I don’t know a single teacher who stops thinking and learning over the summer. Whether we’re teaching summer school, doing curriculum development, taking summer classes or observing flowers and insects at the pool, there’s a small piece of a teacher’s brain associated with sharing information with kids that doesn’t shut off (OK, there are no fMRI’s to support that statement, just a bunch of anecdotal evidence).

Here are a couple of relatively painless ways for teachers to stay in touch with teaching and learning this summer, besides of course browsing Reading Rockets!

IRA’s Gateway newsletter: While you might feel e-newslettered to death, this one always has links to free book chapters and downloadable materials. For example, The May Gateway contained free Storytelling Ideas for Developing Comprehension , a free chapter on Supporting Reading Comprehension , and a podcast on comprehension.

The Big Fresh: This newsletter from Choice Literacy is designed with literacy coaches, teachers, and school leaders in mind. There’s always something worth reading, and a video worth watching. Many articles are available to the public, others require a subscription.

Jen Robinson’s Book Page: I’ve just started reading this blog and her Growing Bookworms Newsletter pretty regularly. There are many, many, many children’s literature blogs, but this one came across my radar several times. I appreciate her friendly tone and the fact that Jen isn’t selling or endorsing any particular publisher.

Picture Book of the Day: This is one of several blogs written by Anastasia Suen, and I usually click through her various blogs (listed in the right nav) when I browse. In general, I like her simple presentation of a book paired with a teaching suggestion. This may introduce teachers to a new book or two to consider using next year.

So, there’s a random collection of things I routinely read and that I think teachers might enjoy getting to know this summer. If you’ve got something bookmarked you would like to share, please do!

Next Week: Sorting and sending home summer reading bags

About the Author

Joanne Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education, including serving on the faculty at the University of Virginia for six years where she trained reading specialists and future classroom teachers. Dr. Meier was Reading Rockets’ research-to-practice consultant from 2002 to 2014, where she wrote the Page by Page blog — sharing best practices in supporting young readers at home and in the classroom.

Publication Date
May 26, 2009

Related Topics

Children’s Books, Professional Development
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