Last week provided hours of fun, relaxation, and reading time. Our family was able to celebrate July Fourth together and the 4-H Fair was a bright spot for us – we celebrated my granddaughter’s various ribbons! She’s growing so fast! I read various titles last week, too: poetry, short stories, and a new PD text that I know will be useful in the fall. It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

Poetry: Bridge the Distance – a collaboration of teacher-writers sharing an oral history of COVID-19 in poems. I was happy to celebrate this book along with many friends who submitted works for this project. Collected by Dr. Sarah J. Donovan, this publication was made possible by the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program and the Oklahoma State University Library. Thanks for writing, friends! I can only imagine what future generations will learn when they read these poems.

Physical Book: I’m still reading and enjoying Blackout by the fabulous women who show us that “even love stories can glow when the lights go.”

PD: A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts by Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell is a must-read resource for middle school and high school teachers. I’m going to share this “classroom essential” from Heinemann as soon as I get back into the school building.

IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop with kid lit co-hosts Jennifer from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It’s a great way to share what you’re reading and get recommendations from others. We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs each week.