• Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Haiku Magnets

    June 25, 2013 /

    Tip: Make Haiku Magnets I love writing haiku with my students. One of the tricky parts about writing haiku is getting to them to be highly selective with their word choice. I ban words like cool, awesome, great, fun. But sometimes it’s hard to for them to know what…

    Read More

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Laminate the Text

    June 18, 2013 /

    I’m starting a new summer series for teachers called “Mentor Text Tip Tuesdays.” These will be practical tips on using mentor texts in the classroom. If you follow my blog, you know that I’ve been posting mentor text lesson plans. I hope these tips will help you visualize how easy…

    Read More

  • Mentor Text Lesson Plan: Onomatopoeia

    June 7, 2013 /

      I love onomatopoeia! You know, those noisy words that really make you hear the story like it’s happening right in front of you? Kids love onomatopoeia too. This lesson plan doesn’t focus in on just one book. I use a whole pile of books for this one. This…

    Read More

  • VerseDay: Poetry Month Post #2

    April 11, 2013 /

      Poetry Book of the Week   FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, illustrated by Robbin Gourley Clarion, 2013 ISBN: 978-0-618-84349-7 Capturing the stillness, the noisiness, the pure magic of the forest is hard to do. It’s hard to put into words. But Amy Ludwig Vanderwater does…

    Read More

  • VerseDay: Poetry Month Post #1

    April 4, 2013 /

      Poetry Book of the Week Since April is National Poetry Month, I will feature a poetry book that I really love each VerseDay in April.   GRUMBLES FROM THE FOREST: FAIRY TALE VOICES WITH A TWIST by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrations by Matt Mahurin. Wordsong,…

    Read More