Do you have students who are interested in math and science, but claim they hate writing or don't know what to write about in their writer’s notebooks? Here are 10 newer picture books to inspire them to write about their passion.

Have you ever banned a topic from your writing workshop? If you have, you’re not alone…but you may want to think twice about that policy.

Do you have students who claim they don't know what to write about in their writer's notebooks? Here are 10 new picture books to inspire them to write.

Sarah Picard Taylor provides you with five ideas to get K - 2 writers writing when they find themselves stuck.

So often, we run into students who say, “I don’t know what to write about.” We work to help them develop topics. We make lists of writing ideas. We encourage them to explore… Read More →

Almost daily I receive an email asking for a list of books on a certain topic, or genre, or time period, or skill. Many readers of this blog first came here from Google seeking just that.

Fortunately there are some terrific sites out there that can provide teachers with basic lists of picture books, categorized in almost any way imaginable. The ten sites I've listed below will help you locate "the good stuff." Also be sure to take advantage of the expertise available through your local librarian or media center specialist.

Know of a site that should be here? Email me and let me know!


Dr. Sue LeBeau's Links to Picture Books

This nicely categorized collection of picture books provides a comfortable starting point for any teacher looking to incorporate picture books in a purposeful way. Sue has categorized them by Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. A site worth bookmarking.

Help Readers Love Reading

Here you'll find short and fun reviews of picture books. It's hard to keep up with all the new books out there, so a resource like this is your best bet. Blogger Brian Wilhorn reviews a single book every few days, and he seems to have some passion for it.

Reading Workshop

This site features a list of picture books that you can use to teach specific reading skills and strategies (foreshadowing,, predictions, setting, etc). For those looking for ideas for incorporation, and for those seeking specific titles, this site is an excellent resource.

Writing Fix: Picture Book Prompts

This site is packed with tons of resources, although for our immediate purposes I recommend the 60+ picture book inspired writing lessons (that's what I've linked to). You'll find some of your favorites here, along with complete lesson plans and ready-to-go printables for student use. All free! No registration or membership needed. Equally cool at this site, however, is the chapter book excerpts as mentor texts section, which enables you to use just a few pages, or a chapter at most, of a novel as a writing model.

Storyline Online

Famous celebrities read aloud from popular children's books! A fine and growing collection of favorite picture books.

Picture Book Database

A really terrific online tool that allows you to search picture book titles alphabetically by theme or topic.

Trade Book Matrices

Although it says at this site that these are book for adult learners, many of the titles in these downloadable Word docs are picture books. Books are grouped by topic (Westward Expansion, Civil Rights, Grandparents, Immigrants, etc.) and some teaching ideas are included for select topics.

Book Wizard from Scholastic

At this site, Scholastic provides a really valuable tool called BookALike. This allows you to enter a book title, find the exact grade-equivalent level of that book, and then browse books of similar reading difficulty and topic. What's even more useful is that you can use a "slider" to choose books of slightly greater or lesser difficulty. So if a student loved The Magic Tree House as a second grader two years ago, you can simply enter that title and then slide up two grades to locate appropriate titles for fourth grade.

Database of Award Winning Children's Literature

This database all

February is Fantasy month on #ScribeChat, so tonight’s topic on Twitter explores the enduring appeal of fantasy literature @ 6-7 pm PT/9-10 ET. Do you think there’s a saturation point in the marketplace? That realistic literature is about to see a renaissance? Or is fantasy the oldest story form for a reason? What is it [...]

Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics

Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular posting in the 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book series.

In December, 2008, I asked Liz if she might want to update the posting. She agreed and kept track of her submissions in January. The topics listed below are those which she sees over and over. She pointed out, “Just because I see these topics many times doesn’t mean you can’t write about it.” However, the competition is very stiff for picture books in these categories and your submission should really “stand out in today’s crowded marketplace.”

In comparing the 2007 and 2009 lists, you’ll see some overlap, such as grandparents. But there are new topics on the 2009 list, such as “going green.” Some differences, such as the predominance of holiday stories in 2007, may also result from the different times of the year the data was gathered. Be aware, also, that another editors list might vary widely. Still, knowing that many others writers are working on these topics, should make us either avoid them entirely, or take our manuscript to that next level.

2009 List of 10 Picture Book Topics to Avoid

• 2009 Repeated topics from 2007 list:
  • Bedtime
  • Cats and kittens (was pets in general in 2007)
  • Visiting grandparents
  • First Day of school
  • Dealing with disabilities
• New for 2009 list:
  • Monsters acting un-monster-like
  • Going Green
  • “I Love You” stories
  • Boredom
  • Baby Bird Learning to Fly

On 2007 List but not on 2009 list:
It would still be wise to check out the competition on these topics.

• Cleaning up your room
• Tooth fairy
• Christmas/Halloween
• “Hi! My name is. . . and I am (seven) years old!”
• New baby in the family
• Barnyard stories
• Personal hygiene

If you’re looking for information about a specific topic or a post you’ve seen in the past, you may want to use the search box in the top right corner, just under our header. Also, if you’re interested in the kinds of topics we’re currently writing about, you may want to check posts from this month [...]

NOTE TO SELF: another move to replace people?


Perhaps as many people do, you might have complained about the long wait at the supermarket to pay the cashier. Then again there's always the do-it-yourself scanning system that in theory but not necessarily in practice, makes the check-out faster. Yet another move afoot or at hand in this case has been created to improve on the self checkout system with the use of a high-tech hand-held personal scanner.

Just what we need in life: another "tool" to schlep along while shopping.

The way it works is shoppers remove an item off the shelf, scan it and bag it all on their own without any human intervention. Although more commonly used in Europe, North American supermarkets are beginning to introduce it slowly to consumers. Once they finished shopping customers head to the front of the store and have their credit cards scanned.

So how about customers who try to "forget" about paying for an item?

To avoid this occurence some shoppers are randomly picked for audits - as a reminder of course for those "oh my - who me?" occasions.

There is no information provided as to whether stores using this "service" make items available at a lower cost since customers do all the work. But then don't we always?

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/06/21/scan.as.you.shop.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo


Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

Someone from my school in NH emailed me the other day and wanted me to write a poem for one of the teachers who is retiring, since I often did that when I was still working. No problem...told them to send me ideas of what they would like in the poem...key words, so to speak, and I could do it. Took me about an hour or less.

Last week the moderator of an on-line children's poetry critique group I used to moderate wrote and invited me to return to the group, since they had an opening. I did, but that means I need to start writing in verse again. And I could do that if I had any ideas about what subject to write about. It's so much easier for me if someone gives me a topic...then I can write. It's happened often with my writing...even with KNOWING JOSEPH, where a psychologist who works with families of children with autism suggested I write a story about a sibling who felt he needed to be perfect. No problem...I did it.

So here is what I would like...help me brainstorm ideas or topics for some children's verse...what would you like to see a poem or a rhyming picture book about? Give me some key words to write about..help me get started.

On another note, we are off to Georgia tomorrow for a few days to see the grandkids one more time before they leave for Germany, where my son will be stationed for the next two or three years. At least it will be a nice place to visit in the fall or next spring.