Tag Archives: middle school

May 9, 2020

Read, Write, Speak it – an introduction

So, Sara and I have been working on an iteration of this project for almost a decade. We are going to be rolling out this resource this Fall. Nearly 200 lessons ready with slides to project and teacher notes to guide instruction utilizing poetry, prose, mentor texts, language lessons, standards based, while still being fun […]


February 7, 2020

Eastern Middle School 2020 edition

Sara and I have been visiting Eastern Middle School in Old Greenwich, Connecticut for over a dozen years in a row now. They are easily our most visited school.   Why? Because we love them, and they love us.  We’ve seen these sixth-grade teachers through baby booms, blizzards, missed flights… you name it we’ve seen […]


September 5, 2019

Hilliard Heritage Middle School

Why You Matter. That was the theme of the day when Sara and I visited Heritage Middle School as our first school visit of the season. This 7th and 8th grade building had a multi-faceted approach to invite the students to explore what made each of them unique and important. They invited Sara and me […]


August 18, 2019

I know what you did last Summer.

Here comes another school year. How was your summer? Sara and I kept busy paying visits to educators across the country. We worked with principals In Ohio and Utah – giving keynotes and breakout sessions at their annual conferences – we unfortunately did not visit Iowa – and were therefor unable to claim the 4-letter […]


March 26, 2019

Carol Morgan School Santo Domingo DR

Head to the Caribbean in the middle of march from Cleveland? Why yes, thank you. Sara and I brought our style of writing instruction to the Dominican Republic for the first time. It was great to be working overseas with absolutely no jet-lag! It was also great to be working with such enthusiastic teachers and […]


March 7, 2019

Montgomery Middle School, Montgomery, Maryland

As much as we relish our adventures overseas we love our visits to schools right here in the good ol’ USA. A whole bunch of our work is repeat business and our friend Lisa the librarian has invited us to three different schools where she has graced the library with her enthusiasm. A couple times […]


March 6, 2019

Escola Americana de Campinas – Campinas, Brazil

Nobody told us the wheels were going to fall off of the plane in Amsterdam. Hopping a plane from Istanbul to Brazil is not the most direct way to get Campinas – but, it’s the route we accepted. Here’s where being a frequent flier comes in handy – we were able to rebook our flights […]


March 6, 2019

ENKA International School, Istanbul

Our contact in Istanbul – George the librarian was one of the most thorough poet wranglers we have worked with in a long time. He had everything spinning in time with the whirling serenity of the Dervishes we saw turn-tabling just before we began our week at ENKA International School. Celebrating our love of reading […]


February 6, 2019

Champion Middle School, Champion , Ohio

Sara and I love our visits to Ohio schools. We also love our travels around the country and the world – but our home state is still special to us, and the folks at Champion Middle sure made it easy to love this visit. This was one well prepared school thanks to our main poet […]


January 21, 2019

Dreaming BIG and Small – 6 broken rules.

  Poets have always been trouble makers – in many places they have been arrested for stirring the pot a little too vigorously – or in the “wrong” direction. But – even poets can be guilty of staying inside their safe boxes. Whether that box be the safety of tenured academia or a local “scene” […]


Testimonials

“Sara and Michael bring infectious energy and joy leavened with deep knowledge of best practices in literacy to their work with children and teachers.” Ellin Keene – Author of Mosaic of Thought and The Teacher You Want to Be
“Sara and Michael bring magic, and a contagious love of words to both students and teachers alike!” Georgia Heard - Author of Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School More testimonials...