Title: NotoriousAuthor: Gordon KormanPublisher: Balzer + BrayRelease Date: January 7, 2020 RATING: 3.5 STARS Keenan is used to a fast-paced, independent life as he travels the world with his mom, an international schoolteacher.

Title: Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2)Author: Tomi AdeyemiPublisher: Henry Holt and Co.Release Date: December 3, 2019 RATING: 3.5 STARS Zélie, Amari, and Inan are back in the

Title: JackpotAuthor: Nic StonePublisher: Crown Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 15, 2019 RATING: 3.5 STARS Rico, her mom, and her little brother struggle to stay afloat. Despite the difficulties, Rico’s mom

Title: Words on FireAuthor: Jennifer NielsenPublisher: Scholastic PressRelease Date: October 1, 2019 RATING: 3 STARS It is 1893 in Lithuania, a time when the Russian Empire controls the country. It is

Title: Efrén DividedAuthor: Ernesto CisnerosPublisher: HarperCollinsRelease Date: March 2020 RATING: 5 STARS Efrén, a young Mexican-American, loves his family, especially his Amá. He appreciates all the small miracles she performs each and every

Title: Count Me InAuthor: Varsha BajajPublisher: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen BooksRelease Date: August 27, 2019 RATING: 4 STARS Karina and Chris may be next door neighbors but they also might as well live on

Title: Ghost BoysAuthor: Jewell Parker RhodesPublisher: Little, Brown Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: April 17, 2018 RATING: 4 STARS Jerome Rogers is a good kid. He loves his family, enjoys school, and

Title: Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten BlocksAuthor: Jason ReynoldsPublisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy BooksRelease Date: October 8, 2019 RATING: 4 STARS! Look Both Ways recounts the myriad stories of a

Title: Pixie Pushes OnAuthor: Tamara BundyPublisher: Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen BooksRelease Date: January 14, 2020Many thanks to Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen Books and Edelweiss+ for providing me an opportunity to

Title: Shouting at the RainAuthor: Linda Mullaly HuntPublisher: Nancy Paulsen BooksRelease Date: May 7, 2019 RATING: 3 STARS Summer has come to Cape Cod and Delsie is looking forward to another sun-soaked,

Title: Song for a WhaleAuthor: Lynne KellyPublisher: Delacorte PressRelease Date: February 5, 2019 RATING: 4 STARS Iris is tech-savvy and curious, deaf and lonely. While she loves to fix radios, she struggles to

Title: Front DeskAuthor: Kelly YangPublisher: Arthur A. Levine BooksRelease Date: May 29, 2018 RATING: 4 STARS After immigrating to the United States from China in the 1990’s, Mia Tang and her parents are

Title: The Story That Cannot Be ToldAuthor: J. Kasper KramerPublisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing - Atheneum Books for Young ReadersRelease Date: October 8, 2019Many thanks to Atheneum Books for

What if your lesson plans were a complete blank slate? What if you did not worry about your administrator asking to see standards alignment or when you could cover this,

Nature is an incredible teacher. It has impeccable wait time, provides an endless array of challenges, and above all, offers an engaging classroom. Yet, too often, we look past nature’s

Teaching students to write is hard. It’s abstract, it’s personal, and good writing can look like a million different things. Still, it’s critical we teach writing, especially in a world

In nine years, I spent over 1,600 days with students in the classroom. On those days and many others (because we know what “vacation” means), I spent countless evening, weekend,

As another school year closes, I thought I’d share a few reflections. I find it’s important to write them when the year is still fresh on my mind then return

I’ve spent some time championing for pop-up projects in the classroom, referencing our “Odyssey Pop-Up Project” several times. Here are a few images of the final project. After students finished

When we assigned the pop-up project for The Odyssey, it was an experience of trial and error. Here are the 10 things I learned from that experience – both what

It’s the day before Thanksgiving break, and I’m racing from a kindergarten classroom to a first-grade classroom while calling a second-grade teacher along the way. As I’m about to visit

  Any Google search about classroom discussion strategies will yield a wealth of resources. However, the core principles of facilitating a discussion are often overlooked: asking a really good question and

Life: When I was a kid, I had dreams of becoming the first female, MLB baseball player, an astronaut, or even a novelist. As I grew older, with the future