Hello! 5th grade teacher Colby Sharp here. As the days that I have left with my fifth graders shrink, I have been faced with the task of picking our last read aloud of the school year. I thought it would be fun to hop on a call with my dear friend Donalyn Miller to talk […]
Author Archives: Colby Sharp
April
19
A Conversation About Community | Ask Nerdy
posted by Colby Sharp
In the latest episode of the Ask Nerdy Podcast, Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp start a conversation about reading communities. They share their memories from early reading communities that they were a part of before the conversation moves to the importance of reading communities, and their experiences with reading communities in their classrooms. You can […]
March
09
The Books My Fifth Graders are Reading as we Beg for Spring by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
Hey, Nerdy friends! It has been a minute since I checked in the on the blog to share the books my fifth graders are reading. We’ve had a bit of an interesting last few weeks here in Michigan. We had a very late arriving winter, and now that it is here, it doesn’t seem to […]
January
30
Congratulations to the ALA Youth Media Awards Winners
posted by Colby Sharp
The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards just might be the most exciting day in children’s literature. You can find a list of the winners here. We’d love to know in the comments which books you are adding to your to-read list. After the awards were announced Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp recorded a conversation […]
January
09
What 2023 books are you most excited to read? by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
I had a blast adding books to my to-read list from December 26-January 3 during the Nerdy Book Club awards season. If you haven’t checked out the list, be sure to go back and check out those posts here on the Nerdy blog. I still have a stack of 2022 books that I need to […]
January
01
THE 2022 NERDIES: Middle Grade Fiction Announced by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
The first thing I do each year when Donalyn Miller sends me the list of Middle Grade Fiction winners is count how many I have read. I have currently read 16 out of the 22 winners. The second thing I do, is add the rest to my to-read list. The first book I plan on […]
November
22
Thanksgiving Break Reading Plans by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
Reading during breaks from school brings me tremendous joy. I never seem to have enough time during the school week to read as much as I would like, so getting a chance to recharge my reading life during school breaks is often just what the reading doctor ordered. The last thing we did in my […]
October
27
Books My Fifth Graders are Reading A Quarter of the Way Through the School Year by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
Every couple of weeks, when my fifth graders head to lunch, I walk around the classroom and make a video about the books that they are reading. I am hopeful that these videos help other educators find great books to add to their school and classroom library, but that isn’t the main reason that I […]
October
16
Working on the Nonfiction Sections in my Classroom Library by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
In writing The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library with Donalyn Miller, we wanted to make it very clear that we didn’t have all of the answers when it comes to classroom libraries, and the work of a classroom library is never complete. As we read more children’s books, get to know more readers, and […]
September
01
What are your kids reading? by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
Today is my seventh day of the school year. It is hard to believe that a couple of weeks ago I hadn’t met my students, and now I know so much about them. I’m feeling pretty confident that we are going to have an awesome year together. Every week or two, when the kids head […]
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