Skip to main content

Three Resources for Back-to-School


Where I live and work in Virginia, school does not start back for another month. In other words, we are still in full summer vacation mode. However, schools across the country, and even in some parts of VA, start back soon or have already started. So, today's post is about three online resources that provide great ideas and tips for back-to-school.

This newsletter is chock full of great ideas! My favorites for teachers are on creating a classroom library and a literacy-rich environment. Other articles include ideas for back-t0-school night and a parent involvement checklist. Another favorite is an interview with Grapes of Math author Greg Tang! There is much more, such as websites for interactive white board games, websites for teaching and learning, and ideas for parents.
This issue of CC includes an annotated list of back-to-school read alouds. young adult books featuring gay teens, and a list of professional development books for teachers on teaching grammar and spelling. These resources are invaluable for adding meaningful selections to a classroom or professional development library.
The folks at Choice Literacy who publish The Big Fresh never fail to provide great resources for teachers. These resource aren't just lists or written ideas, often they include short video clips and photos, which are invaluable for visual learners like me (a picture is worth a thousand words). This week's newsletter is about building community, which is by far the most important thing a teacher can do to set the stage for learning all year long. Features include "All About Us" bulletin board and great writing quotes for the walls, nooks, and crannies of your classroom, a collection of links to videos that build interest in favorite children's books, and a "starting school" list of read-alouds with very young learners.

That's it for now! More resources later.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 for 10 Picturebook Event

Picturebooks. Who can resist them? Old and young alike, there's a picturebook for everyone. But, keeping up with the best of them can be daunting. That's why you might be interested in Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek's 10 for 10 Picturebook Event . In event hosts bloggers who have chosen 10 picture books s/he could not live without and wrote a post about the titles.  Each blogger puts her/his own spin on a collection. Last year (the first year for the event) there were over 400 "must have" picture books. There are so many ways to create this list. I could list 10 of my all time favorites or 10 new releases which I plan to use in my class this year. But, I've decided to focus on 10 new nonfiction books. Why? Because nonfiction is vastly overlooked in the classroom and because these new nonfiction picturebooks are amazing! The nonfiction titles I chose to include range in age/grade level appropriateness and also include both biography and informational tex...

"Testing the Ice" book giveaway

I would like to invite you to enter a book giveaway in celebration of the release of Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson. Sharon, the daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, has crafted a heartwarming, true story about growing up with her father. In the early 1950s, legendary baseball hero Jackie Robinson literally "tested the ice" for his kids who so eagerly wanted to skate on the frozen lake near their home. Under Sharon Robinson's skillful authorship and Kadir Nelson's vivid illustrations, Testing the Ice also becomes a stunning metaphor for her father's remarkable racial breakthrough. The book opens with Jackie Robinson's famous slide into home plate that won the seventh game in the world series, beating the New York Yankees and making the the Brooklyn Dodgers the world champions! Then the story transitions to the new home the Robinson's bought on a lake in Stamford, Connecticut. Told from Sharon Robinson's perspective, she and her two broth...