Learn Create Inspire
Sharing successes and challenges through teaching while becoming a (hopefully) published author.
54 Things Wrong With…how kids have been talked about!
I introduced the book 54 Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers by Caela Carter today. This book is amazing and hard. It is one of the Surrey School Book of the Year Nominees for 2022/23.
The activity I did to introduce the book broke my heart. I learned so much about how kids see themselves as well as how they think adults see them. This post reflects on the lesson and my learning.
Banned Books: Exploring Representation in Literature
Kids literatures is being banned at an alarming rate, which limits access to diversity and #ownvoice authors. This post explores a banned books lesson that I designed for my class. It moves from input to co-creation to transformation in the understanding of book banning with my class. I also reflect on personal experiences in diversity in literature and questions you can ask yourself about literature you have used in your own classroom.
Picture Books Part 6: 2 Engaging Reading Strategies
Two strategies to use to help kids with summarizing and connecting. Both strategies have been used in my classroom and repeated multiple times throughout the year with new books.
Picture Books Part 5: Pre-Reading Strategies
Three pre-reading strategies to try. Examples are all books that could be used for exploring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th.
Picture Books Part 4: How to Read Out Loud to kids
Reading out loud well isn’t magic…but it does take practice! Here are a few strategies to up your read aloud game!
Picture Books Part 3: How to Choose the Right Book…
How do you choose the perfect picture book? This post will give you strategies to find books to use as anchor texts for lessons.
Refugee Crisis + Math Lesson = Compassion and Understanding
This outlines a cross curricular refugee crisis math/social studies lesson I did today. It includes graphing, counting collections, and the refugee crisis. It is hands-on and each class I worked with loved it. It is our job to help kids unpack and make sense of hard topics.
Picture Books Part 2: 3 Books to Start the Year
3 picture books to start the year. Could be used in the intermediate or the primary classroom. A call for the importance of diverse books so that kids can see themselves reflected in literature.
Refugee Picture Books
Two picture books I love to use when introducing refugees to students. I have included strategies for using these anchor texts.