reading – Windy City Literacy

20 years

I’m back! After this past year and all of the changes that came with it, I decided to take the summer off from everything, just take time to decompress, and get in the right mindset for the 3rd school year of teaching during a pandemic… Anyways, I’m feeling much more centered and refreshed, so it’sContinue reading “20 years”

1 Year Anniversary!

One year ago we were under a stay-at-home order, and it had been months since I was in my school working with teachers. I was exhausted from having no break from my kids and bored with no school to go into. Blogging had always been at the back of mind; I’ve followed so many incredibleContinue reading “1 Year Anniversary!”

Reading Resolutions

I’m so excited for today’s post! When I first started thinking about guest bloggers, this person was at the top of my list! I’ve been following her work since graduate school, and still constantly reference her many books when I need new inspiration. Over the past couple of years, we’ve built a friendship as weContinue reading “Reading Resolutions”

Spooky Middle Grade Novels

Middle grade novels are my favorite! I’ve blogged about this before so it’s not a surprise. The length is perfect and they’re always so well written. One of my favorite things though, is just how many different genres there are for our intermediate readers! My favorite is historical fiction, but every once in a while,Continue reading “Spooky Middle Grade Novels”

Launching Book Clubs….Remotely

My love for student-led book clubs has grown tremendously over the past few years. We’ve worked so hard on getting our students to become independent readers and thinkers, and seeing it all come together in a book club, is one of the best feelings. My district made the decision to go full remote, and sinceContinue reading “Launching Book Clubs….Remotely”

Cover Annotations

So often I think we as teachers are quick to skip past the cover art of a new book. We’re usually so excited to get into the story with our students that we just dive right in. Unfortunately, by doing that we’re missing an amazing opportunity to allow students to interact with the text beforeContinue reading “Cover Annotations”

Hashtag Reading Responses

Reading response journals, notebooks, and prompts have been around for as long as I can remember. For those of you that may not know what I mean….students read a piece of text and then are either assigned, or get to choose, a prompt to respond to about their reading. For the most part, I’m aContinue reading “Hashtag Reading Responses”

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

My oldest is starting full day kindergarten this year and I’ve been waiting for this moment since he was born; I know that sounds crazy. Most parents usually look forward to other milestones, and dread when their kids start “real” school, but as a public school employee and advocate, I am so excited for hisContinue reading “Getting Ready for Kindergarten”

Informational Text Raffles!

As I’m writing this, I’m realizing this is my third post about something I did in my LRC. I promise I actually do things in my building that require me to actually leave the LRC!! Over the past couple years, I’ve been wanting to build more engagement for our students while they visit the LRCContinue reading “Informational Text Raffles!”

Book It Forward!

If you happen to be one of the people that work with me each day, then you know how a little over the top I can be when it comes to sharing books and getting kids excited to read. I love a great, obnoxious way to bring some excitement to a book that’s been lookedContinue reading “Book It Forward!”