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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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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What Happened to My Reader? by Sarah FitzHenry and Jared Passmore

January 13

“What happened to my reader? Last year, he was in the library every week picking out books. I had to take his book away at meals. Now, I can’t get him to read anything. It’s like he has no interest in it.” This mystery baffles parents, librarians, and teachers alike. As students pass through middle […]

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The Great Graphic Novel Experiment by Sarah FitzHenry

July 28

I hear it often: “Kids won’t read real books anymore.” Two or three times a week, a parent— such a powerful voice in the reading life of a child— will come to my school library and roll their eyes while they ask me how to get their child to “put down the comics.” Often, the […]

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The After: Educating in Charlottesville by Sarah FitzHenry

October 29

First, there was a before. Sunshine, music, blissful ignorance. And then, they marched. Screaming, burning, ravaging, leaving blood and hysteria in their wake. And when they were finished, they left. The news cameras hovered for another week or two, littering our parks, rubbing their salt. And then, they left too. The buzz faded, the world […]

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The Power of Poetry by Sarah FitzHenry

July 17

In my career, I’ve come to realize that the rumors about print and reading going out of style are just that – rumors. If you are lucky enough to work with children and books, you know that young people’s passion for stories is as strong as ever. But even I wasn’t completely confident about the […]

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A New Kind of Book Club by Sarah FitzHenry

December 15

Book clubs. As educators, we love them – but for student participants, they can be intimidating. Some students aren’t strong readers; others don’t like talking in front of groups; some readers, like me, can struggle to put their feelings about a text into words. As a child I loved to read. But during book discussions, […]

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