Author: McKenzie Ross

I'm just a mom with a teaching license, raising my kids, and writing for this blog! Someday I hope to be back teaching when they are older, but for now, I'm here and loving it!
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Ways to Practice Spelling Words

We’ve been getting creative at our house working on spelling words each week and developing new ways to practice. Here are a few of our favorites: 

Type out the spelling words on the computer using fun fonts and different sizing.

Write out spelling words on sticky notes and hide them around the room. Have your child find the sticky notes, read the word, then spell the word. 

Use the sticky note method above, but this time create different sentences with the spelling words. The sillier the better! 

Play freeze dance, and when it’s time to freeze, choose a word to spell out loud. We love The Kiboomers Party Freeze Dance song, you can find it on most music streaming services. 

Write the spelling words on personal whiteboards (or a big whiteboard if you have one accessible!) Changing the medium that the words are being written can be helpful. 

Another change of medium is writing the spelling words on a mirror or window with a dry-erase marker. After the words are written, spell out loud a word for your child and have them erase the word you spelled out loud. 

Sit down together with the spelling word list and find repeating patterns within the words. Give words in different categories and organize them. Pulling apart and analyzing the words can help with spelling them later on. 

Another helpful post:

If You Give A Kid A Spelling List…
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Chapter Books for Grades 10-12

Chapter books for high school aged! I love this question! 

It can be so tricky suggesting chapter books to this age range because it’s an age where reading gets a bad rap and required reading can take up a lot of time, leaving less for “fun reading.” (I put this in quotations because the texts that were required reading when I was in school were some of the best books I’ve ever read! But many dislike these stories simply because it was required.) 

Here are a few fun chapter books and series for the teenage reader in your life. 

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Also notable, To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

The cool thing about the Harry Potter series is that the first few books are fantastic for late elementary/ early middle school, and then as the books go on they grow with the reader as the later books in the series are great for a high school reader.

Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

If you’ve ever found a friend who has also read both books, I’m sure you had a deep discussion on which book was your favorite too! In my opinion, I think Ender’s Shadow was better than Ender’s Game. And if you have a reader that is really into this series, there are plenty of books and side stories that Card has written in this universe!

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

It’ll make you laugh and cry within a matter of minutes.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Also notable, The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright

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What is the Literary Booker Prize?

This article is part of a blog series highlighting each book award to learn more about what each of them means. Check out more about this blog series and other posts included here.

What is the Booker Prize? This book award is for novels published explicitly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The book must also be written in the English language but additionally has a sister award for books that have been translated into English. 

The Booker Prize was named after the company Booker, McConnell, who sponsored the prize. 

The prize trophy was made by artist Jan Pieńkowski, and as of March 2023, the trophy now has a name. The decided name is now Iris, but you can read more about naming the trophy in their article here. How beautiful would this trophy be to have in your home or office?!

The 2022 Booker Prize winner was The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Sri Lankan author  Shehan Karunatilaka. The 2023 prize will be announced this November!

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A Worked For Perfect Score- The Spelling Test #TeacherMom

My daughter brought home her first list of spelling words a few weeks ago. There was a quick note from the teacher- “Please practice these spelling words with your children so they can be prepared for the test at the end of the week.” 

The remainder of the week looked like us working together to practice the spelling words, she is the type of student and child who needed to take the reins on her own homework and decide how much work and effort she was going to put in. And in true fashion, she put in all of the effort and work possible. 

She set up a time to type out the words on a computer to practice and asked us to quiz her once she felt like she had them down better. She practiced spelling them out loud and on paper and took the time to notice patterns within the different words. She worked really hard and put in a lot of effort to learn this new skill, and I was proud of her for this! She even worked extra hard on her bonus words, one of them being the word school, which is a tricky word to spell! 

The day of the spelling test she was a ball of nerves, completely anxious about what was ahead of her. We practiced a few affirmations. 

“I am more than my spelling test.”

“I am a smart kid.”

“I worked hard on my spelling words.” 

“I will do my best and that is good enough.” 

I knew all of the emotions she was feeling as memories of my high school AP literature test, my college statistics final, and many, many more instances came flooding back. The feeling that you just spent a lot of time and effort studying and not doing well on the test would be absolutely devastating and heartbreaking. 

The spelling test came and went, she came home from school and said that she felt really good about it but was still nervous to see her final score the next Monday. Again, I felt the same feelings with her, knowing that it’s out of her hands but the score is yet to come with the fear of the unknown. 

On Monday she came home from school with a spelling test in her backpack… And of course, she received 100%! She even spelled both bonus words correctly. 

That feeling of working hard and having it pay off was felt equally between us. 

There was also a big sense of pride I had in her knowing that this perfect score wasn’t something she easily obtained by natural smarts. It was something she set a plan and a goal for and worked hard to get there. To me, an easy perfect score is one thing, but putting in the time and effort for a good score is next level. 

Mary’s experience and advice with spelling tests:

If You Give A Kid A Spelling List…
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Chapter Books for Grades 7-9

I love giving a good book recommendation. My dream job would be an elementary school librarian where I can spend my days suggesting good books to early readers.

Here are a few chapter books for grades 7-9. These are good for reading aloud in the classroom (yes, you can still do read-aloud at this age!) or for them to read personally.

Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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The 2024 Scholarship is LIVE

Our 2023 scholarship season has come to a close. The applications we received absolutely blew us away and choosing our final 5 winners was harder than ever. We are constantly inspired by our scholarship applicants and the ways they better their communities.

Our 2024 scholarship is NOW LIVE. This means you can read the rules and submit a feedback form, as well as your final application (although, I would recommend holding off on your final application until the due date is closer!)

If you know of a graduating high school senior, would you please send them the link to our 2024 Build a Better Future Scholarship? All seniors deserve to know about this application and anyone sharing on their social media or through word of mouth always helps us reach those that need to see it.

As always, our email is open for any questions or feedback. Do not hesitate to reach out!

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Chapter Books for Grades 4-6

I recently wrote a list of chapter books suitable for grades 1-3, whether that’s to read aloud in your classroom or to have the students read independently to themselves. Now it’s time to give those middle grades some love! 

I’m not going to lie, chapter books in the 4-6th grade range are some of my absolute favorites. There are so many great novels and series for this group specifically! Here are just a few of my favorites. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

The first few books in this series are great for kids in this age group, and as they get older and become better readers, the books later in the series are more fitting.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

This book is a perfect introduction for kids into World War II. The storyline is captivating while still keeping a good reading level for grades 5 & 6.

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

The Charlie Bone series is a great one for those who love Harry Potter and want a new fantasy world to read about.

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

This chapter book is great for those children who might be weary of reading chapter books. It’s easy to read and has a fun storyline.

Frindle by Andrew Clements

It is a classic for a reason! The influence this teacher had on her students! The ending of the book! It’s all incredible. An absolute must-read.