“Free travel” may be one of the most magical phrases ever—and one that’s rarely uttered. But this week’s blog post highlights some amazing free travel options just for teachers. To go with the travel theme, our prize this week is Around the World in 80 Puzzles (Big Picture Press). Students take a fantastic journey via…
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” –Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King was a big proponent of communication. And when you think about it, being an…
So, when is it reasonable to use the words lanterns and rats in the same sentence? When you’re talkin’ about Chinese New Year 2020, that’s when! This year Chinese New Year begins January 25th. The holiday is based on the Lunar calendar, which means the dates change from year to year. On a Lunar calendar,…
I ran across an article about a sculpture of Knuffle Bunny unveiled at a library in the Brooklyn neighborhood where the story is set. How fun! I want to go there! That got me curious: What book character do you think deserves a sculpture in your town? Share a comment at this blog, and you’ll…
Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day! And it’s a day I should probably observe. (If you’ll note the photo above, I don’t have the cleanest desk.) I suspect many of you don’t even have desks in your classroom. When I taught I didn’t bother with one because I never had time to sit…
Are you smitten with mittens or gaga for gloves? I’m a glove gal myself on most days. When I wear mittens I have trouble hanging onto stuff. (Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) You’ll find a great selection of mitten and glove activities at themailbox.com. Search “mittens” and you’ll be lookin’ at…
Students get a fun lesson in thinking differently with One Snowy Morning by Kevin Tseng (Dial). I won’t give away the story, but let’s just say that the animals see the mysterious pile of snow in a whole new way…. For your chance to win this week’s prize, submit a comment to this blog by…
We haven’t gotten any snow here in Greensboro, NC. Yes, we generally have mild winters but by January there have usually been at least a few snowflake sightings. (And we all press our noses up against the office windows just like little kids.) I’m a bit disappointed. I’m visiting my home state–Michigan–in a couple of…
Can there possibly be a dozen different colors of dry erase markers? You bet! When I saw this 12-pack of multi-color dry erase markers I quietly squealed with delight! I love colorful pens, pencils, and markers of all kinds, and I’m thinking most teachers do too. This month’s giveaway also includes eight handy-dandy glue sticks…
The Monkey Mind Meditation Deck provides mindfulness activities to help students chill out, tune in, open up, and learn more. And you could win it! To enter our random drawing, post a comment to this blog to let us know which of these cards from the deck you anticipate would get the most use in…