So, how many times have we heard kids say this, “Do I have to?” I think it’s funny that the author, Nancy Loewen, titled her book about responsibility with this question. Responsibility is such a broad topic–from doing chores to turning in homework, from doing the “right thing” to recycling–this big character education word can [...]

photo by kissyface www.flickr.com I once wrote an entire article on sportsmanship and how to fit it into daily lessons for Teachers of Vision magazine. We already have so much curriculum to cover in a year and state testing to prepare for–how can you add one more thing? But I think character education is as [...]

by OakleyOriginals www.flickr.com You and your students (or children if you are home schooling) probably have spring fever. Most parts of the country have been experiencing warmer weather, and you probably see some flowers and trees starting to bloom. This might also be the time when you are preparing to take state standardized tests, and [...]

photo by pink sherbert www.flickr.com Clara Gillow Clark is holding a writing contest for students in grades six through ten. The contest goes until April 9. To enter the contest, you write a 250-word entry to one of these prompts from a book called Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter: Writing Prompt #1: [...]

I talked about this book last week, too, for one that is great to share during National Poetry Month 2010 or any poetry unit you do with elementary students. More Pocket Poems edited by Bobbi Katz is a sequel, of course, to Pocket Poems. So, actually, either one is nice for sharing poetry with young [...]

photo by idovermani www.flickr.com First, I want to apologize if this photo from Flickr.com makes you hungry for cookies and milk today if you are on a “healthy eating plan.” (That’s what I like to call a diet. ) But I won’t apologize for this great information I have to share today with parents, librarians, [...]

Yesterday, I shared with you a really cool book called On the Edge with Coolhead Luke. I also shared with you two of the silly poems and illustrations in the book and compared it to Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky’s work. To see this post and read about the book by the mother/son duo, you [...]

photo by George Donnelly www.flickr.com While doing research for another article I was writing and thinking about yesterday’s Tuesday Tales book, Fussy Freya, I found this really interesting website: Fast Food Facts. There are a lot of websites out there that will compare fast food meals for you. They will put the menu items in [...]

The subject of getting our kids to eat healthy, especially in the United States, has been on parents’ and educators’ minds for several decades. There are several teachers’ books that talk about nutrition and give lesson plan ideas. But what about books that talk directly to kids? These two above can be used with elementary [...]

You must watch this clip below from food writer John T. Edge’s (author of Hamburger and Fries: An American Story, Apple Pie: An American Story) website. He has also made several television appearances, and he has this clever clip video from his website. I saw this on his website because I am writing an article [...]