SCBWI’s Third Annual Literacy Initiative Gives Books, Builds Dreams, and Offers Hope to Readers In Need

October 04

Children’s Book Creators Join Forces to Provide High Quality Books Plus a Literary Celebration for the MADISON READING PROJECT    The members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators join forces once again as part of the organization’s 3rd Annual SCBWI Books For Readers book drive and literacy event to collect, curate, and […]

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Creating and Maintaining a Classroom Library by Savannah Campbell

September 21

I’ll never forget Carson.  Carson was in a library organized according to AR level.  As the time for checkout dwindled down, he starting sobbing.  There was a book he wanted to read, but it wasn’t his “color dot.”  He felt he was unable to check out the Spiderwick Chronicles because it was different from the […]

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Creating a Reading Culture in the Classroom by Ann Hagedorn

August 10

When students walk into my classroom, I want them to see that I value reading and books and that my goal is for them to do the same. There is a sign that hangs in the front of my class that states, We read every day. I have a large classroom library that spans the […]

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Ideas for Teaching Writing A Book Review by Carrie Rodusky

August 09

“Since we don’t know who young writers are going to become, when they are writing we should let them be whoever they are.” John Warner This quote may be finding its way into my upper elementary classroom this year; not only as a message for the students but also as a reminder to me, their […]

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Reading is a Forever Thing by Brooks Spencer

August 03

As part of a High School English conversation, a couple of teachers were overhead saying “My students won’t read outside the classroom, so there is no need to assign independent reading. It’s a waste of time.” They felt their classroom novels were enough. I don’t understand how you teach English without expecting students to read […]

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Graphic Novel Geeks Only: Create Your Own After-School Club by Sarah FitzHenry and Megan Grant

July 27

If you’re a reading teacher, librarian, or parent, then you probably already know: graphic novels are all the rage. They’re fun to read, they’re deep and evocative, and they engage all kinds of readers at first glance. If you’re not convinced yet that graphic novels are real and worthwhile texts to bring into your classroom, […]

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You Get a Book and You Get a Book and You Get a Book! by Liz Garden

July 20

There is a small part of me that always wanted to be Oprah or Ellen.  It’s not because these ladies are so famous that we only need to use their first names to identify them.  And it’s not because they probably don’t have to worry about choosing which bills to pay each month and which […]

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20,000 Pennies: How a Book Club Transformed our School Community by Sarah FitzHenry

June 24

I stood in the middle of the room and listened to the sound of more than 20,000 pennies clinking and jingling around me. To my left, a fourth grade student helped her first grade buddy to count the nickels held in her sweaty palm (they had to start over after losing count at 12). To […]

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Claire’s Day: Celebrating Young Readers by Julie K. Rubini

June 22

“Thank you for all you do,” the father said, with tears in his eyes. “You don’t understand what this award means to my daughter. She’s had it on her calendar for a month, crossing off the days counting down to Claire’s Day.” Nearly nineteen years ago, my ten-year-old daughter, Claire, gave me “just one more […]

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Dog Man to The Rescue: How Book Access Saved My Third Grade Student by Renee Bowman

June 15

Teachers, you already know the student I am about to describe. The one who arrives halfway through the year from out of state, with a mother unsure of which grade her son was in just last week. The 9 year-old who carries a chip on his shoulder as if he were 29. The third grader […]

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