Eighth graders often get the short end of the stick– they aren’t the “newbies” at the school, but they aren’t the “olders” either. I suppose they are the middle children of junior high. But here’s the thing, they are so much fun. Of all the grades I taught, eighth grade was my favorite. Because they weren’t the newbies, they were a little more confident, a little more mature, and because they weren’t the olders, they typically didn’t have a “better than thou” attitude that sometimes comes with being the oldest in the school.
They were in the sweet spot of still kind of holding onto childhood, but ready to tackle deeper thinking and issues. This made it fun to choose the books we read for our class novel studies. We’d typically read a couple of non-fiction books together, one of which was Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson.
The book details the 12-day manhunt for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It’s full of action, and is told in a story-like format, which makes it more enticing to junior high students. It’s also fairly short– only 208 pages. Its 14 chapters contain photos and documents from the time period and chase, letting the kids really get a feel for what the people and places looked like at the time. They can immerse themselves into the story and learn new things while they do so.
If you’re interested in teaching this book to your classes, but just don’t know where to start, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered. Below you will find a couple of resources you are welcome to print off and use to help students stay organized as they read the book. There are lots of events and people in the book, and these resources will help your students keep track of the who, what, when, where, and why of the book.
**These resources are for classroom or personal use only. They may not be resold, reposted, or claimed as your own.**
There are so many opportunities to create and carry on family traditions during the holidays. We don’t have to create traditions that are a huge production— sometimes a quiet night at home with people you love is the best way to spend your time. Have you ever considered making books or reading part of your holiday traditions? There’s not much that is better than finding a cozy corner in your house, curling up with a soft blanket, and reading some good books, and Fall time is the perfect time to cozy up with your family and read some fun books together!
To get you started, I’ve selected a few books about Fall that will get you in the spirit of Autumn!
It’s Fall! by Linda Glaser with cut-paper illustrations by Susan Swan
This darling book follows a little boy as he explores and experiences Fall, learning about all the things that happen during this time of year. He notices the leaves changing colors, the animals starting to get ready to hibernate, the leaves falling, and the temperatures cooling. They plant bulbs in their yard in preparation for next Spring, snd he plays in the piles of leaves that have fallen off the trees.
The illustrations in this book are phenomenal— they were all created out of paper then photographed for the book.
Sammy in the Fall by Anita Bijsterbosch
Sammy is a curious little tiger who loves going on adventures with his stuffed horse, Hob. Together, they do all sorts of fun Fall activities, like picking apples, raking leaves and jumping into the piles, collecting acorns, doing crafts, and playing in the rain.
The illustrations are adorable and the story is fun and engaging for younger kids.
The Roll-Away Pumpkin by Junia Wonders and illustrated by Daniela Volpari
Marla Little finds herself in quite a predicament: her giant pumpkin has started to roll away, and she can’t catch it. As she runs behind it, trying to stop it from rolling any farther, she exclaims, “Diddle-dee-doo! Oh, what shall I do?” She follows her pumpkin through town, and with every place her pumpkin rolls by, she gathers a new towns person to help her stop the pumpkin. Soon, the baker, the butcher, the farmer, the milk man, and the parade marchers are all running after the roll-away pumpkin with Marla. The pumpkin starts to get close to where some people are trying to cook a feast for the townspeople. Acting quickly, Marla flips a giant cauldron onto its side just in time for her giant pumpkin to roll right into it, where it stays until it is made into a delicious soup for all the people.
This story is a fun one to read with little kids, and is easy to get them involved in it with the repetition of Marla exclaiming “Diddle-dee-doo! Oh what shall I do?” every time she adds a new person to her pumpkin rescue efforts.
Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre
This book features photographs of all the beauties that Fall holds. It highlights the rich, vibrant colors of the changing leaves, describes the sounds and sights of the leaves falling from the trees, and what happens to the leaves as they fall, dry up, and begin to decompose. The photographs capture the textures of nature during this time of year, and show just how beautiful and wonderful Fall is.
Apples and Robins by Lucie Félix
This book is so unique! Rather than traditional illustrations to tell the story, the author uses shapes cut out in the middle of the pages to form pictures. This format helps readers to see that everything around them is made up of shapes, put together to form new shapes and objects. The story is very simple, telling about picking apples and building a bird house for the robin. A storm comes and blows the leaves, apples, and birdhouse out of the tree, and again, uses shapes to rebuild the birdhouse.
This book was so fun to read. The cut out shapes made it engaging and fun to follow!
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Reading is truly one of the best ways to connect with people around you— especially younger kids. It’s a great way to build language skills as well as build relationships and establish traditions. I hope you take some time soon to pick up a good book and share it with someone you care about!
If you’ve been in the classroom for any length of time, you have likely witnessed first hand just how mean and destructive bullies can be. It’s a problem that seems to have existed for as long as humans have been around, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s becoming more prominent with social media being so accessible. Students need to understand that bullying is never ok and is never the answer. The repercussions of being the target of a bully are long lasting and can be quite detrimental to a person’s health, confidence, and self image.
As teachers, it is crucial that if we see something, we say something, and that we teach our students to do the same. We need to teach our students what bullying is, what it can look like, how it feels to be the victim, and how to address it when/if we see it happening. I found a few picture books that did a great job of teaching these concepts— take a look!
Giraffe is Left Out written by Sue Craves, illustrated by Trevor Dunton
Giraffe, Little Lion, and Monkey are all friends. When Leopard moves into their class, Giraffe is not excited. He does not want to let Leopard join their friend group, and purposely excludes Leopard from any and all activities. Leopard is sad and feels left out. When it comes time to pass out invitations to his birthday party, Leopard gives one to everyone else, but doesn’t give one to Giraffe. Now Giraffe is the one who feels left out. Soon, he begins to understand just how mean it is to leave people out, and he learns that Leopard is actually a really good friend. Giraffe mends his ways and becomes a friend to Leopard in the end.
I liked how this book showed that excluding people is a form of bullying, and that it can be hurtful to others.
Billy Bully by Alvaro & Ana Galan, illustrated by Steve Simpson
When Billy Bully comes to the playground to play with the other kids, he takes over and makes the fun go away. He takes toys, cuts in line, pushes, breaks others’ things, tricks people, and won’t take turns. No one wants to play with him. With every mean thing he does, another kid leaves the playground. Soon, he is left with no one to play with, and he starts to realize that the things he was doing weren’t nice. One by one, he goes to his friends and apologizes and makes up for the things he had done. Soon, all the kids have come back to play together.
The illustrations in this book are so cute, and the story is easy to follow. There is also a counting element as Bully’s friends leave and come back one by one. I loved how it depicted several ways that someone can be a bully to help kids understand that bullying can take on many forms.
Eddie the Bully written and illustrated by Henry Cole
Eddie is mean, mean, mean. He says unkind things about his friends, teases them, ruins their art projects, and more. No one likes to play with him. He’s always picked last for teams, left out of the fun, and ignored. When Carla, a new girl, moves into their class, she is assigned to sit right next to Eddie. Everyone expects Eddie to say and do mean things to her, but before he has the chance, Carla compliments Eddie on his sweater and tells him that everyone must want to be his friend! Eddie is unsure what to say to this, because he knows that it isn’t true. Carla asks Eddie to help her make new friends, and Eddie agrees. He quickly learns that it feels good to be nice, so he changes his ways and starts over, this time, being a friend to everyone.
Similar to Billy Bully, this story shows different ways that bullying can happen, helping kids to understand that bullying isn’t just one thing.
Bullies Never Win by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Arthur Howard
Jessica is a first grader who worries about a lot of things, one of which is Brenda, a girl at school who likes to bully and be mean. Brenda finds a way to make fun of everything Jessica does, so Jessica slowly stops doing all the things she loves to do. Jessica finally has had enough and breaks down crying to her mom. Her mom suggests that she stand up for herself or tell their teacher. Jessica is worried about what she will do or say to Brenda to make her stop being a bully. The next day at lunch, Brenda continues to tease and say mean things. Jessica has had enough, and stands up and tells Brenda that, “… bullies never win!” Brenda is embarrassed and doesn’t say anything else to Jessica. That night, Jessica feels proud of herself for standing up to Brenda.
I loved how this story showed how to stand up to a bully. It was an empowering story!
Bully written and illustrated by Jennifer Sattler
Bully is a bull frog, and he wants all the lily pads on the pond all for himself. He won’t let any other pond friends eat them, smell them, or look at them. Soon, he has chased everyone away and is all alone. There is only one flower left, and he wants it just for himself, so he sits on it to protect it. A bee comes up to him and tries to save the flower by reminding Bully that he’s sitting on it. Bully is mean and asks the bee what he’s going to do about it. The bee has an idea, and buzzes away to gather his friends. Together they reclaim the pond and chase Bully away. The lilies begin to grow again, and the pond is back to its thriving self. Bully moves to a new pond, but is sad to see that it’s just a pond of mud, and he is all alone. Still, all he cares about is that the pond is all his.
This story showed that it can be powerful to stand up to a bully as a group— strength in numbers.
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Bullying is never the answer, and students need to know that. These books do a great job of teaching that and showing that bullying can take on many forms. Bullying is a problem that many kids will face, either directly or indirectly, and it’s important that students be equipped with the tools they need to stand up to bullies and speak up when they see it happening. We may not be able to completely eradicate bullying from our schools, but we can certainly make a difference by teaching our students to respect and watch out for one another.
Holiday themed books add such a fun element to holidays! They are usually only pulled out once a year, making them even more special. I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite Halloween themed books for you— check them out!
Pumpkins on Strike by Jennifer Jones
The pumpkins are tired of being mistreated— they are always getting painted on, cut up and carved, and they just won’t take it anymore! They band together and go on strike, refusing to let anyone else mistreat them. Once the humans realize how they’ve been hurting the pumpkins, they try to make things right by throwing a celebration for their pumpkin friends.
This book has cute illustrations and emphasizes the importance of treating others with respect and kindness.
Pig the Monster by Aaron Blabey
Another book in the Pig the Pug series, this book follows Pig on a Halloween rampage. Pig wants all the candy for himself, and will do just about anything to get it. At the end of the night, he spreads out his candy and begins to frantically eat his loot. His friend Trevor warns him not to eat a chocolate bar, but Pig doesn’t listen and ends up in trouble because of it. Trevor saves the day, and Pig learns a lesson about not being greedy and not overeating candy.
The Pig books are always a good time, with great illustrations, stories written in rhyme, and a good lesson at the end of the book. This book was no exception, and is just as delightful as the other books in the series.
Goodnight, Broom by Deb Adamson and Illustrated by Ma Pe
This book is a cute spoof on the children’s classic, Goodnight, Moon. It shows a cute little witch getting ready for bed, saying goodnight to all the spooky things in her room.
The illustrations are fun and engaging, and the story is a sweet Halloween bed time story.
Gustavo, the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago
Gustavo is a lonely, shy ghost. He is always being left out and doesn’t have any friends. The idea of making friends terrifies him, but he wants so badly to have a friend. He tries so hard to fit in, but no one seems to see him. He decides he has to be brave and let people see him for who he is. He decides that he will put on a violin concert and invites the other kids to come listen. The day of the concert comes, and he is very nervous. No one comes to hear him. He begins playing anyway, and gets carried away in the music. Soon, all the other monsters show up and apologize for being late. They are very impressed with his music and can finally see Gustavo for who he is. Gustavo soon has many friends and feels so loved.
The pictures in this book are adorable, and the story teaches a powerful lesson about being true to yourself.
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Illustrated by Axel Scheffler
This book is probably my all time favorite Halloween book. Written in rhyme and repetition, Room on the Broom follows a witch as she keeps losing things while flying on her broom. Every time she lands to find what she lost, she picks up a new friend… until her broom just can’t handle the weight of all the friends. The broom snaps and they all go tumbling down, only to be met by a big, mean, hungry dragon. Covered in swamp goo, the new friends band together to scare the dragon away and save their witch friend.
The rhyming and repetition in this book make it very engaging and fun for kids and adults alike. Along with being a fun read, the story teaches a great lesson about including and making room for everyone, as well as working together to help friends.
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And there you have it! There are so many fun Halloween picture books out there, and I had a hard time narrowing it down to just these five. If you haven’t read these already, head to your local library and check them out! Or, if someone else has already snagged them, you can find read alouds of each of these books on YouTube.
Learning to write— like the actual formation of letters— is a fundamental skill when learning to read and write in any language. If you don’t know how to form the letters, writing legibly and making sense of what is written becomes nearly impossible. You simply must know how to form each letter before you can start putting letters together to form words, sentences, paragraphs, or entire pages of writing.
I don’t have much memory of learning to write in standard penmanship, but I do vividly remember learning to write cursive. I recall working so hard and practicing a lot to be able to write cursive neatly and efficiently, and that’s about all I wrote in for a long time. Fast forward lots of years, and my handwriting now has become a hybrid of standard and cursive. My kids are now learning cursive at school, and I am so glad they are. It’s becoming a “lost art” the more we turn to digital forms of communication.
I read an article the other day on NPR by Jonathan Lambert that discussed the benefits of taking a pencil to paper and writing rather than typing something out. In the article, Lambert points out that taking the time to actually handwrite things has big benefits to children and adults alike. He said, “In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material.”
Sure, typing is much quicker and more efficient. Oftentimes, it’s also more convenient— like when you remember something to add to your “to do” list while you’re out and about; it’s so easy to quickly pull out your phone and type it into your Notes app. But… consider how many times you have been typing and have been on autopilot to the point that you can’t even remember what you typed. I know it has happened to me several times. The brain to hand connection isn’t nearly as strong when typing as it is when actually taking a pen to paper.
Think for a minute about what has to happen when you type. You locate the letter on the keyboard and click it. Once you have memorized the keyboard, muscle memory kind of kicks in and your fingers almost just know what to do. It’s really pretty cool— you think of a word you want to type out, and as you’re typing, your brain tells your fingers where to move to click each letter.
Now, take a minute and think about what happens when you pick up a pencil and put it to a piece of paper to write. First, your brain must tell your hand to pick up the pencil and and correctly hold it. Then, you must think about where on the page you are going to start writing (usually the left side). Your brain must then decide which word you are going to spell, then break the word apart and make sense of which letters to write and in which order they go. Next, your brain must communicate to your hand how to form each letter, and on top of that, it is telling your hand to make micro-adjustments as you write out each letter, such as needing to close the circle on your “d” a bit more before you start to make the line on the side of the letter. The amount of brain to hand then back to brain communication is much more involved with handwriting than it is with typing. It’s really quite remarkable.
Not only does handwriting something take more “brain power” so to speak, it also helps to solidify material and create a stronger memory for recalling information later. Because you often paraphrase what you hear, your brain must process what you are writing, therefore creating a tighter link between the paper and your mind. Whereas with typing, you can often type verbatim what you are hearing, all while not even fully registering what you are typing.
Obviously, there are definitely times when typing is much more efficient— can you even imagine hand writing that 100 page dissertation for your doctorate degree?! No thank you! But the art of writing by hand has its place as well. Receiving a hand written note from someone you love is so much more meaningful than having them send a text or an email. It also becomes a treasure years down the road to be able to see your grandparents’ handwriting or your kindergartener’s first sentence written out. Handwriting also goes a long way when teaching kids the early foundations of literacy.
So even though we are becoming more and more digital today, let’s make sure we don’t lost the art of handwriting, for it seems that if we do, it could be detrimental to the way we process written text. Literacy quite literally depends on it!
If you’d like to read the article referenced above, you can find it here.
Lambert, J. (2024, May 11). Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/11/1250529661/handwriting-cursive-typing-schools-learning-brain
It’s often tricky to find books that will capture the interest of reluctant readers. It’s a fine balance between providing a challenge, but not too much of a challenge: you want to find a book that isn’t so far below grade level that they get bored quickly, and you definitely don’t want to find a book that is so far off from their current reading level that they get frustrated and end up giving up all together.
Thankfully, there are authors that just understand this, who write books that are engaging, just challenging enough, and will capture and hold the attention of their readers. One of those authors is Georgia Bragg— she has a knack for writing books that are so much fun! One book of hers in particular, is at the top of my “Books for Reluctant Readers” list: How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous.
In this book, Bragg details the awful demises of nineteen historically famous people like Cleopatra, George Washington, Marie Curie, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others. Each chapter focuses on one individual, and recounts a little about their life and what they are famous for, then describes their ultimate fate. Sometimes a little gruesome, always historically accurate, and always fascinating, each chapter is educational and engaging. Chapters are short— usually about 2-5 pages, and the book overall is a very quick read (I sat down and read it in its entirety in just a couple of hours). It’s a great option for kids between ages 9-13, but would honestly be a great read for ages 14+ as well.
While I never had the chance to teach this book to my students, I did recommend it several times. If I had had the chance, I would have taught it to my 8th grade classes. Not only does it provide readers with interesting facts, it lends itself to excellent teaching opportunities. Below are a few ideas for teaching it with a whole class:
Split your class up into partnerships and assign a chapter to each group. Have them read their assigned chapter then create a slideshow or other sort of presentation to teach the rest of the class about their famous person and their demise.
Read the entire book as a whole class, focusing on a chapter or two every day.
With each chapter, display pictures of the person it’s about.
Some of the chapters discuss different medical technologies, practices, methods, etc. that are different than we have today. Take time to educate students about these different medical practices.
After you have finished reading the whole book, assign students to pick a famous person who is NOT in the book and create their own chapter about their person, including illustrations or pictures.
Make a timeline showing the birth and death dates of all nineteen people from the book.
For sake of time, choose your top ten favorite chapters and only teach those ones to the whole class. Have students choose four more chapters to read independently.
As you read the book, have students fill out the “All You Need to Know” worksheet provided below.
Not only is this book a great non-fiction read, it also provides super cross-curricular instruction, as it contains both historical and scientific elements, and allows for a plethora of learning opportunities.
Give it a go with your classes; I bet they’ll love it. And if you don’t have junior high aged classes or kids, read it yourself and enjoy!
If you enjoyed Croaked, you might also like How They Choked also by Georgia Bragg. In it, Bragg details how famous people royally messed up. It’s equally as engaging and educational as Croaked.
** Free printable is for classroom or personal use only. It is not intended for resale in any way. **
It’s no secret how much I enjoy holiday-themed activities! They just bring such a fun element to a lesson and spark so much creativity. Even though we typically think of holiday themed activities as being targeted toward elementary aged kids, you can easily bring them into any content area and any grade level simply by modifying the difficulty of the activity.
Thought I can appreciate all content areas, English/Language Arts is my favorite, since that is what I spent many years teaching. And since we are nearing Halloween, I thought it would be appropriate to share some fun Halloween themed Language Arts activities!
(Most of these will be geared more toward junior high aged kids, but can be modified for other grade levels as well.)
Read some “spooky” stories or poems. Edgar Allen Poe is always a good option for this time of year. In particular, “Tell Tale Heart” is a stellar choice for junior high students. Other options include “The Hitchhiker” by Lucille Fletcher, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, or “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Did you know Roald Dahl even has some spooky short stories?!
Ask students to write a descriptive paragraph or two giving detailed descriptions of a haunted house. Have them trade papers with a classmate and have them create a physical model (drawing, painting, cut and glue, etc.) of the haunted house using what is written.
Have students write a personal narrative about their favorite Halloween or a favorite family Halloween tradition.
Have students write and illustrate a simple Halloween children’s book.
Have students write a persuasive piece defending their right to still trick-or-treat.
Using the free “Roll A Story” printable below, have students write a short story using the elements their dice rolls choose for them.
Play some fun Halloween music while your students work on one or more of these delightful Halloween themed activities, and you’ve easily set up a fun work environment for your students to work in! Teenagers might put up a front that they are “too old” for things like this, but deep down, they love it and will eat it right up when given the chance!
** This printable is free, and is intended for home or classroom use only. Please do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. **
