Poetry Picture Book Cover Reveal: CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

Happy cover reveal day to Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship! This poetry picture book was written by Charles Waters and Irene Latham and illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls.

Can I Touch Your Hair? poetry picture book

The book will be released on January 1, 2018, and Irene and Charles are sharing two of the poems from the book today. Visit Irene’s blog to read the first poem in the book, and Charles’s blog to read the second.

Plus, keep reading for the Can I Touch Your Hair? authors’ and illustrators’ notes and photos of the final art.

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STEM on Parade: 5 New Teen Nonfiction Books

By Twenty-First Century Books Editorial Director Domenica DiPiazza

As TFCB’s editorial director, I love seeing each new season’s books on parade, and Fall 2017 is no exception. This season, the imprint has a fantastic lineup of STEM teen nonfiction books. STEM integration is a vital part of K-12 education, and helping students discern fact from fiction is more important than ever. These are definitely books to add to your collection. Read More

Growing Maker Education in the Midwest: A Making Spaces Story

This post originally appeared on the Maker Ed blog on June 6, 2017.

“Okay, you two. You have to leave. Your 5th hour teacher will blame me if you’re late class,” I urged Jake and Karina.

“Just one more minute. I have to glue on this last truss,” replied Karina with hot glue gun in hand and surrounded by a pile of spaghetti as her drawbridge slowly took shape.

As a physics teacher at Harding Senior High, the largest Title I high school in Minnesota, I typically stand in the hall between classes trying to get kids to class on time. I never thought I’d have to kick my students out of class or tell them they had to go home by 5 p.m., three hours after school ended. But as my colleagues in physics and engineering and I moved towards building projects with our students, this “problem” grew as well. Read More