Mother’s Day and Beyond

Mother’s Day at our house got us to thinking about whether there was a Sister’s Day or a Brother’s Day? Google says National Sibling Day is April 10th, and there’s a Brothers and Sisters Day on May 2.

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“Over the River and Through the Woods”

Holiday traditions are developing some new wrinkles as the wrinkles of the generation that carried the torch for their forbearers become more evident with age.

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Thanksgiving Postscript

Though Thanksgiving is a week past and even those delicious leftover sandwiches are now a fading memory, I wanted to share a wonderful Thanksgiving story as part of our continuing “developmental book swap.”

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This Week in School: Halloween, Politics, and the World Series to Boot

No matter what grade you teach, this week gives you both the opportunity and the need to be highly creative. That’s what it takes to focus the children’s attention on necessary academic instruction while their minds and imaginations are filled with Halloween (even though you might not celebrate this holiday at your school) and the other [...]

May Day: The Children’s Gift of Glee!

Toward the end of a busy yesterday at school, leaving a staff leadership team meeting and heading back to my principal’s office with a long unfinished list in my head, I noticed a child knocking frantically on the nurse’s office door surrounded by a group of four or five giggling companions.
I then heard an adult [...]

Are You Ready?

It’s Tuesday, right? You’ll be fixing breakfast and your eight year old will be screaming in the bathroom at the top of her lungs and telling you to come quick! You tell her to hold her horses, you’ll be there as soon as you flip the eggs and she’s screaming she can’t wait, C A [...]

A Valentine’s Day Assignment

(Thanks to Fifth Grade Teacher Amy Bernard  for her “friendly letter lesson” from Loser,  for inspiring this idea!)
Here’s a little fun twist for Valentine’s Day that you may or may not have tried: A quick contest, open to any student in the school (or by grade level, etc)  to promote empathy and understanding.
RULES: Students may [...]

A Schoolwide “Read-Aloud”

A Welcome Back notice on our cyberspace newsletter and calendar alerts parents to a school-wide literacy activity that we hope will open discussions at the dinner table and in the car about a book everyone grades 3-5 in the school is reading:
Happy New Year!
A new reading activity for a new year:
This week we are beginning [...]