I love A Writing Kind of Day by Ralph Fletcher. It is one of my favorite sources for poems to launch poetry units. His poem, Walking, is one of my favorites. This line: I write the way I walk often lingers in my mind.

Pink Me Up always makes me laugh. I read it to start a professional development session I led last Wednesday. The voice is loud and clear, making it a great text to help students learn how to find their voices when writing. One way, which the author uses in Pink Me Up is to add voice to writing by the names we call people in the story. The main character is a young girl and she always refers to her parents as Mommy and Daddy. I apply this to my own writing when I call my daughter Hannah-Bear or my son J-Man.

Join Jen and Kellee for It’s Monday! What are You Reading? Click around on the links or more reading inspiration.