Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

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Get Ready for Literacy Day! #ClassroomConnections

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September 8 is International Literacy Day! This year’s theme is Teaching and Learning in the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond. It’s a great time to thank all the teachers you know for the extra work they’re doing to reach and teach your kids during challenging times. Thanks, teachers! Here are just a few activities I offer […]

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Digital Review Copies of LION OF THE SKY

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If you’re an educator who shares and reviews books online or in person, Lerner is offering a digital peek at my next picture book, LION OF THE SKY: HAIKU FOR ALL SEASONS. Haiku meet riddles in these 24 poems. From baseball to apple, snow angel to kite, seasonal hallmarks speak in haiku to give clues […]

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How Can Pencils Be So Cute?

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I got an envelope from Boyds Mills Press on Saturday, and I opened it to find an advance copy of their Spring 2019 catalog. And guess what’s on the cover (which was a wonderful surprise to me!)? That’s right! It’s art by the wonderful Angela Matteson, and it just happens to be the cover art […]

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An Open Book, by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater [Poetry Friday Roundup]

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Welcome, everybody! I’m excited you’re here for the Poetry Friday Roundup! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) A couple of weeks ago, I made a Facebook faux pas in replying to a comment on my phone that I thought was to me, but wasn’t. The happy upshot of a long, boring story is that […]

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Random Body Parts, by Leslie Bulion

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Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I love a poetry collection that’s a good mash-up, so Leslie Bulion’s latest, Random Body Parts (Peachtree, 2015), makes me squeal with joy! First, it’s poems about body parts. Yes, please. Annnd, it’s poems in a ton of different poetic forms. Excellent. But wait. There’s […]

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Oh, Did You Need That Homework? [poetry friday]

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Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.) I hope you had an awesome Poetry Month. I did. It was super busy with lots of visits to schools and libraries. However, I’m way behind on blog reading, and I especially am a bit sad that I missed out on so many terrific online […]

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Tip #15: Echo Read [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

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Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #15: Echo read. Try echo reading. You read a line, and then the students echo it back to you. This is great for helping students’ fluency, and I’m always amazed at how quickly and how well they pick up on performance nuances. […]

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Tip #11: Focus on Transitions [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

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Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. Tip #11: Focus on transition words. In narrative poems that tell a story, emphasize transition words, like “then,” or “first,” or “next” to help kids follow the chronology and make sense of the series of events. Or if the poem doesn’t use obvious […]

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Tip #6: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

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Welcome to today’s tip in my month-long Poetry Tips for Teachers series. [Addendum: I had a little issue with a disappearing blog post and rewriting it and–well, I’ll spare you the details. I apologize for having the same basic tip two days in a row, but this one has a bit more detail and a […]

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Tip #5: Make a Face [Poetry Tips for Teachers]

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Tip #5: Make a face. Keep an appropriate expression. Don’t grin during a sad poem or look serious during silly verse. If you were to smile while reading this poem, for instance, your students might be a little disturbed–or think you are!      

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