books

national book festival and gala: what I learned

September 26, 2011

My most favorite night of the year was last Friday night: The National Book Festival Gala. The National Book Festival is in its 11th year, and this year for the first time ever, it was two days of festivities on the Mall in DC–more than 100 authors, poets, and illustrators were there. It. Is. SototallyawesomeIcannotevenexplainit. [...]

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learning during read-alouds: oral language development

September 12, 2011

Sometimes, simple is better.  Sometimes, more choices make us more confused. If Maddy, Owen, and Cora were shown an amazing pallet of face paints and were able to choose anything in the world they wanted designed on their cheeks or arms, I’m betting they’d all balk. Either it would take 30 minutes for them to [...]

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new for us friday: newmark learning early reading resources (and FOUR giveaways!)

September 9, 2011

Nearly every parent I know wants to do what he or she can to support early learning for their children. We all want to see our kids grow to enjoy reading, to master their math facts, to develop a love of learning, and to carry a natural curiosity about the world around them. But it’s [...]

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trying tapas: rockville restaurant week (& giveaway!)

September 7, 2011

For the last few days, Cora and I have read Susan Middleton Elya’s Bebé Goes Shopping more times than I can count. In the story, Mamá y Bebé take a trip to the supermercado, and along the way. . . . . . [j]ust as Mamá is ready to throw up her manos, she gives [...]

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learning during read-alouds: making back-to-school connections

August 29, 2011

Today I sent the big O-man off to Kindergarten and Maddy off to second grade, and I absolutely cannot believe it. If I think about it too much, I seriously might burst into tears.  Weren’t they just in diapers? Crawling around on the floor?  Where’s the time going? Though Cora and I will soon adjust [...]

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learning during read-alouds: making connections and questioning (with siblings!)

July 25, 2011

We have been putting in a lot of pool time lately, but we’ve also been spending a boatload of time indoors–staying cool in the comfort of our ac, eating popsicles and ices, playing games, Wii, and reading. Even though Maddy, Owen, and Cora often play well together, a ton of at-home time also opens up [...]

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questioning and connecting during read-alouds

July 2, 2011

I’m not going to lie–some summer days, I really think that if it weren’t for the 15 minutes of Adult Swim, my kids wouldn’t stop moving all day long. Even the rest times that I once relied on as a definite break to our day, Maddy has renamed as ‘play time’.  (It’s still in their [...]

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just 1 book: author Ann Malaspina (& signed book giveaway!)

May 9, 2011

This guest post, by author Ann Malaspina is one of my absolute faves because I found a kindred spirit–another person who loves and was moved by Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street.  One of my absolute favorite units to teach when I was teaching high school, Cisneros’ work moved my students like no other [...]

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learning during read-alouds: word consciousness

May 3, 2011

We shouldn’t try to fill every second of our children’s lives with learning and lessons; our kiddos really do need time for free play indoors or out in the fresh air every single day. However, it never hurts to sneak in a little-teeny lesson during read-alouds, especially since many of us read to our children [...]

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making connections with nonfiction texts (and our new turtle friend)

April 28, 2011

Between the insane weather we’ve been experiencing over here (tornadoes! wind gusts! rain, rain, and more rain–and then the next second–sun!?), we’ve had some really cool outside learning going on lately.  And it’s been the kind of really awesome natural, in-the-moment kind of discovery that couldn’t unfold the way it does even with the best [...]

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just 1 book: illustrator ken min (& signed book giveaway!)

April 25, 2011

I’m so excited about this just 1 book post by illustrator Ken Min! Ken is fabulously talented and has his first book, written by F. Zia and published by Lee & Low Books, Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji is going to be released in just a few weeks.  But Ken Min and  Lee & Low [...]

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