"The theme is that they tried harder and persevered." Sigh. Yeah, no. Keep reading to see what I do to teach theme (and to downloa...

  There are lots of good reasons to get your students involved in a March Madness Reading Challenge.  I'm only giving you three because ...

  There's no doubt in my mind why Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson won the Newbery this year!  It's historically accurate, filled wi...

  You probably know Alan Gratz from Refugee and his many other books about World War II, or maybe Ground Zero, about the World Trade Center ...

 Can you use a novel to teach or review important reading comprehension skills without feeling overwhelmed?  Of course!  The key is not tryi...

  Are grammar skills important? Do you want to sound as smart on paper as you are in person?   Yes?  Then, yes, yes they are. As teachers, w...

February is Black History Month.  Here are two good books that your students will enjoy! Never Caught tells a little-known story about some...

Is there a way to review reading comprehension skills without making it painful to read a novel?  Yes!   The best way to do that is to let k...

Is it possible to write a book about a tough topic that still makes you chuckle, wince, and cheer middle school characters on? I remember th...

  I've heard from a number of you that there just isn't enough time to teach everything, whether you're self-contained or not.  ...

By the time you come back to school in January, you and your students have been reading passages for a while as you've worked on reinfor...