novels
March 1, 2019
Let me sing a little Rascal Flatts for you. I woke up this morning With this feeling inside me that I can’t explain Like a weight that I’ve carried Been carried away, away. It’s been over four years since I released a novel guide. More than four years. Four long years I’ve had this project on my plate, moving […]
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November 30, 2018
Are you wrapping up a particular reading in your language class? My middle-grades class has just finished El Ekeko by Katie Baker. This book is perhaps my favorite Fluency Matters reader yet! This week, as we look to end our semester, I’ll be going back to something I tried last year. It was a great segue from […]
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August 27, 2018
Social entrepreneurship… in Spanish 1?! A few years ago, a company called VIF International asked me to think and work with them on this question: What would a project-based learning curriculum look like in a novice Spanish class? It’s not an easy question. Project-based language learning presents the same problem Genius Hour does: how can you […]
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August 15, 2018
Dear readers, Esperanza renace is coming. After four long years, the wait for the third Musicuentos ebook guide to an authentic novel is nearly over. Within weeks – perhaps days – you’ll see the resource release *I* have been waiting and working and longing to make for four years. As we both wait a few more […]
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August 10, 2018
When did I first teach a learner novel? Hmm, think back. From about 2011 through 2014 I taught only intermediate and pre-advanced students and/or the very littles: preschool. I’m pretty sold on the complexity, grit, culture and authenticity that infuses the classroom when you teach an authentic novel as soon as learners can handle it […]
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August 7, 2018
For the third year, let’s celebrate August (which is back-to-school time here in the southern half of the U.S.) with some #AuthresAugust! For previous posts related to using authentic resources in the classroom, including previous #AuthresAugust picks, check out my authres tag. Definitely take a look at my post from last August called “Authentic or […]
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April 17, 2018
Not long ago, I fortuitously caught a tweet or headline notification from a newspaper, maybe the New York Times. It was a review of a new children’s book. The author’s name was Junot Díaz, and the name didn’t strike me right away as familiar. Soon I realized it was the author of a recent Pulitzer novel, The […]
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