Category Archives: Resources for Teachers and Librarians

Celebrate Women’s History All Year Round

Picture of a little girl dressed as Rosie the Riveter with headline: 6 Tips for Sharing Women’s History with Kids All Year Round

In 1987, the United States Congress declared March as Women’s History Month. But women’s history—also known as just plain history—has been around as long as there have been women, even if it wasn’t always recorded, shared, or taught in schools. Here are some tips for weaving women’s history into conversations with kids every month of the year – see my full article at Familius.com.

Celebrate Women’s History Month with the voices of amazing women!

she spoke cover    she spoke too cover

When the world tells you to stay quiet, do you listen, or do you speak up? Read about 14 inspiring women in each of these books and then, with the touch of a button readers can hear their voices!  Find out more about the She Spoke series here.

Educator and Librarian Resources:

Word searches:

Speak Up! Listen Up!: Using She Spoke in the Classroom at Pencil Tips: Writing Workshop Strategies from Children’s Authors and Illustrators

She Spoke video storytime at KidTime StoryTime

She Spoke Playlist – Listen, read, and be inspired with our girl power playlist on Spotify!

She Spoke Pinterest board – More links, clips, and recordings of the amazing women profiled in the book and more heroines you should know.

Interviews with the authors:

Librarian and Teacher Resources for NITA’S FOOD SIGNS

I’m so excited to share with you these resources for using Nita’s Food Signs in the classroom or storytime!

Nita’s Food Signs Teacher/Librarian Guide (printable .pdf)

 

Video Demonstration of the Signs in the Book:

 

Nita’s Food Signs Storytime with Author Kathy MacMillan (in Spoken English with Closed Captions)

Nita’s Food Signs Storytime with Author Kathy MacMillan (in American Sign Language)

 

More Resources for Signing with Young Children:

Little Hands Signing Storytime & Craft Ideas

Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together

Resources for Signing with Babies and Young Children

Resources for Signing in Storytime or the Classroom

Resources for Educators and Librarians

Picture Books about ASL and Deaf Culture

Hear This!: Use That Microphone, Already

photo of a microphoneIt happens again and again: a speaker is asked to use a microphone, and they say, “Oh, I don’t need it. I have a [teacher/pastor/camp counselor/fill-in-the-blank supposedly loud profession] voice.”  (I even had a clergy member at my own parent’s funeral try to pull this!)

But guess what? It has nothing to do with how loud you (supposedly) are, and everything to do with your audience’s comfort and access. Some people can hear high sounds, some low, and some need you to use the microphone to help drown out background noise. And just because people can hear you when you shout “Can you hear me?” at the top of your voice, that doesn’t mean that they can comfortably listen to you for five or ten or sixty minutes when your voice, tone, and pitch go up and down in the course of normal speaking.

Continue reading Hear This!: Use That Microphone, Already

Webinar Recordings Available for Purchase

Learn on your own schedule with these recorded webinars, available now!

You will receive recording access information by email within 24 hours of order. You will have access to the recording for 30 days.

For Writers

Text reads: So You Want to Publish a Book | A Webinar for Writers (On demand) | Presented by Kathy MacMillan, KathyMacMillan.com. A photo of a smiling white women with glasses and shoulder length brown hair appears next to the text. Images of an open notebook and someone writing on a laptop are in the background.Sale! $35.00  $20.00

You’ve got the idea, you’ve got the drive, and you’ve got the willingness to work to get your book in print. But where do you start? Kathy MacMillan, Compton Crook Award finalist and author of more than two dozen traditionally published fiction and nonfiction books for children, breaks down the bewildering world of publishing, from writing and revision to submission and publication and the realities of life after publication.

 

Storybuilding | An Online Workshop for Writers with Compton Crook Award Finalist
Kathy MacMillan. Words appear against a green painted background next to a photo of a smiling white woman with glasses and shoulder length brown hair, surrounded by her book covers: The Runaway Shirt (picture book), Nita’s First Signs and Nita’s Day (board books), She Spoke (children’s nonfiction), Sword and Verse and Dagger and Coin (young adult fiction).

Sale! $35.00  $20.00

No matter your genre, a rich palette of details brings the world of your story to life. Compton Crook Award Finalist and author of fiction and nonfiction for children, teens, and adults Kathy MacMillan shows how to focus on the specifics you need at each stage of the writing process to build your characters’ world without ever losing sight of the story at its heart.

 

Manuscript critiques and coaching calls also available!

 

For Librarians and Educators

Learn basic American Sign Language vocabulary and how to use it in storytime with these lively sessions that teach themed vocabulary while demonstrating storytime activities and best practices for signing with young children. Each webinar focuses on a vocabulary theme and follows a demo storytime with language and culture notes to help you present American Sign Language to hearing audiences in context. $35.00 per recording.

Colorful handprints line the top and bottom of the graphic. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Autumn Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Winter Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Spring Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com    Colorful handprints line the top of the graphic. Under that is a photo of a White woman with light brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Little Hands Signing Professional Development Webinar: Summer Signs (On demand) Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. | storiesbyhand.com

One-on-one coaching calls also available.

 


Upcoming live webinars open for registration.