Celebrate Women’s History Month in the Classroom!

Extras, Resources for Teachers and Librarians, She Spoke, She Spoke Too, videos

Since 1987, March has been designated as Women’s History Month in the United States of America.

Check out the She Spoke series to learn about amazing women who fought for change–and hear their inspiring words, in their own voices, with the touch of a button. Click on the image below to learn more about the books, and on the links below for lots of resources to help you share these books in the classroom.

She Spoke  She Spoke Too cover

She Spoke Word Search (printable .pdf)  |  She Spoke Word Search answer key (printable .pdf)

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

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

She Spoke Too: Amplifying Voices of Change (Familius Podcast)

She Spoke Too Word Search (printable .pdf)  |  She Spoke Too Word Search answer key (printable .pdf)

6 Ways to Get Unstuck in Your First Draft

On Writing

Whether you’ve been writing for five minutes or fifty years, first drafts are hard. They rarely resemble the perfect story your imagination wants, and too often, the gulf between the goal and the reality causes writers to give up. More than two dozen books into my publishing career, I still struggle with first drafts. But I have learned some techniques to trick the voices of negativity in my head. Maybe they will help you too.

1) Remember who your real audience is.

The audience for your final book is your readers. But for a first draft, your real audience is simply…you. Future You, who will somehow take this vaguely book-shaped mess you are creating and turn it, draft by draft, into a real book.

Present You has only one responsibility: assemble the ingredients that Future You will need. Future You will have all kinds of perspectives and ideas on how to fix your story, thanks to the hard work that Present You is doing right now to assemble the raw ingredients.

Future You will bake the cake. All Present You has to worry about is measuring out the flour and sugar.

Continue reading 6 Ways to Get Unstuck in Your First Draft →