I love Women's History Month. It's a time of year when we collectively seek out stories of determined, courageous women ... women who looked obstacles right in the face and said, "Pardon me while I go around you." It's so common for curriculum calendars to suggest, or mandate, certain topics for certain times of the year. I remember when I was a new teacher and my mentor said something like, … [Read more...]
What Is Labor Day? Nonfiction Books for Kids
What is Labor Day? Most kids don't know. Depending on where they live, they might think it's the last day the community pool is open for "the season." Some families will have the day off. Some will go to the beach one more time. And some might be doing their last bit of shopping before school starts. But Labor Day has an important back story many children haven't heard. For our youngest readers … [Read more...]
Biographies for Children Come to Life on Netflix
I've been collecting titles from the Who Was biography series for years. The text is too complex for most of the primary children I work with, but every now and then I find a student with a deep interest in a connected topic who has the ability to read and comprehend the material independently, so they haven't been wasted. Mostly I use them to research information and then adapt … [Read more...]
Lap Book Templates for Kids
There's really no middle ground here. You're either a lap-book-loving teacher or you're not. I've heard, "I LOVE them!" and "I HATE them!" but never, "Yeah, they're kind of okay, I guess."😂 Teachers on the thumbs-down-side cringe at the thought of lap books because they seem tedious and labor intensive, like scrapbooking. I totally get the scrapbooking thing... that's way too much work. I have … [Read more...]