Pigeons on my mind
A few days ago while riding my bicycle to work, a pigeon flew up from the railroad tracks and over the bike path. I was reminded how my colleague Nick Glass, who grew up in New York City, has shared…
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Karen Hesse and Matt Phelan discover the Dust Bowl
Everyone in education has heard about different learning styles; some of the most prominent are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Perhaps educators have even considered their own learning style and how it influences teaching. But, has consideration ever been given to how these learning styles impact inspiration, interest, and research for a project that follows the inquiry process?
Resources upon request: Virginia Euwer Wolff
and Blake Nelson
Customers in Madison, WI recently asked us to create original multimedia resources with authors Virginia Euwer Wolff and Blake Nelson. Virginia Euwer Wolff is the award-winning author of the Make Lemonade Trilogy. Blake Nelson’s novel, Paranoid Park (Penguin, 2006), was…
Teaching with the CSK Book Award Curriculum Resource Center
Forty years ago, two librarians and a publisher at the American Library Association conference lamented that no African-American author or illustrator had yet been honored with a Newbery or Caldecott medal. In response to that conversation, they decided to establish an award that would acknowledge the achievements of African-American writers and artists in the field of children’s literature.Resources for El Día de los Muertos/The Day of the Dead
Yuyi Morales is an artist, children’s book illustrator, and a five-time recipient of the Pura Belpré Award (and many, many other awards). Yuyi’s books are inspired by her love of Mexico and Mexican folk tales. She uses many mediums, including…
Ideas for Teen Read Week from around the web
Here’s a list of links and ideas from a quick look around the web. See what others are doing to celebrate Teen Read Week and get ideas!
Official Teen Read Week Site
Examples of Teen Read Week events at other…
Teen Read Week and speculative fiction
This year’s Teen Read Week (October 18-24) has the theme of “Read Beyond Reality @ your library.”
To search for relevant resources, try the TeachingBooks Guided/Advanced Search page where you can search for resources associated with specific genres … including…
Nick’s Picks: Cross-curricular resources about water
Walter Wick set up a complex device to snap a picture of a single drop of it. Barbara Kerley’s crystal-clear color photographs reveal how people worldwide are dependent on it, and connected by it. Langston Hughes, Karen Hesse, Jon Muth, and Herbert Shoveller celebrate its arrival in different forms. Water: ubiquitous, yet often scarce, and endlessly fascinating.The TeachingBooks.net Blog turns one today!
We’re celebrating with cupcakes here at the office. Yum! If you stopped by, we’d share them with you too.
A great big thank you to everyone who has subscribed to our blog’s RSS feed, posted a comment, or stopped by…
Creating very hungry readers
October 8, 2009 is the day when people all over the world are reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Jumpstart is coordinating this Read for the Record event.
Check out the collection of resources for this 40-year-old favorite!…
Guest Blogger: Pat Mora
Fall is in the air, which, after a hot Santa Fe summer, feels welcome. I've planted a few pansies and am slowly moving some potted plants inside into what I call my winter garden. When the cold northern New Mexico winter arrives, the clerestory windows above our entry atrium will bring welcome sun to my plants—and me. Along with mulling over which green companions to nurture during the coming months, I'm thinking about what writing projects to begin.David Macaulay on Asking Questions to Explore Non-fiction Subjects
As goals of information literacy have been expanded to include skills and attitudes that ultimately allow students to construct their own knowledge based on deep learning of interest to them, all of us can gain insight from professional authors who naturally incorporate those inquiry skills and attitudes into their own writing process.
On this day: September 22nd, 1862
The Emancipation Proclamation was announced on this day in 1862. Utilize TeachingBooks.net’s online resources, like Book Guides and Book Readings, to encourage students’ interest in and exploration of books about this part of history.
For example, read Gloria Whelan’s picture…
Resources upon request: Kate Klise
A educator recently let us know that she would love to hear author Kate Klise pronounce her name.
So, here it is: Kate’s Author Name Pronunciation. And, we got her sister’s too. She’s the illustrator M. Sarah Klise, with whom…
Reading freely during Banned Books Week
I can’t hide it: I love access to information, and I love providing access to others.
Part of providing access to information includes letting folks decide for themselves which information will meet their needs. I sometimes have to remind myself…
Characters’ Names
As the new school year begins, you and your students are probably learning a lot of new names.
Using the TeachingBooks.net Author Name Pronunciation Guide, we invite you to learn the names of hundreds of authors and illustrators. In this…
Nick’s Picks: An Author in Every Classroom
This post offers a sampling of TeachingBooks.net's recordings of favorite children's and young adult authors sharing insights about their work. In these brief audio excerpts students will hear authors express their enthusiasm for their subjects as they reveal how their passions have guided their research and writing.Guest Blogger: Lois Lowry
We're starting school. First day. My sister and me: we are eight and five; second grade and kindergarten.
I'm the younger sister. And the photograph, taken in 1942, is black and white. Amazingly, though, I remember the color of everything: our matching jackets (navy blue), my skirt (royal blue), Helen's dress (blue and red plaid), and our shoes, dark brown and freshly polished.
Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients Reveal Their Stories
Welcome to this new monthly post that reveals approaches to professional writing and research in the words of extraordinary authors and illustrators of books for children and teens.National Recognitions Bestowed Upon Two Authors Featured in Originally Produced Interviews by TeachingBooks.net
Chief Joseph Medicine Crow, the 95-year-old author, historian, and storyteller, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 12th from President Obama.
Anthony Browne was appointed as the United Kingdom’s sixth Children’s Laureate on June 9th.
…
Reflections on serving on the
2009 John Newbery Selection Committee
from TeachingBooks.net’s Nick Glass
I was elected to the 2009 John Newbery Award selection committee by the membership of the American Library Association (ALA) division that administers this award, ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children). This was quite an honor, and a real shock to me. You see, I’m not a librarian. I’m a book lover. I’m a professional in the world of children’s books. But I’m not a librarian – and I always thought that librarians and academics in the field were those who got to serve on these committees.Authors in Social Studies Classrooms
In this post, I encourage you to bring authors into your classroom to add a personal dimension to social studies lessons. Autobiographical accounts, for example, can offer first-person perspectives on events under discussion. And authors who research and write about historical and cultural topics often present their interpretations and sources while revealing their methods and processes.Have a school or classroom wiki?
Embed your customized Reading Lists!
Do you use a district, school-wide, or classroom wiki or blog to share information?
TeachingBooks.net can provide to you, or directly embed for you, links and images for your school or district’s customized Reading Lists.
For example, we recently embedded…
Nick’s Picks: A summer’s bounty of multimedia resources
In this post I've highlighted summer's bounty with a smorgasbord of multimedia materials about books and authors that celebrate food. In her 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture, Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park commented that she didn't trust a character until she knew what they ate. I wondered, "Would she trust a character that was made of food?"