Yesterday was one of those school visit days that writers dream about when their first book is released. I spent the day at Madill and Kennedy Elementary Schools in Ogdensburg, NY and spoke to about 400 4th, 5th, and 6th graders — all of whom had read at least part of Spitfire. My morning drive…
If you’ve spent any time around middle school kids, you know they devour Jim Murphy’s works of nonfiction. Murphy has won two Newbery Honors for his books The Great Fire and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. His latest book, The Real Benedict Arnold, was brought…
I took the train to Manhattan Thursday for the NYS English Council Conference, a one-day event held right before NCTE. My presentation, “Walking the Walk: How Teacher-Writers Can Encourage Student Revision” was well-attended and fun to present because it featured so many of my writer friends from LJ and Verla’s. I shared my own revision…
I spent Thursday and Friday at the NYS Reading Association Conference in Saratoga Springs. Here’s a roundup of the highlights… 1. The Authors Progressive Banquet was fun and stress-free. I didn’t even spill anything. I was a little concerned about how the logistics would work, because the authors start the evening at one table and…
“Please pick me! Please pick me!” said the snowflake…one of more than a hundred being auctioned off for the Robert’s Snow: For Cancer’s Cure Fundraiser. Today, we feature this colorful creation by illustrator Sara Kahn and offer blog readers a chance to win one of her books and a signed Giclee print of a painting…
Two kinds of SNOW news today! First of all…it snowed in the Adirondacks Saturday night, so my drive down Interstate 87 to the Chronicle Book Fair in Glens Falls, NY was stunning — blazing red, orange, and yellow fall foliage, mixed with sugar-snow mountaintops in the distance. I arrived at the book fair content that…
I cross-posted this at Verla’s…but just in case I don’t run into you there… What are your favorite revision strategies that teachers might also encourage students to use when revising writing in a classroom setting? Reading out loud? Post-it notes? Critique partners? Bring it on! I’m giving a presentation on revision at the New York…
We’re celebrating Spitfire’s official release this weekend… with an event from 12-2 Saturday at Borders in Plattsburgh, NY. I’ll have treats, a raffle, teacher resource packets, bookmarks, and (giggles uncontrollably) temporary tattoos. If you’ve ever considered having a Revolutionary War gunboat tattooed on your arm, this is your chance to try it out. Bonnie Shimko…
The sky was sunny, and the air was crisp and Septembery yesterday, and so I was already in a happy mood when we got to the Burlington Book Festival. This was my first real presentation for SPITFIRE, so I was just a little nervous (okay…scared, for those of you keeping score), but as I was…
Some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting the author of A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT on kellyrfineman ‘s blog this week. If you haven’t seen her interview, it’s terrific. If you did see Kelly’s post, you can consider this your second date with Linda! I’m doing a presentation on my upcoming historical…
