Harry Potter
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Dear teaching, From the moment I wrote on Mrs. Francescutti’s chalkboard during student teaching and gave fourth graders word search advice in an evergreen Lake Forest Park classroom, I knew one thing was real: I fell in love with you. A love so deep I gave you my all– From my creativity and money To…
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Online teaching is no joke. This annotated snapshot of my materials sprawl for my recent PD alludes to my discomfort with teaching online. It makes me wonder: what does *students’* discomfort with *learning* online look like? We’re all doing our best in a situation that none of us signed up for, and I remain in…
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Hope everyone reading this and your families are doing ok. Teaching and learning look very different right now. Although I am personally hoping that the only literacy work that students are doing is reading and keeping a journal, I think we can support that work by doing book talks and offering writing ideas and reminders,…
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Hey, Potterheads! At our very last Harry Potter Club session, everyone created a zine page. The only guidelines were: use 8.5×11 printer paper in portrait layout, include a border of some kind, and share what Harry Potter means to you. The materials were inspiring: colored origami paper, washi tape, stamps, stickers, Harry Potter wrapping paper,…
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One of my favorite lessons during the Harry Potter Club was writing a Harry Potter-themed version of The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. This book’s structure is PERFECT for having students write about the main idea of a topic. I love introducing this structure at the beginning of the year, and then returning to…
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Potterheads getting inspiration from The Important Book to craft stanzas about Harry Potter people, places, and things. This year was the third iteration of the Harry Potter Club, and it was my favorite yet. For the first time, I ran it like a workshop, which is my teaching model of choice (Why it took me…
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Potterheads, For your final divination class, please complete a survey by clicking here. Your fellow wizard, Professor Vector
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If I could find a way to make the Harry Potter Club my full-time job, Center would need a new literacy coach. We’ve met three times so far, and this year, I’ve structured it like a workshop. We have a soft start in which wizards have options for activities while everyone arrives and gets settled:…
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For transfiguration class today, wizards will be transforming paper into owls: Do this version first. If you master that version, try this one:
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I have been obsessed with Dr. Rudine Bishop Sims’s quote about books as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors ever since I first heard it. So true. So powerful. When I saw Grant Snider’s print inspired by the quote, I knew I had to get it. After the reading specialist at my school transformed a…
A SEA OF TALK 