…changing the world, one reader at a time.
This is what my desk looked like at 3:30 PM yesterday. Why am I showing you a picture of an empty spot on my desk? Because three hours hours earlier, this spot was overflowing with books about mental health: And after middle schoolers got to ‘em, here’s what was left. Young people are hungry for […]
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Does it fart?? As a kid, this would have been the book of my dreams! First graders and I were nonstop giggles sharing this nonfiction book by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti. I love any opportunity to show my readers that nonfiction can be exciting, engaging, and educational, and this book is a perfect example! […]
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Last Friday, November 8, I had the pleasure of joining a fabulous presentation team to share 20,000 Pennies, our story of community connection sparked through literature. Our presentation team included Kara McClurken, co-founder of Bennett’s Village, and Jack Dozier, St. Anne’s-Belfield School student and leader of the Leveling the Playing Field for Children in Charlottesville […]
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On October 29, the Haunted Library opened its doors once again for a one-night-only, hands-on family celebration. Much like last year’s event, the 2019 Haunted Library invited ghouls and ghosts to attend in their costumes and explore creepy projects and games together. This year, middle schoolers were completely in charge of the event – from […]
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Middle school self checkout is back, and better than ever! After a bumpy couple of years (filled with lots of lost books and oops-I-checked-it-out-to-my-friend-but-I’ll-take-it-anyway and what-do-you-mean-I-never-checked-it-out-at-all), I admitted librarian defeat and closed down our self checkout station. Middle schoolers had to come to the circulation desk to checkout with me, and had no options when I […]
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You’ve probably heard about using the food pyramid to keep a healthy diet, but what about getting balanced nutrition for your brain? Instead of the same old genre review, my fourth graders are exploring the Brain Food Pyramid this week – the secret to a balanced diet for your brain 🧠 Together, we took a look […]
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“You mean we get to TOUCH the ROBOTS?!” 🤖 💕 As part of our robotics unit, kindergarten students got up close and personal with their first set of robots this week! We used a beloved, classic story to ground this unit in literacy and bring the story to life. We started by sharing The Very […]
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It’s Global Read Aloud season! The annual literary tradition kicked off at the end of September, and our students are so excited to be reading and connecting with readers all over the world through amazing common literature. We are extra excited this year to be the school from the state of Virginia participating in the […]
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I love teaching graphic novels, especially to middle school readers. My goal with any graphic novel unit is to get readers to think about their books differently and start reading them as closely and seriously as they do their traditional novels. You can see a collection of my past work with graphic novels here. This […]
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It’s Fall Family Book Club time, and we’re adding a pinch of magic to our Book Club recipe! Students and their families are invited to read Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble, by Anna Mariano. Family Book Club is designed for students and their parents/families to share the story together at home. After completing the novel, all […]
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