August 18, 2023 · back to school
All photo credits from Goodreads.com It always feels like I (Nina) blinked and back to school is upon us again all of a sudden, but this summer time passed even faster than usual. I don't know how we are here already - it still feels like it should be July to me! And so many of my teacher/school friends are already back at work somehow. If you already started school or went back to work, hope you are having a smooth as possible start to the school year. This will be my second fall in a row out of the classroom, and while I have some adventures coming up that I’m excited about (more about that in a future post) and love the extra time with my little ones, it is always bittersweet as Teacher New Year is so exciting, nerve-wracking, and just so many emotions as once. I may not be planning back to school read alouds for my own classroom, but I’m still excited about lots of new books! Here
back to schoolbeginning of the school yearread aloudbook recommendations
May 11, 2023 · curriculum
May is Haitian Heritage Month ! There are many ways to celebrate Haitian Heritage Month , but why not start with asking students what they know about Haiti, finding Haiti on a map, and learning more about Haiti ? After Gabby and I took a social justice educators’ tour to the Dominican Republic , we shared some of our experiences with our students and they were fascinated by the fact that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, but are two completely separate countries that speak different languages. This led to a great discussion about why certain languages are spoken where and how borders are created and are a social construct. Our trip encouraged me to learn more about Haiti as what little I knew came from books (I definitely recommend American Street by Ibi Zoboi ) and a few friends of Haitian origin. I was embarrassed that I knew almost no Haitian history and had no idea
HaitiHaitian Heritage Monthgeohistoryslavery
February 10, 2023 · curriculum
Valentine’s Day is next week and while it always feels a little commercial and sometimes a bit exhausting for me (so much red, pink, and glitter everywhere!), it is a fun moment to get us through gray February. Also, it’s an excuse to celebrate kindness, caring for others, your classroom community, and eat chocolate! Every year, my students would bring me dark chocolate as they know from my shares that is what I prefer, and it was always a sweet moment of being truly seen and appreciated. We wrote about Valentine's Day last year, specifically talking about our investigation of the holiday and what our students came up with as well as a few read alouds. One new read aloud that I am very excited about is Your One and Only Heart by Rajani LaRocca, Illustrated by Lauren Paige Conrad (cover photo; from this list ) - always love anything by Dr. Rajani LaRocca and it’s a great STEM connection.
Valentine's Dayvalentineread aloudpostcardsforCharlottesvilleholidays
January 13, 2023 · current events
When Barbara Walters died at the end of December, I saw a tweet noting that she and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were born the same year (1929) and that is how much (potential) life was stolen from him. It was a stark reminder for me. This year marks 55 years since Dr. King was assassinated. How to best address Martin Luther King Day in the classroom is a constant question for us. We’ve written about it before and always wonder what the best approach is. Doing or saying nothing doesn’t feel right, but neither does a quick one day activity. You can read about our approach last year here: MLK Day 2022: Reminders & Ideas and our approach with 5th graders here: Observing MLK Day in the Classroom . Teaching the History of Voting Rights in the USA is also always a timely reminder and important lesson. There are so many book lists out there already, so we will just share a few books for read
MLKMartin Luther Kingholidaysservice learningread aloud
December 14, 2022 · curriculum
We are so close to having a break! Also, I always find that once we make it to winter break, the rest of the school year flies by somehow. This first chunk of the year is often the hardest in so many ways. Once the routines are established and community is built, the rest of the school year can feel more manageable. But every year and every class is different. The lead up to winter break can be so exciting and often coincides with snow days, winter concert or assembly practices, lots of illnesses/sharing germs, and other disruptions, so your students will definitely react to everything that is going on. Keep in mind that some kids do not like breaks as they miss school and really thrive on routine, or might not have secure access to food at home or a stable environment for so many reasons. I always openly acknowledge to my students that I have mixed feelings about whatever my plans will
winterbreakDecemberHuman Rights Dayholidays
April 17, 2022 · holiday
April is flying by, which means it is almost Earth Day! I’m a proponent of including conservation and environmental responsibility in our learning as naturally as possible (shout out to the Science teachers at my school who do some amazing work with students covering water testing, erosion, soil analysis, invasive plants, and more). However, it’s always worth acknowledging Earth Day and joining in the celebration. We wrote a post last year with some Earth Day picture book favorites, and here are a few more options for this year. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: I’ve had this book since I was a child and now have a t-shirt to match! It’s worth a read for the gorgeous illustrations alone and is also a great goal setting/resolutions read too. However, make sure you address the “Indians” her grandfather was carving to put in front of cigar shops. It’s a stereotypical image of American
Earth Daynatureearthscienceread aloud
April 10, 2022 · national month
Happy April or National Poetry Month! Poetry is something to infuse into your classroom (and life) everyday, but if you don’t have time to teach a standalone poetry unit, you can use it as a morning greeting, introduction to a topic or subject, or a way to share information. There are so many different types of poems. We don’t have a poetry unit as part of our 3rd grade curriculum, but we make sure to have plenty of poetry books in our classroom. I’ve learned that students who read one novel in verse often want to try others, so I always include them on my “teacher recommendations” shelf. Novels in verse also make wonderful read alouds, too. They sound beautiful when read aloud and are relatively quick reads. Here are some ideas for teaching poetry that we shared in 2019 . Many of these could be standalone lessons or part of a larger poetry unit. In the past, Gabby read This is a Poem
poetryNational Poetry Monthpicture booksmiddle gradenovels in verse
January 18, 2022 · curriculum
Photo credit: https://www.childrensbookworld.com/book/9781629799391 Another 3rd grade teacher I know had a colleague forward her a link to an Art of Teaching post I wrote 4 years ago (a slightly modified version of this post on our blog ) about teaching MLK day! It was a nice surprise and funny coincidence, as well as a welcome reminder to use primary sources with my 3rd graders. This year, however, we went with a different approach as my co-teacher (who is new to me this school year!) had the brilliant idea of widening our focus to Dr. King’s legacy and movement and thinking about the people who came before and after him. I also always remind educators to tie Dr. King’s work back to today and future work. This is not a one lesson or one day reminder, it is something you should think about all year. Two obvious examples of this work continuing are Black Lives Matter at School Week and
MLKcivil rightsread aloudpicture bookspast posts
November 17, 2021 · curriculum
Resources & Great Place to Start American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) Teaching for Change 2021 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In (especially the section about Native Voices in Children’s Literature by Dr. Debbie Reese, the creator of AICL) Native American Heritage Month Resources For Teachers Our ideas for addressing Thanksgiving in 3rd grade this year (on top of expressing gratitude to all the people who take care of us at school): The word Indigenous - explained l CBC Kids News Newsela article: A Native American poet reimagines Thanksgiving and the poem referenced in the article: America, I Sing You Back by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke Read aloud: We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell We also just bought two new books that we are VERY excited about: Classified, The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell JoJo Makoons by
thanksthanksgivingNative American studiesNative American Heritage Monthread aloud
August 9, 2021 · book review
Cover image from Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena, published earlier this year. While “teacher new year,” as I call the beginning of the school year, is normally my favorite time of year, I am having a hard time with the uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the school year and am still processing everything that happened last year. I’m sure many others are feeling the same way (including lots of our students!). However, it is August already, so back to school is around the corner. So I am thinking about books I want to read to my students at the beginning of the year or have read in years past as sharing books with kids is always something I enjoy, whether it’s done at a distance, virtually, or side by side! These are books that came to mind or that I’ve used in the past, but obviously the possibilities are endless. Hopefully this list will help you with some back to
booksread aloudback to school
February 21, 2019 · curriculum
Happy snow day all! Not teaching today means I have time to reflect on and write about some activities we tried out this month related to the Black Lives Matter At School Week of Action (which we also participated in last year ), and Black History Month. While it happens that our biographical essays unit (which ties in with our non-fiction reading unit) falls during this month, we of course try to teach with an anti-bias framework every day (and all day!). Our curriculum, language, literature, and so much more should reflect the diversity of our world (as we the teachers do!) and we work hard to make this a reality everyday. So we are very purposeful about what we teach during Black History Month/Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action in hopes of avoiding the pitfall of teaching Black history only one month out of the year. This month, we used a number of wonderful read alouds to
Black History MonthBlack Lives Mattercurriculumread aloudNews
January 14, 2019 · curriculum
From A Fire In My Hands, by Gary Soto Happy Snow Day to any other teachers who are at home like me today! Since I actually had time to read books that were not for school today, I was reminded of a poetry unit we taught with our fifth graders. There were so many great sessions, examples, ideas, and books for teaching poetry at NCTE (which I attended in November) that it made me miss teaching a full poetry unit! For those of you who have a poetry unit or are just looking for new ways to teach, introduce, or incorporate poetry, here are some of my favorite lesson ideas: Start by asking students what is poetry? How can you tell if something is a poem? What makes something a poem? We asked our students to think about these questions and then looked at a lot of different poems together. This is a great way of dispelling misconception (poems must rhyme, anything can be a poem, etc). Our
poetryliteracymentoread aloudNCTE
September 5, 2018 · Uncategorized
Hi everyone-- Gabby here writing to you from Oregon! While one of us gearing up for another great year leading the classroom, the other one of us is actually getting ready to be a student again... (cue the student-esque excitement annnd cue the whining about homework... well, hopefully I’ve outgrown that!). When I wasn’t packing or convincing cats that it’s fun to fly on planes to their new home, I have been doing my best read some soon to be released middle grade and YA lit. I have been loving the ARC (advanced reader copy) life. Here are a few of the recently released or soon to be released (!!) notable reads from the summer. Hopefully, you haven’t spent your whole classroom budget (like we did last year!) and you’ve got room to add a few of these to your shiny classroom library to kick off the year right! Picture books- This cover is so fabulous we won't even try to make it smaller!
literacybook reviewbooksread aloudnew books
June 11, 2018 · Uncategorized
We feel so hip, so cutting edge! It is no surprise to any of you who follow us here (or on Twitter) how much we love literature. We have seen on a daily basis how transformative it can be for us personally, but also for our students. As a result, we are now reading ARC's ( Advanced Reader's Copies) to continue our ongoing quest of excellent, thoughtful, diverse literature. If you are someone who is looking for a reader (or two! ) feel free to reach out to us! We have loved reading the ones we have received so far. We especially loved How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs. The very first piece (Light Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands) in her short story collection blew our minds from the get go with its nuance, humanity, and the way it got at the depths of the many layers in our identities. Beautifully done-- we hope you can snag a copy this summer (It is officially out July 24th,
literacyread aloudsummer readingdiverse voicesdiscussion
June 6, 2018 · curriculum
Student book review for Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper after our book clubs wrapped up. It’s so close to the end of the year (and summer!) that we have started getting questions about summer work and summer reading. We absolutely want to encourage students to read over the summer in order to maintain their good reading habits (which are important life skills) and avoid the dreaded summer slide . In our class (and at our school), we’ve found our students tend to have consistent access to books and reading options all summer, so for the population we work with, the most important way to encourage summer reading is to promote reading all year long! All year, we have read alouds in our 3rd grade class . While we know this takes up a lot of instructional time, we have found that reading chapter books out loud to our 3rd graders has improved their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and
book reviewbookssummer readingcurriculumread aloud
March 21, 2018 · curriculum
It's Womyn's Herstory Month ! Every day is women's day etc etc.. and yet, we are also loved celebrating women and putting women (besides ourselves!) even more at the forefront this month. Full disclosure we are both huge book people so the list of books could go on for a while. Below are a few fantastic anthologies that we turn to often in our classroom and have used for many different projects throughout the year. We put these in the front of our room and hype them up extra for this month (along with books from March Book Madness especially Ada Twist, Scientist, The Most Magnificent Thing, I Dissent, The Water Princess , and Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist ). Through these read alouds (which the student's have been loving and asking for more of!), we've enjoyed the way we can tie this into conversations about maps in Social
Women's History Monthgenderwomensocial justice educationSocial Studies
November 6, 2017 · book review
A photo from our end of our read aloud celebration. Our first chapter book read aloud this year was Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks. It’s an amazing book for so many reasons, and was the perfect first read aloud for our class. While we felt it allowed for natural segues into many of the beginning of the school year discussions and activities, it’s a perfect book for anytime of the year. There are two narrators which leads to two vastly different perspectives (often on the same event). Our students reflected often on how two people can experience the same events very differently. This helped them brainstorm ways to be understanding and empathic. One of our students referenced part of the book as an explanation of how misunderstandings happen and why assumptions are dangerous. One of the main characters, Ravi, is a new student (and recent immigrant). His experiences
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July 20, 2017 · book review
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is our read aloud for the last few months of the school year. Aside from being an incredibly captivating story with beautiful writing, it also fits perfectly with our curriculum as we are studying storytelling (and Sal, the main character, is telling a story) and American Indian studies (Sal has Indigenous ancestors and visits sacred Native sites). We also study Health & Wellness so the budding young romance is perfect for our class to experience as well. There are also many other relevant and significant issues skillfully woven into this story (mental illness and the related stigma, family dynamics, and gender equality, to name a few). We have a bin full of books by Sharon Creech that we only bring out of the closet (with a lot of fanfare) when we start reading Walk Two Moons . Soon, the books are fought over (especially Absolutely Normal Chaos as it
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January 30, 2017 · curriculum
Protesters at Dulles Airport on Saturday night. We were demanding entrance to the United States for people affected by the ban. Coming off a weekend of protesting, I find myself thinking hard about what to say to my students tomorrow when they ask me about the news. We saw some of our students at the rally at the White House today. They will want to share observations from their experience tomorrow. Students will also have questions about checks and balances since we recently concluded a unit on US Government. They will have overheard conversations between adults and understood only snippets of what was going on in the media. Where do we start? Our planned read aloud for tomorrow! Start with a read aloud. Ask students what connections they can make to the story. Can they make text to self connections? Model by thinking of a time you yourself were homesick or scared or missed someone.
protestresistcurrent eventsread aloudSocial Studies