Creating a Storybook Garden that Changes Your World

Remember five-year-old Mills’ words about The Hello Goodbye Window? “That book. It just changed me.” My last post featured books that impacted my kindergartners and prompted insightful experiences. Books also changed our world outside the classroom. The fenced area beyond our back door was originally designated a playground. Thankfully, children, parents, and school personnel advocated … More Creating a Storybook Garden that Changes Your World

Books That Change Us

I breathed deeply as I uttered the last words of The Hello, Goodbye Window: “When you look from the outside, Nanna and Poppy’s house has lots of windows, but there’s only one Hello, Goodbye Window and it’s right where you need it.” Turning the page, I continued: “When I get my own house someday I’m … More Books That Change Us

The Value of Critique Groups

How can critique groups inspire us as writers? Last year, Kathy O’Neill’s blog post shared the importance of critique groups through highlighting Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings. I absorbed her article, grabbed the book, and shortly thereafter, found myself in a second critique group. (My Write2Ignite critique group … More The Value of Critique Groups

How to Connect Students with Authors Through Twitter

When teachers want better writers, they can connect students with authors through Twitter (now called X) and other social media. In that way, author Laura Numeroff inspired and transformed the writing of my kindergartners and first graders. Little ones squealed when I sat in our Author’s Chair to read If You Give a Mouse a … More How to Connect Students with Authors Through Twitter