Virginia Pratt explores all the different kinds of connections books and reading bring to our lives.
100 Scope Notes predicts the picture books that will make the 2015 New York Times 10 Best list. A very fine list!
Three Teachers Talk has published a series of posts about boys and literacy, based on their learning this summer at the UNH Literacy Institute. Check out the post of their takeaways and recommended titles for boys, then read Jackie’s explanation of why humor–even fart jokes–is so important in the classroom and specifically to boys’ development.
If you have a classroom library–and if you don’t, why not??–you need to read Carrie Gelson’s post on the 10 most important features of classroom libraries besides book.
Need inspiration for your first read-aloud of the year? Check out the poll at The Nerdy Book Club for lots of ideas.
One idea I’ll be incorporating this year is reading a picture book aloud every day in my classes. Mr D Reads shares reflections from his students on why #bookaday is such a terrific classroom practice.
George Couros cautions teachers against overplanning on Day One.
Jess Lifshitz provides 7 great reasons why all teachers should blog.
Consider incorporating some of these suggestions for 20 Classroom Setups That Promote Thinking.
If you need yet more podcasts to listen to, check out Book Riot’s list of Podcasts Hosted by Authors. Did you know Sherman Alexie has a podcast??
Tara Smith’s Notes about Our Wonderopolis Year got me thinking about how I might incorporate this site into one of my classes.
At Two Writing Teachers, Tara also has a terrific post on Setting Up the Middle-School Writing Workshop.
Justin Tarte shares 8 Things Every Student Deserves–a good reminder at the beginning of the school year.
the dirigible plum 
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