😊❤️😆 thank you, Brent. ThingsMrGSays

@pennykittle It looks a bit like Kelly Gallagher is being banished to the hall 😂😜

Can’t wait to use this picture as a mentor text for dialogue🤣

Looking forward to this conversation!😊

I had a great two days in Katy ISD - Day 1 with Ts grades 1-5; day 2 with Ts 6-12. We discussed importance of developing SKILL and WiLL. And we laughed a lot!

My 8th graders loved creating Heart Maps to find writing. They used them also to discover poetry that mattered to them, inspiring them to read deeply and write intentionally. Poetry surprised them by strengthening their reading & writing. It started with Georgia's Heart Maps.

Had such a great conversation about notebooks with Penny. It is the best way for students to capture their thinking and realize what they have to say matters.

What if you start your year w/a powerful way to engage your students that deepens their reading & writing. We crafted Heart Maps Georgia Heard as inspiration to guide our poetry choices, then db-pg spreads of each poem, enhanced with art & words to capture our thinking.

Georgia's Georgia Heard Heart Maps helped my Ss find topics that mattered to them for writing & inspired them to find poetry that spoke to them. The poems they chose deepened their reading, sharpened their eyes & ears for precision in language, and elevated their writing.

Heart Maps from Georgia Georgia Heard inspired my students into making Heart Books, described in Whispering in the Wind. Poetry- so much to teach us, about language, ourselves & the world.

You said it like a poet, Barry. Barry Hoonan So good to hear your voice.

PS Barry Barry Hoonan Thank you for the kind, kind words.

Jodi @stevensjodi thanks so much for letting me know this. Given opportunities to choose poetry that tugs at them personally I am always amazed at how deeply they respond. Loved how so many of your students turned around to poetry. Heinemann Georgia Heard

Good piece by Linda: What Changes Kids’ Minds about Poetry? middleweb.com/47889/what-cha…

A middle school teacher told me this is how she thinks of, & uses, my books: QWHandbook= appetizer; RWT=main course; Whispering in the Wind= dessert. Love that! TY. Heinemann

Based on previous tweet- sometimes we need dessert 1st. Based on its precision of lang., brevity, unique format, intentional craft moves, rhythm & beat, and strong feelings, poetry just might be our best bet at engaging our Ss in rdg & wrtg. Dessert 1st. Georgia Heard

So well deserved, Georgia. You keep poetry alive for all of us. I remember an NCTE years ago, standing with Don Graves, Ted Kooser, and you- thinking “it doesn’t get much better than this”- surrounded by these educators/writers, who live poetry. Congratulations! Georgia Heard

Trust readers. Trust yourselves as teachers.

This. Now. Those with qualms about the SoR should read Tom Newkirk's extended essay: The Broken Logic of "Sold a Story": A Personal Response to "The Science of Reading. Here: literacyresearchcommons.org/resources/. Scroll to 2nd link. Valerie Strauss Tom Newkirk