Politics and Picture Books: A Proposed Lesson for High School Students

If I told you the U. S. Defense Department’s procurement process would be a great subject for a picture book, you might not take me too seriously. The topic sounds complicated and boring and nonfiction writers tend to look for the exotic, the unheard of, the crazy, the bizarre. A good story idea can also… [Read More]

Teacher Resources & Lesson Plans Available For “Just Fine the Way They Are”

Since school will be starting soon, educators and parents who would like to engage their children in some fun learning activities can download lesson plans that accompany Just Fine The Way They Are; From Dirt Roads to Rail Roads to Interstates. Developed by two elementary educators who are also adjunct professors in the Department of… [Read More]

Just For You Teachers

When I asked two educators to create lesson plans for Just Fine the Way They Are, I had no idea how far the term “lesson plan” had evolved since my days as a first grade teacher back in the 1970s. The “Social Studies/Transportation” resources they have written for home-school and classroom teachers are formatted just… [Read More]

Shakespeare

I’m just home from the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, reading through the “Twelfth Night,” and trying to pick up anything I might have missed when I saw it on stage.  Shakespeare is a challenge and there’s no getting to the bottom of any of his plays.  There’s no last word on what the bard… [Read More]

Come For a Ride?

As the third set of lesson plans for Just Fine the Way They Are (“Writer’s Craft”) is posted and ready for you teachers out there to download, I realize how much I like the illustration my graphic designer chose for the “button” that clicks you to those lesson plans:  A car in motion…a car obviously… [Read More]