I’ve been thinking about books that explore the relationship between mother and child. Pictured are volumes pulled at random from my own bookcase. Once I started pulling, I realized I had more than I thought – many more that are not in the picture. The mother-child relationship keeps readers engaged…do we see ourselves in the…
All posts by Jill M Smith
Perfect Pairing: The Most Dangerous Game and Candy Land
Looking for a fun way to end the year that is still about literature, but is not an essay or a test? Try transforming a short story, novel, or poem into a board game. For example, Candy Land is a great game that fits a journey or pursuit type of story. Students can use an…
April Reads
Because of travel, April was not as reading-strong as I would have liked. The Wilder Boys Saving Cody by Brandon Wallace is the third in this middle-grade series which is the genre I write in, and the protagonists are two brothers, which is another similarity to my own manuscript. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote…
A Gem of a Poem: maggie and milly and molly and may by e. e. cummings
A poem to add to any teacher’s toolbox: maggie and milly and molly and may by e. e. cummings. Today’s choice is inspired by my daughter, Mia, whose closest friends’ names all begin with “M” (plus one friend whose name begins with “A”). When she speaks about her friends, ee cummings’ poem comes to mind…
What I’m Reading: The Essay by Robin Yocum
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Teacher Inspiration, What I'm ReadingLeave a Reply
I love discovering an author whom I’ve never read – sometimes never heard of – through friends or other recommendations. When I read a book by such an author, I am apprehensive of what my reaction will be. Just because a friend or family member liked it, will I? Robin Yocum is an example of…
A Gem of a Poem: Morning Song by Cat Stevens
This time of year, most of us are looking for signs of spring – light green buds on the willow tree, yellow blooms of daffodils and forsythia. For those of us who live in climates where the beauty of winter becomes gray and dreary by March, April brings the promise of warmer temperatures and vibrant…
March Reads
The Paris Bookseller and Fried Green Tomatoes contain strong bonds between women who work together, live together, and even love together. In Remarkably Bright Creatures, the hero for me was the female protagonist, Tova, more so than the octopus, Marcellus, although I did enjoy seeing what he was up to. In her memoir, The Glass…
A Gem of a Poem: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
The change of seasons is an ideal time to assign creative writing, especially poetry. Connecting feelings with themes of change and hope can inspire even the most reluctant student to take a chance at waxing poetic. While each season has natural changes to anticipate, something about sighting the first flowers of spring makes anyone smile…
Using Art in the English classroom
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Art in the English Classroom, Teacher InspirationLeave a Reply
Are you stuck for a different writing prompt for your students? I love to visit art museums, and on a recent weekend trip to Boston, I visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I find that I am drawn paintings with light used in surprising or unusual ways. In the painting above, similar to one…
February Reads
I read three books – two fiction and one autobiography for February. All different from each other, but in each the mother and child relationship plays a key role. In Pachinko and Mom & Me & Mom (the autobiography of Maya Angelou) the mother-child relationship evolves over a lifetime. In Very Valentine, the grandmother-granddaughter relationship…