Bookmarks to Aid Reading Comprehension

I've been offline waaaay too long. A couple weeks ago I headed out for a series of school visits (which I love!) and promptly became ill. On Tuesday, when I was sick enough I couldn't remember what had happened the day before, I saw a doctor and was put on an antibiotic. Miracle drugs! I'm so much better already.

While surfing the net, I found an interesting blog post by teacher/author Patti Gill that I want to share. While she doesn't give quite enough information for me to fully understand her system (though you apparently can learn more from her book) I love her idea of using BOOKMARKS to help kids keep track of what they have read. She asks kids how many pages they can read before they start to forget what they've read. Once they determine what that page count is, she has them use a bookmark every time they reach that many pages. On the bookmark they jot the pages in that section, then put notes onto the bookmark to help them remember that section of the book. I love this idea, and think it could be tweeked for the needs of individual teachers and students.

New Polar Bear Exhibit

The Columbus Zoo has just opened a new polar bear exhibit. Check out this video from the Columbus Dispatch. How much do you think I want to write a polar bear book now?!