Fans of historical fiction will enjoy The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The authors give readers a close-up look at legendary American financier, J.P. Morgan, and the woman he hired to be his personal librarian, Belle Da Costa Greene, in the early 1900s. Unbeknownst to Morgan, Greene was a Black woman…
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Writing Resource: How To Write Short Stories and Use Them To Further Your Writing Career by James Scott Bell
Writers looking to sharpen their short story skills and increase productivity will benefit from James Scott Bell’s manual, How To Write Short Stories and Use Them To Further Your Writing Career. The slim text breaks down the components of a short story into a shattering moment + the emotional fallout of said moment. Bell likens…
Short Story Spotlight: “The Leaf” by O. Henry
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Short Story Spotlight, Teacher Resources, Teacher TuesdayLeave a Reply
O. Henry is perhaps most famous for his short story, “The Gift of the Magi.” I would think that most of us who grew up in the States have read it either in middle or high school, and for good reason. O. Henry was a master of short stories, focusing on a simple problem or…
Writing Resource: The Magic Words by Cheryl B. Klein
Writers of children’s books will benefit from the advice of Cheryl B. Klein’s The Magic Words. Klein offers list after list of practical, tangible, effective advice for every aspect of the writing process from generating ideas to drafting and revision. Her detailed instructions on creating a scene-by-scene bookmap might seem overwhelming, but if you can’t…
A Gem of a Poem: “Chairs in Snow” by E.B. White
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in A Gem of A Poem, Teacher Inspiration, Teacher Resources, Teacher TuesdayLeave a Reply
Teachers creating a mini-lesson on poetry, simile, or imagery can utilize E.B.White’s “Chairs in Snow.” While spring may be an easy choice for writing poetry about nature, using winter imagery may prove more challenging. Yet, White’s poem contains a simile that draws in winter, summer, and fall, and compares them to youth. How many of…
What I’m Reading: In The Great Green Room by Amy Gary
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, What I'm Reading, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
So many of us, I am sure, have “Goodnight Moon” on our bookshelves. When they were little, my children would select three books each night, and “Goodnight Moon” was a popular choice. Amy Gary’s biography of Margaret Wise Brown illuminates the life of the beloved children’s author, whom I used to picture her as a…
Teacher Resource: “The Santa Ana” by Joan Didion
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Teacher Resources, Teacher Tuesday, Writing Inspiration, Writing ResourceLeave a Reply
Joan Didion is an American writer of novels, essays, short stories, and screenplays. In the College Writing class I teach, I include Didion’s essay, “The Santa Ana,” on my syllabus as an example of a descriptive writing. Recent events in California, particularly the fires in Los Angeles, remind me of Didion’s work because of the…
Art in the Classroom: Ansel Adams
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Art in the English Classroom, Teacher Resources, Teacher Tuesday, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
One aspect of natural disasters, such as the current fires burning across Los Angeles, is the need for images of what was there before. Taking photographs has never been easier than it is today. No film, no waiting to get the pictures back. And yet how many of our pictures are meaningful? A potential research…
A Gem of a Poem: “Snow Dust” by Robert Frost
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in A Gem of A Poem, Teacher Tuesday, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
“Snow Dust” by Robert Frost is a the perfect poem to energize kids who are sluggish after break. It is short enough to pair with one or two other poems, but also complex enough to stand on its own. Students can grasp the meaning of the poem and list imagery words. Then they can think…
Teacher Tuesday: Tuck Everlasting
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in A Classic to Consider, A Classic to Consider, Summer Reading, Teacher TuesdayLeave a Reply
I couldn’t resist creating another post about the children’s classic novel, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. Writing about it last week reminded me of fun moments in my classroom when my sixth graders and I analyzed the novel. We drew a Ferris wheel on the chalkboard (yes, I’m that old) and placed the characters from…