Today’s Literacy Headlines

We know that Covid (and school closures) hurt achievement significantly between the time that our recent high school graduates were in eighth grade (2019) and in 12th grade (2023–24). But we also know that reading achievement for this cohort sputtered between the fourth and eighth grades between 2015 and 2019. What explains that? The obvious culprit is the rise of smartphones and social media during this period and its impact on motivation, sleep, and the time spent reading for fun. While others, including Harvard’s (and NAGB’s) Marty West, have come to the same conclusion, none of us can prove it.

Children’s picturebooks share the tales, narratives, and experiences of friends, families, and familiar places. They feature various genres and themes that invite exploration, wonder, and the circumspect to solve complex, challenging problems. Children’s picturebooks unlock both fictional settings and informational ecosystems and habitats. When quality children’s picturebooks—like those selected from the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Medal, or ILA’s Children’s Book Awards List—are coupled with powerful literacy practices such as think-turn-talk, asking questions, and written a-ha moments on sticky notes, we can capture inquisitiveness and shoulder-to-shoulder student conversations and use that to weave an awe-inspiring learning environment. 

A statewide survey conducted by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz finds that while most New York educators enthusiastically support the Science of Reading, few report using it as their primary approach to literacy instruction. “What we’ve learned is that their enthusiasm far outpaces the support structures in place to help them implement it effectively. If we want to turn that enthusiasm into improved outcomes for students, we need to invest in deeper, sustained professional learning and provide school and district leaders with the tools to guide change,” said Rosamund Else-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz.

There are many sounds in English that don’t exist in Spanish, and vice versa. Take the sound the letter “z” makes in English, or the rolled “r” in Spanish. In the Southside independent school district in San Antonio, teachers highlight these differences for their Spanish-speaking students. It’s a key part of the school system’s approach to the “science of reading.” Teachers in the district—where about 30% of students are multilingual learners—give early elementary schoolers systematic phonics instruction, a foundational piece of early reading lessons. They teach beginning readers which letters represent which sounds and how to blend them together into words, whether they’re teaching in English, or in Spanish in the district’s dual-language program. Teachers also use their knowledge of language structure to help students make connections between English and Spanish—and to identify where children might need more help. “There’s no need to reteach the whole alphabet,” said Alejandra Ramirez, the district’s elementary reading and language arts coordinator. “If the first language of instruction is Spanish, then we [only] want to teach what doesn’t transfer.”

Some children’s books reach a level of popularity that transcends age. I saw it with Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, when suddenly I had first graders wanting to read about the hysterical exploits of a middle school slacker. And it has definitely happened with Dav Pilkey’s books. Kindergartners want Dog Man, Captain Underpants, Cat Kid Comic Club — and lots of tweens are right there with them. Here are twelve recommendations for fans of the Dog Man, Captain Underpants and Cat Kid Comic Club series.

What if improving children’s mental health — and life outcomes — could be done by teaching kids how their brains work? That’s a key idea behind the approach of teachers at Momentous School in Dallas, a private elementary school that serves 225 students, most of whom come from low-income families. Each day, educators present lessons on neuroscience and mindfulness, from the youngest learners all the way up to fifth graders.

Around the world, many teachers still believe longstanding—but long-debunked—myths about learning and cognition. Misunderstanding how students learn can lead teachers to misdiagnose learning problems and adopt less effective practices. The misconceptions often prove sticky because they stem from a misunderstanding of real research or seem to explain why some instructional practices work, but for the wrong reason.

By rethinking what a good day in the classroom looks and sounds like, new teachers can better support their students. If your classroom hums with the energy of students asking questions, debating ideas, and working together, you haven’t failed. You’ve succeeded in building a space where learning isn’t about being compliant, but about being alive and present.

Raised in a family of storytellers, Augusta Baker continued that tradition, imparting a love of books to readers of all ages. Baker told the story of Brer Rabbit and so many others that reflected the Black cultural experience to countless thousands of children during her thirty-seven-year tenure with the New York Public Library and inspired new generations after her retirement as the storyteller-in-residence at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. The university is now home to Baker’s books and papers, including a collection of writings, photographs, and children’s drawings that she collected during her path-breaking career.

A literacy-first mindset can turn around reading scores — and school culture, write two Indiana school administrators. Two years ago, a significant portion of our middle school students were reading well below grade level. Today, the number of 6th and 7th-graders reading on or above grade level has nearly doubled, and our 8th-grade scores are rising as well. Here’s how we did it — and why it matters for every school in the country.

A dyslexic professor at MIT and an incarcerated dyslexic high school drop out illustrate the importance of identifying why a child cannot read.

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time for preschool and primary grade educators to get in the habit of taking the class outside for experiential learning in nature. While you are establishing routines for yearlong learning, start a simple one that increases engagement, supports academic achievement, and reduces your prep time. Opportunities for outdoor learning don’t require special materials, and you can get started by dedicating just 10 minutes to the experience.

Approximately 1 in 5 children in the United States are estimated to be neurodivergent, representing a spectrum of learning and thinking differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more. Research indicates that early intervention, initiated within the first three years of life, can significantly enhance outcomes for neurodivergent children. Children who receive individualized support are more likely to develop stronger language, problem-solving, and social skills. These gains not only help in the classroom but can also lead to higher self-confidence, better relationships and improved well-being into adulthood.

Free child care is coming to the Land of Enchantment this November. Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department announced that New Mexico will become the first state in the nation to offer universal child care to families as of Nov. 1. Over the past six years, New Mexico has become a trailblazer in child care infrastructure. In 2019, the state created its first Early Childhood Education and Care Department with a Cabinet-level secretary, showing a commitment to improving care and support for young children. 

Andrea Cáceres’ new children’s book, Hello, Tobi! is a celebration of Tobi’s walks in the parks when he first arrived in New York. In the book, Tobi encounters all kinds of families on his walk: tall families, short families. There are families that are quiet and others that like to talk or sing together. Some families look alike, and some families look different from one another. They all say hello to Tobi. Cáceres said it’s a simple idea, but for her, it’s deeply personal.

The National Assessment for Educational Progress, called NAEP or the Nation’s Report Card, has long been considered the gold standard for understanding how American students are doing. So bad headlines were inevitable last week when the long-delayed 2024 results for 12th graders in math and reading and for eighth graders in science were finally released. It is tempting to blame the long tail of the pandemic for the dismal scores. But folks who keep a close eye on NAEP had some provocative analysis. 

Given the muddled state of education research, policy, and practice, what can ambitious education leaders do to better support teachers and to deliver for today’s students? I recommend intentionally playing both the short and the long games. The short game is to embrace opportunities for quick and meaningful wins. These are the common-sense education initiatives that share three critical features: evidentiary support, low financial costs, and scalability. At the same time, identifying and embracing quick wins should not detract from the long game, which requires deeper, structural efforts to build the coherent system of research, policy, and practice our children deserve. When hiring and promoting faculty, universities should prioritize credible research that solves real problems in the field and teacher training that reflects these insights.

We polled our editors and writers about the best board, fabric and interactive books for the littlest ones in your life. These are our favorites.

The award-winning documentary explores contemporary book bans and attacks on librarians. In a room filled to the brim, attendees at the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference in Philadelphia this summer watched Kim A. Snyder’s documentary The Librarians. ALA attendees watching the show gasped and shouted numerous times throughout, as they saw fellow librarians whose lives have been turned upside down, thanks to the nearly five-year fight over books and education in America’s public schools and libraries.

Global illiteracy rates have increased by an average of 2.2% in 2024 and 2025, with 773 million people worldwide unable to read at all, according to a new report released by the World Literacy Foundation yesterday on International Literacy Day. The report revealed that 61% of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds do not own a single book, while two billion people globally struggle to read a simple sentence. The economic impact of illiteracy now costs the global economy an estimated $1.4 trillion annually, according to the report.

High school seniors had the worst reading scores since 1992 on a national test, a loss probably related to increases in screen time and the pandemic. Their math scores fell as well. It was a sign that, among other skills, they may not be able to determine the purpose of a political speech. In math, nearly half of the test takers scored below the basic level, meaning they may not have mastered skills like using percentages to solve real-world problems. Over the last decade, both adults and children began to replace reading time with screen time, social media and, increasingly, streaming video. And over the same period, the federal government and many states relaxed policies that were intended to hold schools and teachers accountable for student learning.

Different literacy tests evaluate different things. It may not be a question of gains vs. declines, but of decoding vs. comprehension. Both skills matter. And yet, many states have a disconnect between the policies they’re pursuing to improve reading outcomes and the tests they’re relying on to tell them if those policies are working.

From science to history to math, try these creative writing activities to help students process content and think deeply.

Most children see and talk about the world around them before they can read words, which makes their visual literacy—their ability to “read” pictures—an immediate, powerful, important tool. Early elementary school activities designed to improve visual literacy skills can easily be woven into existing academic blocks.  A kindergarten teacher runs through her favorite wordless picture books and other fun strategies for guiding students to ‘read’ images.

When we expand our understanding of research, we begin to see how young children already engage in research every day—through their questions, observations, play, and investigations. In this definition of research, a teacher is a facilitator of learning experiences who honors the inquiry process, rather than just a provider of facts. For children in pre-K through second grade, research can take the form of investigation, experimentation, or exploration. 

Memphis students with dyslexia will start receiving targeted reading support this school year through the district’s first universal intervention program in an effort to increase state test scores. Under a nearly $540,000 contract approved by the Memphis-Shelby County school board last month, an outside literacy company will boost support for nearly 5,000 students who show characteristics of dyslexia. But one local reading expert noted that many students struggle with comprehension, which needs intervention beyond foundational skills.

Turn to the first page of The Couch in the Yard and you tumble into a small town at sunset. A rusty car sits in a bed of flowers and a family readies for an adventure, securing a spare couch to its roof. They follow gravelly roads “up in the mountains, down through the hollow,” past “the stormed-down oaks, and the old scrap heap,” writes author Kate Hoefler. “It’s a story about a family’s nighttime ritual of loading up an old car and taking a long drive around the rural areas where they live,” says Hoefler about her new children’s book, which was inspired by her own drives with her children in Ohio’s Appalachia.

Today’s post continues a series in which educators share potential challenges that might exist in teaching English learners and how to overcome them. Professional learning, strong relationships, high expectations, and support and patience are key.

Much commentary has been offered on the literacy crisis plaguing the country. Massachusetts, often recognized as a leader in student achievement, has experienced the same challenge. Signs of the problem were clear in advance of the pandemic with NAEP fourth-grade reading proficiency rates falling from 50 percent to 45 percent between 2011 and 2019. The most recent 2024 NAEP results for fourth-grade reading in Massachusetts show the proficiency rate has fallen to 40 percent. Yet a recent $25 million state investment in early literacy high-dosage tutoring, spearheaded by Governor Healey, presents a new strategy to reverse the trend.

Echoing backward to the sixth century and forward to “The Lion King,” the play shows young people that stories are resilient against time and chaos.

By fourth grade, only 33 percent of U.S. students are considered proficient in reading, and each year it becomes harder to catch up. U.S. children are not alone in this struggle. Much like the science of reading laws proliferating across the U.S., New Zealand is implementing a national effort to improve literacy, requiring daily class time dedicated to reading and writing instruction. Among several approved options to meet this requirement, the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) was developed by researchers from the University of Canterbury as a targeted, phonics-based teaching approach for five- to seven-year-olds.

Over the course of two generations, from 1984 to 2023, the proportion of 13-year-olds who said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun on their own time has nearly quadrupled, from just 8% to 31%. During that time, the percentage of middle-schoolers who read for fun “almost every day” has fallen by double digits. Doomscrolling. Poor literacy instruction. Overscheduling. These are some of the reasons cited for the generational decline in students reading for fun.

You know, if I ever go for that children’s literature PhD I’ve been hankering after, there are just so many different kinds of thesis topics to consider. Here’s one that I hope to high heaven someone has tried before: Bears and war in books for kids. … [There] are still bears out there that have yet to see their own stories represented. Into that gaping void comes Katherine Applegate. And believe me, when Applegate writes, people read. Her latest middle grade novel is Pocket Bear. With its roots in real history, don’t be fooled by its whimsical cover. There is some seriously good writing going on here.

The COVID crisis catapulted peripheral educational trends into the mainstream, not only creating the opportunity for new schools and spaces to emerge but, more importantly, permanently altering the way parents, teachers, and kids think about schooling and learning. The pre‑pandemic tilt toward homeschooling and microschooling has converged with five post‑pandemic trends that are profoundly reshaping American education for families and founders. Together, these trends are shifting the K–12 education sector from being an innovation laggard to an innovation leader.

According to a HarperCollins survey, most Gen Z parents don’t see reading to their child as fun. The importance of reading as a family can’t be underestimated. It does so much for kiddos, such as expanding their language skills, stimulating their brain activity, and teaching them about concepts and experiences. But the biggest, most wonderful part is what it does for the parent-child bond. Since reading can help relax, it can encourage both the adult and the child to slow down, listen to each other, and chill out. Here’s how to love reading to your kids.

Inspired by a funny request from his children years ago, Roker is finally about to take rainbows into children’s homes, as well as clouds, thunder, lightning, windstorms, hail and even a looming hurricane. These all play starring roles in “Weather Hunters,” a new animated television series he created, which premieres on Sept. 8. The first PBS Kids show devoted to meteorology — along with a healthy dose of earth science — it explains not only familiar occurrences but also what Roker called “gee whizzy” phenomena.

When it comes to reading, especially in special education, we celebrate small victories. A student decoding her first word. Another raising his hand to read aloud. A reluctant reader smiling as she opens a book. But those moments — joyful as they are — shouldn’t be rare. And they shouldn’t feel miraculous. They should be common. I’ve been a special education teacher for seven years. And I’ve seen firsthand what happens when we as teachers believe in students with disabilities — and give them structured, high-quality reading instruction. I’ve also seen what happens when we don’t. 

Today, New Orleans’ public school system looks almost nothing like it did before Katrina hit 20 years ago: All but one of the schools are charter schools, and they all enroll kids from across the city, rather than specific neighborhoods. People in New Orleans have strong opinions about whether the move to charters has been good or bad, but Doug Harris, an education researcher at Tulane University, says the data is hard to argue with. “Test scores, high school graduation rates, college-going, everything improved, and everything improved a lot,” he says. He attributes those improvements to the move to charters — and officials’ willingness to close schools that didn’t meet their standards.

When we talk about great science fiction/fantasy/magical-realism Newbery winners throughout history, I feel like all too often we forget about Tuck Everlasting. This is understandable. Even when it was first released it was a bit of an outlier. Its original cover was quiet, reflective, and downright mysterious. Its first page is deeply literary, only barely hinting at its contents. And like Newbery Award winner A Wrinkle in Time, it has never slotted neatly into a single genre. Is it historical fiction or science fiction? Fantasy or magical realism? A teen romance or a book about childhood? A tragedy or triumph? What we do know is that it is turning fifty this year! Macmillan is kicking everything off by re-releasing a special edition of the book with a new forward from New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Zevin, an afterword from Natalie’s daughter Lucy, and never-before-seen bonus material that dives into the inspiration behind the book. And just to keep things interesting, they are also releasing a graphic novel adaptation (ALSO on sale today) of the book by creator Katharine Woodman-Maynard.

At least 10,000 more children in New Jersey’s poorest school districts are eligible for a landmark program offering free, high quality pre-K, but haven’t enrolled. By many measures, the targeted preschool program has been successful in boosting long-term academic gains for their students. The state ranks in the nation’s top 10 for child well-being and second for education after Massachusetts, based on fourth grade test scores and high school graduation rates. Supporters worry that the state’s recently established focus on expanding preschool throughout the state could draw attention and resources away from the early-learning program.

The research is clear: The more time students spend in school, the better. So, avoiding unnecessary absences is a key piece of academic recovery. Here are seven things we now know about chronic absenteeism and ways to successfully address it based on a collection of newly published research and surveys of parents, students, and educators. Many districts are partnering with families and community organizations to better understand why kids aren’t in class. As part of this work, leaders have learned their communities have unique and unexpected needs that they can often easily address.

There’s a new picture-book version of “Hansel and Gretel,” written by the novelist Stephen King, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak, the great children’s author and illustrator. Sendak died in 2012; the book uses his designs for a 1997 staging of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, who make picture books together and write a newsletter about the art form, discussed the book via text message.

By changing how they introduce writing activities and revision, teachers can inspire young students to see themselves as writers. When I started my career as a first-grade teacher, writing was the most daunting part of my day. My students could barely write a word, much less a story, and often burst into tears at the mention of writing. However, I can happily proclaim that writing is now my favorite thing to teach. Below are the biggest shifts in my instruction that led there.

For more than a decade, my community of Indian River County, Florida, has committed itself to ensuring that 90% of students read on grade level by the end of third grade. This year, we reached a milestone in this work, with one of our elementary schools exceeding this threshold, a feat achieved by only 3% of Florida schools. Our community’s commitment ensures that third graders get a lot of attention. But our work starts well before third grade. Early literacy begins with early childhood education. In our community, families of newborns get a custom lullaby to sing to their baby. We give families free books and learning kits so they have tools and resources in their homes. We create opportunities for community learning through our connection centers, events, playgroups and more. 

Michigan third grade students had the lowest performance in English language arts in the 11-year history of the state test. Only 38.9% of the third graders were proficient in ELA in the assessments taken last spring, down from 39.6% a year earlier, according to results from the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, known as the M-STEP. There are some positive trends: Test scores are up in four out of six grades in both English language arts and math. Still, overall proficiency rates remain below pre-pandemic levels in all subjects and grades except eighth grade English language arts. Those eighth grade students were third graders when schools shut down in spring 2020.

Kirkus Reviews, the country’s leading publisher of early book reviews, has just announced the 18 finalists for the 2025 Kirkus Prize. The prize, which is in its 12th year and divided into three categories—Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers’ Literature—will grant its winners $50,000 each, making it one of the richest annual literary awards in the world. Picture book nominees are Island Storm by Brian Floca, illustrated by Sydney Smith and Everybelly by Thao Lam.

State legislators and other policymakers are trying to change reading instruction, requiring it to align with cognitive science research about how children learn to read. At least 26 states have passed laws about how schools teach reading since APM Reports’ Sold a Story podcast began in 2022. Fourth grade reading scores in the United States have declined consistently since 2015, according to a nationwide achievement measurement conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics. But proponents of the disproven ideas about reading exposed in the podcast haven’t given up.

You probably know of, have read, or at least have heard of the children’s picture book classic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. But did you know that it almost was not about a family going on a bear hunt and encountering many obstacles along the way? “I thought it could be a bit like Carnival,” says author Michael Rosen. “There could be all sorts of different characters — giants and monsters and kings and queens — and they’d all be walking after a guy in a bear suit.” At the end, Rosen imagined, the guy in the bear suit would take off his bear head and all the other characters would say, “Oh, it’s a guy in a bear suit,” and then run away. “It wasn’t a great idea, I confess,” says Rosen. Luckily, illustrator Helen Oxenbury didn’t pay any attention to it.

Siblings loom large in children’s literature, and for good reason. Despite the relationship’s infinite varieties, it’s always a story. If the essence of story is Desire meets Danger over Time, siblings are a built-in plot, particularly during childhood, when sharing a house guarantees that every Desire is common knowledge and therefore prey to Dangers large and small. Accordingly, children’s books contain some of the most intense and memorable sibling relationships in literature. For young readers, these depictions can serve as models, wish fulfillment or revenge fantasies. For parents, the drama on the page may offer an opportunity to talk about the drama in the dining room. Here are some of my favorites, starting with the ur-moment of siblinghood.

Natalie Babbitt’s “Tuck Everlasting” isn’t a long book. Its just-published 50th-anniversary edition runs well under 200 pages, and a dozen of these are devoted to an introduction by novelist Gabrielle Zevin, a short memoir by Babbitt’s daughter, Lucy, and an appendix reproducing some of the book’s working notes. Still, it has taken me almost a quarter-century to finish this wondrous story about a young girl’s encounter with a family of immortals. I began reading “Tuck Everlasting” in 2001 but only reached the last, heart-wrenching page this month. That almost seems like … forever. Let me explain why it took so long.

More than 3.6 million children born in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic who are walking into elementary schools across the country this fall. They’re children who came into a world full of masked adults dousing themselves in hand sanitizer. Many spent the first year of their lives either in isolation in lockdowns or with only a handful of trusted people in their bubbles. And the long-term impact on these “COVID kindergartners” remains unclear. Research shows that early childhood experiences can have lasting effects on development and growth, according to a 2023 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics). While nurturing experiences can increase cognitive capabilities and academic achievement, early life disadvantages can lead to a persistent deficit in skills to manage adversity, stress and self-esteem. It follows then, that parents, experts and educators are hypervigilant, tracking how the hardships of the pandemic may manifest in this generation.

At Barbara Morgan STEM Academy, an elementary school in Meridian, Idaho, students approach nearly every subject through a STEM lens. As fifth-grade teacher Jamie Schildknecht explains, “So many of the problems in the world—and [the ones] that we’re going to solve in the future—are going to be solved through scientific thinking. Even if the students are not becoming scientists, those ideas of collaboration, critical thinking, and communication are going to tie into anything they end up doing.” This perspective is particularly powerful for elementary students, whose natural curiosity drives them to learn about the world around them. Teachers at Barbara Morgan harness this curiosity and create meaningful projects for the students by pulling in real-world science challenges.

Researchers are rigorously studying large-scale tutoring efforts around the nation and testing whether effective tutoring can be done more cheaply. A dozen researchers studied more than 20,000 students in Miami; Chicago; Atlanta; Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; schools throughout New Mexico, and a California charter school network. Their preliminary results were “sobering,” according to a June report by the University of Chicago Education Lab and MDRC, a research organization. The researchers found that tutoring during the 2023-24 school year produced only one or two months’ worth of extra learning in reading or math — a tiny fraction of what the pre-pandemic research had produced.

Most kindergarten programs have become more academic-focused—leaning into instruction that emphasizes teaching students to read and gain basic math skills and moving away from activities like self-directed play (through centers like painting, blocks, and “dress up”). EdWeek asked readers to weigh in via a social media poll on the topic. Many respondents attributed early learners’ increasing lack of self-control to kindergarten programs whose expectations don’t necessary align with students’ abilities and readiness.It’s unlikely that kindergarten will ever revert completely to the play-centric introduction to formal education that it once was. But perhaps amid the vocal pushback—from both adults and kindergartners—kindergarten programs will examine more closely the dual goals of meeting academic standards for young learners with a propensity toward playfulness.

According to Manhattan Public Library children’s librarian, Hannah Atchison, one of the many benefits of wordless picture books is the groundwork they lay for interpretation: “Reading is an interpretation of symbols and the connection of those symbols to their meaning in the world…. The skills gained from reading a wordless picture book— interpretation of context clues, emotional intelligence, body language, and imagination—are just as valuable.”

When you teach vocabulary after students have experienced the concept, and reinforce it with total physical response, morphology, and interactive visuals, it doesn’t just help with definitions. It helps with retention, comprehension, and long-term academic success.

The Trump administration has quietly rescinded long-standing guidance that directed schools to accommodate students who are learning English, alarming advocates who fear that schools will stop offering assistance if the federal government quits enforcing the laws that require it. The rescission is one of several moves by the administration to scale back support for approximately 5 million schoolchildren not fluent in English, many of them born in the United States. It is also among the first steps in a broader push by the Trump administration to remove multilingual services from federal agencies across the board.

At first glance, play and explicit reading instruction can seem at odds. Under pressure to improve reading outcomes after years of falling or stagnant scores, schools might cut recess or limit imaginative activities to make time for instruction. But this is a false choice. Research shows that play is not only compatible with the science of reading — it’s a powerful way to build the very skills kids need to become strong readers in the first place. In fact, children learn best through hands-on, engaging activities that make new sounds and words stick.

I still remember the first time I took my class outside for a descriptive writing lesson. It was a crisp fall morning, and I handed each student a pine cone, asking them to describe it as if the reader had never seen one. I thought the outdoor setting would be a fun change of pace, but I wasn’t expecting how vividly their writing would come to life. “A pine cone smells like the forest,” one student wrote. “It’s sharp like a dragon’s tail,” said another. That day, I realized how powerful sensory observation can be in helping even reluctant writers find their voice. Since then, I’ve developed hands-on activities that help students engage their senses to notice details and write with greater clarity and confidence. Below are some of my favorites, many inspired by Montessori principles and rooted in real-world exploration.

A couple of years ago, Brian Floca was on an island off the coast of Maine when a storm rolled in. “There was this kind of electric charge in the air,” he remembers. It was hypnotic — “Just the sensory feeling of the storm coming. The wind, the waves, all of these elemental forces unloading themselves on the island.” But also the feeling of — “Is this safe? Should I really be doing this?” That memory stuck with Floca — and inspired him. His new children’s book, Island Storm, is about two kids who feel a storm coming, pull on their boots and head to the sea. As the waves crash and the rain starts to fall harder and harder, they ask each other, “Is this enough? Or do we try for more?” Of course, this being a story about kids and their escapades, they decide to go on.