Flying Lessons & Other Stories | Edited by Ellen Oh Last week I ordered Flying Lessons & Other Stories from Amazon for my classroom library. I had learned about the book by visiting the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) blog a couple of weeks ago as I was researching and reading for two postsContinue reading “New BIPOC book for my classroom!”
Tag Archives: Middle School
When my class is your class’ punishment
Since when should writing be a form of punishment? This happens every so often: I’ll be talking to other teachers about some discipline issue they experienced during the day where they had to dole out some kind of punishment. More times than I want to remember, they’ll say something like, “So I made him writeContinue reading “When my class is your class’ punishment”
Field trip idea: The Outsiders House Museum Opens Soon in Tulsa
Plus: 10 reasons teachers love this book I have a black-and-white poster of The Outsiders in my classroom. One year, I decided to photocopy my picture, cut off my head, and snuggle it in between Darry and Steve. And then I laminated it, so it’s never comin’ off! My students don’t always notice it rightContinue reading “Field trip idea: The Outsiders House Museum Opens Soon in Tulsa”
Punishing Laura Ingalls Wilder
Write inclusively… or else. Little House on the Prairie, Ch. 11—Indians in the House By Laura Ingalls Wilder “Laura was frightened. Jack had never growled at her before. Then she looked over her shoulder, where Jack was looking, and she saw two naked, wild men coming, one behind the other, on the Indian trail.Continue reading “Punishing Laura Ingalls Wilder”
Dear Teachers: Share your work with the world.
Let others know what you’re doing in your classroom. A colleague of mine, Dr. Keri Franklin, founding director of the Ozarks Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and also director of assessment at Missouri State University, recommended that I send some issues of my seventh-graders’ Whippersnappers newsletter, to the director of the SmithsonianContinue reading “Dear Teachers: Share your work with the world.”
Writing Contest #10: Holocaust Museum & Learning Center’s Student Writing Contest
Our kids need this contest. I’ve discovered another writing contest: Holocaust Museum & Learning Center’s Student Art & Writing Contest. I stumbled upon this contest as I was researching for a recent post on Medium.com about the lack of Holocaust literature in Expeditionary Learning’s curriculum. I have reblogged that post here. According to the St.Continue reading “Writing Contest #10: Holocaust Museum & Learning Center’s Student Writing Contest”
Here’s the prompt for the 2018-19 VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest
This contest is a winner for middle schoolers! The Patriot’s Pen essay contest for grades 6-8 is getting started for the 2018-19 school year. The first step: learning the theme. And (drumroll please!)…here it is: Why I Honor the American Flag. This year’s theme will resonate with students as it recalls the national conversation aboutContinue reading “Here’s the prompt for the 2018-19 VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest”
Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
This “new to me” book will be fun to try this fall A year or two ago, I found an effective paragraph that explained sentence variety perfectly. Read the post about it here. I dug a little deeper about the author and eventually made my way to this book, 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing,Continue reading “Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing”
Here’s the 7th Grade Missouri State Winner in the 2018 DAR American History Essay Contest
Plus: How I used this contest to teach blended-genre writing Every fall, my sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders enter an essay in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s American History Essay Contest. Last fall was the fourth year my students entered the local contest, which is sponsored by the Taneycomo Chapter of the DAR, Forsyth, Mo.Continue reading “Here’s the 7th Grade Missouri State Winner in the 2018 DAR American History Essay Contest”
How to forget the Holocaust
Remove it from the curriculum Are we forgetting the Holocaust? I asked myself this question recently as I perused an English Language Arts curriculum map for grades 6-8 and found that out of dozens of texts the curriculum uses over the three years, only one text addressed or had any connection to World War II: Continue reading “How to forget the Holocaust”