Andrea Knight

Teacher · Learner · Author

3 Children’s Books That Inspire a Wonder for Words

When Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek referred to teachers as scholastic skippers, I was reminded of how much I have a wonder for words and how important it is to make sure we're helping our students develop deeper vocabularies. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but these are some of my favorite picture books for getting young kids curious about noticing and collecting new words. … [Read more...]

Letting Off a Little Self Esteem: 3 Questions for Kids

I'm going old school with this book, but self esteem never really gets old and we can't afford to let kids go through life not knowing how truly wonderful they are. I think I bought this book about three schools ago, but the message in it rings true as much now as it did back then. As we're planning lessons to help children develop a growth mindset, embrace their unique gifts, and protect their … [Read more...]

Teaching Point of View to Build Strong Communities

Teaching point of view to children is not only a standard, but a really important life skill. This is one of my favorite picture books for introducing the concept, but gracious ... right now it sort of reminds me of my news feed: "Duck!" "Rabbit!" "No, it's a duck!" "No! It's a rabbit!" 🦆! 🐇! 🦆! 🐇! 🦆! 🐇! Insert different words and it sounds like a political conversation. But … [Read more...]

Big Ideas from The Other Side

I read The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson at the start of each school year. It's perfect for introducing sophisticated topics to young children, such as exclusion and racial tension. The story deals with big ideas in kid-friendly ways, helping us have conversations about kindness in an effort to build healthy relationships and communities. The author explains how she hopes the story of Clover … [Read more...]

Makerspace Literature: Boxitects

Architect: One who designs buildings. Boxitect: One who makes things out of boxes. Obviously. If you've been collecting makerspace literature, add this new one by Kim Smith to your list. It's a fun story about Meg, a boxitect, who has a serious passion for constructing things out of old boxes. Meg loves school, and the thing Meg loves most about school is that she's the only boxitect … [Read more...]