News & Features

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang. First Second. 2013. Review copy from publisher. Boxers & Saints, Volumes 1 & 2. The Plot: The story of the Boxer Rebellion is told through the eyes of a Boxer and a Christian. Each volume is a standalone; but it’s best to first read Boxers, then Saints, and [...]

Authentic learning can only take place in the context of rich curriculum; it's about encountering big ideas, raising and answering questions, and making sense of evidence. Join Mary Ann Cappiello and Myra Zarnowski as they launch their 2013-14 "On Common Core" column focusing on strategies for integrating content, standards, and children's and young adult literature into an inquiry-based curriculum.

The arrival of fall marks the start of the literary awards season. Already Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is being touted as an odds-on favorite to win the Nobel Prize for Literature next month. But the cynic in me guesses that the always inscrutable Swedish committee of judges will bypass the best-selling author of 1Q84, Kafka [...]

Toni Morrison’s acclaimed novel The Bluest Eye—which tackles such difficult subjects as racism, incest, and child abuse—could become the latest in a wide range of books that have been officially challenged in Alabama’s 132 school districts in recent years, if State Senator Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, has his way. The legislator is calling for its removal from school libraries in the state, a position that has so far resonated with at least one local school board member.

Along with the Common Core, many state standards ask that educators incorporate multimodal resources into their lesson plans. As time goes on, more and more quality apps are available to meet that requirement. Here are a few digital resources to consider for your nonfiction science collection.

Children’s book classics such as Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat and the Hat will be available in ebook format for the first time beginning on September 24. Fifteen of author/illustrator Dr. Seuss's (aka Theodor Geisel) beloved titles will make their digital debut on that date, keeping the original layouts and iconic illustrations from their print editions, says publisher Random House Children’s. By November 2013, a total of 41 ebooks will be available for children, parents, and educators.

Spring. After a exhausting fall and winter of measuring the year’s best books against each other; the new publishing year opens and those of us who doggedly follow children’s literature in the peculiar quest of speculating about the Newbery Medal get excited. Very excited. The slate is clean: what book will garner next year’s golden [...]

Saints by Gene Luen Yang. First Second. 2013. Review copy from publisher. Boxers & Saints, Volume 2. The Plot: Saints traces the story of a young girl from the age of 8 to 15; part of her story overlaps with that of Bao from Boxers. Saints is not so much the story from the “other [...]

I just updated and distributed my September teacher newsletter. Along with all the Spartan-specific content was an update of 50 Ways to Leave Your Research Paper and Tell Your Story, a document I’ve been trying to crowd-source and improve for years. I am sharing this most recent update, though I readily admit its short-comings, one of [...]