Literacy Learning Zone

__________________________________________________ The March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers . Join us for a month of writing! __________________________________________________ "Mommy ... what if ..." Madison whispered to me yesterday morning as we were picking out clothes for church. "What, honey?" I asked, wondering where her concern was coming from. "Well, what if Harley has her surgery and she dies?" And this came with a flood of tears. "Oh, come here," I whispered in her ear and hugged her close , "Harley is going to be just fine." Our six month old puppy is going to the vet today to be spayed. We've talked about this appointment for weeks and tried to explain the surgery to the girls. I talked through the surgery again rea...

__________________________________________________ The March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers . Join us for a month of writing! __________________________________________________ A couple days ago, in my {Today I} slice , I mentioned that the girls and I visited the Usborne book sale at the YMCA ... with no intention of buying any books. I just purchased a bunch of books through the Scholastic book clubs, and I also know that Usborne books are usually more expensive. But we ended up by eight new books. I found two great titles as did my girls, including a little gift for my school's social worker and psychologist. We have many kids who come from hard places, who bring a lot of baggage to school, who are just having a hard time with life. It is draining on us -- teachers, social workers, an...

I love sharing book titles with close friends, so I'm happy you are here! I want to share a book that you must add to your to-be-read list. Ruth Ayres has a brand new book titled  Enticing Hard-To-Reach Writers   published by Stenhouse Publishers. It's another must read from Ruth. There are many professional development books available to learn about mastering our craft of teaching.   However, there are only a few that make a true impact -- and this is one book that weaves raw truth, research, practical ideas, and story all in one {cute} little package.  In  Enticing Hard-To-Reach Writers , Ruth allows her worlds to collide during the creation:  "In this book, I entwine my three story lines as educator, momma, and writer." (p. 6) And she does this in an amazing way through sharing stories of her family, adoption, children living in hard places -- and doing their best  -- and healing. She shares how we can use research ...