MORE 'MIDDLE-GRADE-MONDAY' POSTS
By now I’m sure most, if not all, of you have read this New Yorker piece describing the ‘problem’ with Rick Riordan’s books. And indeed, I assume the author means to include any book she deems ‘unworthy’ of a child’s time and attention. If you’d care to read a highly intelligent response to this article, […]
Middle Grade Monday – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson, Middle Grade Monday
|I’m finally going to weigh in with my thoughts on the lyrical, breathtaking work of art that is Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming. Not that you really need my opinion. It has received, at last count, six starred reviews from major review publications, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and the Bulletin […]
Karen was gracious enough to pick up a copy of this ARC for me at ALA this summer. She knows how interested I am in the justice system, most especially in the juvenile justice system, and I imagine she hoped this would be right up my alley. It is, but not for the obvious reasons. […]
Middle Grade Monday – “I thought of you when I read this”
Middle Grade Monday, Pinterest, Relational Reading, Teen Issues
|So, I’ve long understood the power of a confidential phrase whispered in the right direction, “I read this, and it made me think of you.” In fact, that’s the reason why my student supply area has a bottle of lotion. Let me back up. I’m on vacation, or I would take a picture of the corner […]
Middle grade students are a special breed. The people I know who work with them are a dedicated bunch, full of a deep affection for this age and all of it’s attendant terrors and triumphs. Students need to see this affection in the books they read and in the teachers they know. I do sometimes […]
Let’s talk about what?! Yes, I said it. Sex. Most middle grade students have heard of it – some have overheard conversations in hushed tones, some have watched explicit cable TV shows. I’m just saying there’s a range. A REALLY big range. For better or worse, I’ve spent most of my adult life helping my […]
It’s that time of year again! Well, at least it’s that time of year for those of us who’ve already been back in school for six weeks, but who’s counting? Today was the first day of Book Fair for us and sales were brisker than normal. I had time to browse with the studetns and […]
I think about the Labor Movement a lot. What. I think about it every time I see this chart from Think Progress: I also think about it every time one of my friends has her first baby. Because I give books as presents, and because this is one of my favorite books to give as […]
I was recently asked by a staff member to come up with a list of suggestions for her 3rd grader who has read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books ‘a million times.’ I run into this problem quite often. Students get fixated on a particular author, series, or format of books and are reluctant […]
One of my more creative teachers has the habit of sending students one or two at a time to research some topic of interest to them that has come up in class. If I’m not teaching at the time, I will sit down with them and talk through their research goals and help them find […]
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