New for A Monster Calls: Hexagonal Thinking Analysis Activities

This post contains affiliate links that help to support this blog. Thank you for using them. Last month at book club, when the teens and I were digging into A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds as we moved around hexagons, I was reminded of just how helpful these slips of paper are to kids.… Continue reading New for A Monster Calls: Hexagonal Thinking Analysis Activities

New! Using Hexagonal Thinking Activities for Long Way Down

This post contains affiliate links that support this blog. Thank you for using them. Have you read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds? It’s a powerful novel in verse about the causes, consequences, and mindset connected to street violence – and the whole story takes place in 60 seconds! I’ve been hearing teachers rave about… Continue reading New! Using Hexagonal Thinking Activities for Long Way Down

NEW: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Graphic Novel Review

This post includes affiliate links. Thank you for using them. Chris Grabenstein has done it again! The new graphic novel edition of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library totally knocks it out of the book stacks! I admit that I was a bit hesitant about this one – I mean, really: how could anything top the… Continue reading NEW: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Graphic Novel Review

Why Strange Star is the Perfect Autumn Read

When the leaves start to change color and the temperature drops, when pumpkins and apples rule every roadside market and suddenly orange is everyone’s favorite color, … one can’t help but think of autumn. Of color and beauty and abundance but also of the coming winter and full moons and stark branches. It can be… Continue reading Why Strange Star is the Perfect Autumn Read

Book Club, Dystopian Edition: The Hunger Games

One of the things I love about homeschooling is our ability to study literature in any way that we choose – and we choose to make it as hands-on and interactive as possible. Which, of course, has gotten much more complicated with this pandemic and the need for social distancing. That’s one reason I was… Continue reading Book Club, Dystopian Edition: The Hunger Games

The Three Little Pigs Mock Trial Project: Print or Digital Learning

I love planning our book club events; I mean, I really love it. They are some of my very favorite lessons to plan and to hold. Still, the boys surprised me when they asked to hold a trial in connection with one of our books a few years ago, but I dug in and created… Continue reading The Three Little Pigs Mock Trial Project: Print or Digital Learning

Book Club: Hexagonal Thinking with “Peak”

Roland Smith’s Peak amazed me. At first glance, it’s an easy read – a suspenseful survival story great for older middle-grade readers who can handle stories that include death and danger. If you look deeper, though, it’s much more than that. I challenged my students in advance to find the twist in the story –… Continue reading Book Club: Hexagonal Thinking with “Peak”

Book Club Leads to Cooking Club: “Secrets & Scones” by Laurel Remington

We started My Big Helper’s book club seven years ago, and it’s still going strong – and it’s growing a bit this year, thanks to a fantastic middle-grade book by Laurel Remington. When I first read Secrets and Scones last school year, I knew it would make a perfect book club read. With themes of… Continue reading Book Club Leads to Cooking Club: “Secrets & Scones” by Laurel Remington

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