday I will be heading into the city for BEA. This will be my second year at the convention and I am looking forward to actually meeting some people this year. (Are you going to be at BEA? Leave a comment with your email address if you want to meet up and say hi!) [...]
Filed under: books, children's literature | Tagged: BEA, book expo america | 1 Comment »
This past week I began our final read aloud of the year. It’s always a bittersweet experience- my students have come so far but we will be saying goodbye soon. I spent a few weeks debating which book I would share, but ultimately decided on Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1). [...]
Filed under: read alouds, reluctant readers | Tagged: end of the year activities | 3 Comments »
One of my favorite weekends of the week is creeping closer and closer- the Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. The rules are the same. :) The weekend is June 4–6, 2010. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fourth and end [...]
Filed under: 48 hour book challenge | 1 Comment »
Any teacher worth their salt knows how important classroom libraries are. Even if we didn’t see the evidence in our classrooms everyday, there is plenty of research proving their importance. But how does a teacher keep their library packed, updated, and enticing? Students need access to books. The more students you teach, the more [...]
Filed under: classroom library | Tagged: building classroom library, classroom library | 4 Comments »
The following press release just came out. I have to say that my students are going to be thrilled with all of the winners! Rachel Renée Russell’s Dork Diaries is a huge favorite in my room and I am so happy to see it getting some well-deserved notice. The Children’s Choice Book Award winners are [...]
Filed under: awards | Tagged: children's choice book awards | Leave a Comment »
Just a few links to some monarch butterfly news. The migration is reaching farther north each week, and I am hoping to see my first monarch sometime soon! The latest Journey North update has maps of the monarch sightings and milkweed growth over the past week. You can sign up to get the weekly updates [...]
Filed under: monarch butterflies, monarchs, poetry | Tagged: EIRC, monrch teacher network, Voices from the Land | Leave a Comment »
I got my approval today to attend BEA on Wednesday! I know there is a Kidlit drink night that night, and I plan to stop by, but who else will be around during the day? What is a “can’t miss”? I haven’t even looked at the schedule yet…..
Filed under: miscellaneous | Tagged: BEA, book expo america | 3 Comments »
Today my students finished the NJASK standardized test for 6th grade. Well, they didn’t really finish- math is tomorrow and Thursday. But the language arts section is done now! This afternoon I took an informal, conversational survey of my students. They were all really happy because they felt that the test was “So easy! Much [...]
Filed under: reading workshop, writer's workshop | 9 Comments »
