Julia Torres wrote a beautiful love letter to her graduating seniors about the lessons in love, compassion, and truth she has learned from her students. Just in time for summer break: Anne Vogel explains why fake breaks only make us feel more rushed and frantic and argues for the real break that truly refreshes. John…
As far as I can tell, 236 writers finished the March Slice of Life Challenge. That’s a lot of blog posts! I commented on 20+ posts a day but still didn’t come close to visiting each Slicer (a goal for next year’s challenge–visit every Slicer at least once.) Still, I read and loved a lot…
I stopped grading years ago, and my students work harder and more meaningfully than ever. The Paper Graders has a terrific post to help you #StopGrading. Jonathan Hunt considers the Newbery merits of Jason Reynolds’s two 2016 titles, Ghost and As Brave As You. Comments are also very interesting. Laura Jiminez challenges us to read…
I’ve been working my way through the archives of my favorite podcast, Radiolab. This week, my favorite episode was Speedy Beet, about how Beethoven may have intended his symphonies to be played: fast. Very fast. SLJ does some research into banned books and discovers one thing they have in common: many of them feature diverse…
Daisy Yellow’s Index Card a Day Creativity Challenge begins on June 1, and themes and prompts for Week 1 are now available. This challenge is a terrific invitation to create something small each day. I’ve done a few warm-ups this week and especially liked Imperfect Circles. If you’d like to invite kids to do the…
This week, I fell down a new Internet rabbit hole: the world of art journaling! Mindful Art Studio’s How to Start an Art Journal has been a helpful place to begin. Also, art journaling as self-care? Yes! See also simple drawing techniques for anxiety. I can vouch for those circles! Balzer Designs examines art journal pages…
Mary Ann Scheuer at Great Kid Books celebrates National Poetry Month with her top five rules for sharing poetry with kids. I’m still thinking about Donalyn Miller’s wise words in Touchstones, a post about our reading autobiographies and specifically about those books that were “turning points” in our reading histories. Carrie Gelson writes a poignant…
