Are you a member of the #classroombookaday Facebook group? If not, click the link and join right now. Seriously, do it. I’ll stop and wait until you’re done. Okay, now that you have access to an amazing resource that’s going to change the way you think about and share picture books with your students, check […]
July
22
From Stage to Page: How I Discovered the Healing Power of Fiction by Margot Harrison
posted by CBethM
A fourteen-year-old girl is taking a summer theater program at a local college. She dreams of seeing her name in lights. But right now, rehearsals aren’t going well, and the director is angry. He accuses the cast of not giving their all. He goes around the room and singles out one actor after another, asking […]
July
12
The Space Between: Why Humor Matters in the Dark by Dev Petty
posted by CBethM
Humor has gotten me out of some tough spots. Though I’m reluctant to ever say I’m funny (it’s not really for me to judge), humor is certainly a big way I approach the world and the people in that world. It’s sort of a passenger who helps me find the edges and articulate the shape […]
July
08
Telling Stories with Imagery and Words by Melissa Dassori
posted by CBethM
The idea for my middle grade debut emerged from a lesson in my own fourth grade class. My teacher, whom I’ll call Ms. K, had a large collection of New Yorker magazine covers that she handed out as inspiration for creative writing assignments. Each cover was its own work of art—illustrated and free of text—and […]
July
06
What Do You Know About The Black Panther Party? by Alex Harrison
posted by CBethM
As I become more intentional about reading literature centered around making education for Black students more purposeful, I have been fascinated with The Black Panther Party. Admittedly, I was only familiar with the organization based on what I had heard in the media about The Panthers being radical and wreaking havoc. Conversely, I arrived at […]
July
01
TEN SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS FOR ELEMENTARY KIDS by Dr. Emily Midkiff
posted by CBethM
There’s an old cliché that says that the age of twelve is the best time to start reading science fiction. However, science fiction is too important to wait until 7th grade! This genre can teach science-fictional ways of thinking, a mindset that helps us process new technology and think critically about science. Thanks to that […]
June
27
Why I Wrote ‘Twas The Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick
posted by CBethM
My coming out began joyfully: I fell in love my sophomore year of college, it was springtime, and everything about it was warm and beautiful and thrilling. At long last I had what many of my straight peers had already begun, in some cases for many years: a relationship! But aside from the person I […]
June
24
Our Boys Are Not Okay by Melanie Conklin
posted by CBethM
Last year, I overheard a conversation between my twelve-year-old son and his close male friends that alarmed me. They were talking about Tiktok challenges and how each of them had been pressured into doing something they knew was wrong by their peers. They liked the attention they got from doing these social media challenges, but […]
June
21
HOW TO CREATE A LIFELONG BOOK CLUB IN SEVEN EASY (WELL, NOT ALWAYS SO EASY) STEPS by Chris Rylander
posted by CBethM
As a writer, you get to be in charge. You decide a character’s name. What they look like. Are they liars? Do they swear a lot? Are they good or bad or somewhere in between? You get to decide what happens to those characters. You get to choose the words that make a story. This […]
June
18
Ten Picture Books to Enhance Writing Instruction by Shannon Eichele
posted by CBethM
There is something special about a read-aloud that captures the attention of our young learners. Taking a picture book and transforming it into an engaging lesson can make learning even more meaningful. We can introduce a new topic in science or maybe help our learners solve the mystery of dividing fractions. Picture books can also […]
Nerdy Book Club 