Why I Picked It Up: Since we are known Josh Funk groupies, Penguin House reached out to let us know of his latest masterpiece! The combination of Josh Funk’s exceptional talent and the inclusion of unicorns? Yes, please! Why I Finished It: Josh Funk’s books are naturally delightful, and as a teacher, I find myself […]
elementary
Book Review: Princess Pineapple, by Sabina Hahn
Why I Picked It Up What’s not to love about misguided princesses and pineapples? Honestly, I had to read the book after hearing about it on a blog. In this book, a little girl is convinced she is a princess and intends to prove it. This sounded like an excellent book for adults and kids […]
Book Review: The Great Caper Caper, by Josh Funk
A Josh Funk masterpiece is always a delight to preview and review! It’s a Las Veggies heist – basically Ocean’s 11 in the fridge, packed with stunning vocabulary and a touching lesson in compassion.
Book Review: The Perfect Plan, by Leah Gilbert
Maya needs a little help from her friends to carry out her perfect plan for the perfect fort. Perfect for teaching adjectives and superlatives, this relatable story has a great social studies connection as well!
Mentor Texts for Nonfiction Writing
Mentor Texts is a highly used teaching strategy to get students to emulate authors in their own writing. [see How-To Post]. In my experience and searches, I see that there are a lot of places to find fiction mentor texts, but nonfiction texts seem to be a bit more elusive. Here we share some ideas […]
Book Review: Outside, Inside, by Leuyen Pham
Why I Picked It Up: During our back-to-school meetings, an administrator said to us that we had 2nd graders who had never known school before COVID! It really painted a picture that had eluded me. I am coaching teachers in a hybrid model that seemed tough on its own, but I realized that their kids […]