March 1, 2023, is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. As a child, I would eat almost anything—cooked cabbage, pickled beets, and liver were all perfectly fine. But peanut butter? I despised peanut butter. I would even give my Dad all of the peanut butter cups from my trick-or-treat bag every fall. (No, I have no…
Do you hear that collective groan? That’s your students. They’re aware you’re reading a blog about informational writing. It’s rare to find a child (or an adult) who gets excited about informational writing. But we both know that it’s an important skill. It’s rare to find a career that doesn’t involve some sort of writing…
When I was growing up, my family had definite holiday traditions. I appreciated them when I was younger and even more now that I’m older. Family traditions give children a sense of consistency and community. For Thanksgiving, my extended family on my mother’s side would gather for the holiday meal. (My cousin would always bring…
Recently, I saw that there was an unofficial holiday in November titled, “I Love to Write Day.” Now I know that as a teacher you want every single day to be “I Love to Write Day!” And that’s tough, because many youngsters find writing to be frustrating and/or dull. Fortunately, we have lots of writing…