Over the last several years, I’ve enjoyed working closely with the other editors here at The Mailbox to create, edit, and share a slew of great ideas for upper grades teachers. Just for fun, I’d like to share a few of my favorite ideas for your consideration. “My Page” – Sure, kids these days are…
History
To Code or Not to Code
One of the most beautiful things in the world is the IBM Selectric typewriter. It looks like a work of Mondrian, sounds like a tango, smells like the future, and responds like a thoroughbred beneath one’s fingertips. (That covers four out of five senses. I’ve never tasted a Selectric.) When I was quite young, I…
It Was Black and White and Read All Over
Newspapers. You may have heard of them. You may remember them. Some of you may still receive them at your home every day. On television and in the movies, they’re something dad reads every morning over breakfast while the family buzzes around him, or on the subway to work as he is jostled and pickpocketed….
Enjoying Children’s Book Week
Yesterday morning (May 13), the sun rose on silent wings, spreading its golden blanket across a land renewed. Renewed by what? Renewed by the fact that Children’s Book Week had descended upon us in the night. Yes, this is Children’s Book Week (CBW), one of the longest-running literacy initiatives in the country. Established in 1919,…
What’s Mike Mulligan Got to Do With It?
In the small town where I grew up in central Connecticut, in the era of avocado-colored kitchen appliances and a national reliance on wide collars and polyester fabrics, there were five elementary schools. One of these had already closed by the time I reached kindergarten and one was brand new. My hometown has grown over…
Dr. Seuss in the Upper Grades
We’re just a few days away from Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2, and how are we to mark this special day in English literature when the good doctor is too often thought of as a “wee kiddies” author? Get your upper grades students into the spirit of Seuss not as readers, but as writers! Step…
Role Models
Several years ago, the debate about who made for a good role model was blowing up pretty big in the media. Professional athletes and pop music superstars seemed to be the individuals of choice for young people back then. Maybe they still are today. I try to get an idea about it from my own…
February Writing Prompts
February is an atypical time of year. It’s a shorter-than-average month that follows closely on the heels of a series of holidays and a decent-size school vacation. February packs one national holiday and three notable observances—Presidents’ Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, and Chinese New Year. It’s also Black History Month, which lends February added weight…
We Vote for Teachers
Ah, election time. You can hear the happy citizenry delightfully and kindly debating the merits of each other’s preferred candidate, both of whom present a truthful and glorious roadmap into a prosperous future guaranteed to last. Most wonderful of all, of course, is their always-unbroken promise to help make our students their number-one priority. You…
Invoking Curiosity
This may be the last place on the Internet to get around to mentioning the amazing feat that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) pulled off in landing Curiosity on Mars. JPL engineers have become celebrities. Ridiculously amazing and stupendously glorious photos have been beamed back from the red planet by Curiosity. A tricky, nail-biter of…