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Today is the deadline for Pages registration!

It’s the first day of September! And you know what that means…today is the deadline for Session 1 Pages registration!

What exactly is the purpose of Pages? Pages live online classes foster competence, creativity, and confidence in students as they press into the important work of becoming literate. Being able to communicate an original, BIG idea is the ultimate goal of English Language Arts. 

At Blackbird & Company, we offer dozens of Pages classes each year taught by our expert teachers. From Literature to Research to Art and more, there’s a class for every student. You can peruse our course offerings HERE. And of course, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about where to place your student. We’re happy to help!

As a Pages teacher myself, I’ve found that our small class sizes really give students the opportunity to be known, to not only develop as writers but also as humans. Students are both challenged and supported—for what better way can we nurture young minds than by encouraging them to think deeply about ideas? Than by taking risks in their writing? By reading great books?

I, for one, can’t wait to see my students again this September. 

One parent writes, “Thank you for making class so enjoyable and personal. My daughter’s writing has really expanded since being in classes with you.” – Brit

Here’s to the 2026/2027 Pages school year!

~ Claire S.

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Summer Bingo closes August 31st….so cross off your last boxes!

Quick! Before summer thumps shut like a dusty book, one more deadline approaches: the end of Summer Bingo! 

Summer Bingo submissions close August 31st (Click HERE to submit). Finish off the season strong by journaling about your day, lending a book to a friend, or making a craft—all with the chance to win some wonderful prizes! 

Here’s a reminder of the prizes you can win with a Bingo submission:

With every bingo you get (which means you’ve completed five activities in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), you’re entered into a raffle to win the Corduroy book and stuffed animal set or the Matilda book and pencil pouch. The more bingos you submit, the more entries you have! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that’s not all: If you get a blackout (which means you’ve completed every activity on the bingo square), you’ll be entered into a raffle to win ANOTHER Solo Stove—this one being a Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit. With a blackout also comes a 20% off coupon code for one item!

Download Summer Bingo for free on Print Shop. Let’s soak up these precious days of freedom!

~ Claire S.

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We love (and support) our teachers.

The first day of school is right around the corner. Your curriculum is selected, your books assembled, your students in their seats (or near them, at least)—but, as you know, there’s so much more to teaching than having the right materials. 

A good teacher is inspired. And they pass that inspiration on to their students. 

We at Blackbird & Company are here to walk alongside you, lightening the burden of planning and logistics to create room for your imagination to soar. Let us support you through this adventure of a school year.

Here are some of the support resources we offer on our website:

  1. The Blog — You’re already here, which is a great step to take! BUT, chances are, there’s more to the blog than you would have guessed. Filter by category to peruse the topics that are most relevant to you, like Pages, Print Shop, Write Ideas, and Writing Resources. Glean new teaching strategies and learn more about the resources at your fingertips.
  2. Schedules and Lesson Plans — Fitting together teaching schedules and lesson plans can feel like putting together a puzzle in which none of the pieces fit together. That’s why we created these resources for every grade level collection AND individual subject. Take a moment to peruse our expertly-assembled teaching schedules and lesson plans. 
  3. Online Pages Classes — Whether you’d like to learn how to use Blackbird & Company guides by seeing another teacher apply them, or you’re homeschooling and want your student to find community with peers and another teacher, our online Pages Classes might just be for you.
    We offer 5-week (and longer) classes for every student. From our CORE curriculum of Earlybird to Level 4, and our Application materials like Essay, Research, and One True Sentence, our friendly teachers can’t wait to meet this year’s students.
    But keep in mind, the deadline for Session 1 sign-ups is September 1st—so take a look now!
  4. Print Shop — We’ve been abuzz with the Print Shop news lately, which you’ve probably picked up on if you’ve kept an eye on the blog! With a slew of downloadable ABCeDarian crafts, Reader’s Guides, One True Sentence worksheets, and more, we aim to create thoughtful, high-quality learning supplements that will deepen students’ engagement with the arts. 
  5. Video Collection — Learn more about how to adopt a literature-based language arts education with the Video Collection on our website. We offer professional development videos, including how to teach phonics, and videos that supplement units like Operation Lexicon: Traits of Character.

So amidst the whirlwind of educating young minds, draw on these resources to take time away from planning and stressing, and channel it into inspiration. Let us not forget that learning—and watching others learn—is one of the greatest joys of this life!

~ Claire S.

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Let’s Edit Together.

Many teachers and parents hit a wall editing student work—it can seem so subjective! The last thing any of us want is to discourage our budding writers. But editing doesn’t have to loom large like a specter of educational despair. YOU are equipped for this task, and we are here to help with some quick online resources.

Earlier this week, we took a look at the Blackbird & Company Writer’s Checklists, which detail what to highlight in a 5-minute editing conference. But today we’re going one step further.

Drum roll please….

Introducing our new Editing Tutorials!

These videos look at real samples of student work and model how we would edit them with the Writer’s Checklists. Check out our first batch of tutorials centered around Level 1 edits on all our social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest). Our first five videos explore how to edit:

  1. Hook and Indent
  2. Mechanics
  3. Supporting Ideas and Adjectives, Example 1
  4. Supporting Ideas and Adjectives, Example 2
  5. Twist

 

With examples of dos and don’ts for each checklist bullet, we’ll give you practical tips on how to edit student work. And stay tuned for our Level 2 and 3 tutorials—they’ll be following shortly.

Every teacher edits differently. No matter your editing style, however, the most important part of a red-pen edit is (1) to help our students’ ideas shine, and (2) to empower them to keep writing. We don’t edit to crush their spirits or to force them to conform to an outline. No! We edit because our students’ ideas deserve to gleam and shimmer in the sun like a cracked geode. We edit because we believe that our students are capable of so much more than they know. 

Browse these editing tutorials for a little inspiration and direction. YOU are more than ready to pick up that red pen!

~ Claire S.

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Get ready to edit…taking a look at the Writer’s Checklist.

When many of us are faced with a piece of student writing, these thoughts instantly start to fly:

“What do I comment on?”

“What should I expect of my student based on their age?”

“How can I teach my student to self-edit?”

That’s where the Blackbird & Company Writer’s Checklists come in. For Levels 1, 2, and 3, we offer free downloadable checklists on Print Shop that walk you through what edits to make at each level. The 5-minute conference just got easier!

For example, at Level 1, we look for writing three supporting ideas and using some adjectives. By Level 2 we upgrade to writing five supporting ideas, connecting related ideas, and trying out all four sentence types. By Level 3, the hope is that the student can soar and write eight supporting ideas, add sensory details, and vary sentence length. With a little scaffolding, students can climb the ladder to authentic writing!

These checklists aren’t just for teachers and parents—they’re also a wonderful resource to hand to students so they can start practicing the art of the self-edit.

So this school year, print out a stack of Writer’s Checklists. They just might streamline the editing process for both you and your students.

Well-written, Blackbird!

~ Claire S.

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It’s the dawn of a new school year—who do you choose to be?

Over the last four years or so, I’ve gotten into running, a hobby I’ve always avoided like the plague. This sport has taught me a lot, first and foremost that running is HARD. But it has also shed light on something else: the relationship between identity and goals. 

Here’s what I mean. There’s a difference between people who say they’re “trying to go on runs” versus those who say, “I’m a runner.” The difference boils down to identity. The first group hasn’t incorporated running into their identity while the second group has. When I made the shift from “trying to go on runs” to seeing myself as a runner, I didn’t immediately get faster or run longer. The difference was mental. Motivating myself to run became easier, my running habits became automatic. And that consistency spurred growth. Now, I even kind of enjoy runs sometimes!

Identity-based change doesn’t end with running—it also has everything to do with becoming a writer. 

At this juncture, with the sun setting over summer and rising on the school year, it’s the perfect time to examine identity and goals. This year, who do we want to be? What do we want to achieve? How do we teach our students to intentionally set goals?

One answer lies within the theory of Identity-Based Motivation (IBM) proposed by Dr. Daphna Oyserman, a psychology professor at USC (here’s the article if you’re curious about psychology like I am). She explains the link between our identities and our motivation. Because we prefer to act in ways that are consistent with our identity, we interpret difficulties that arise when we do identity-consistent actions as important or meaningful. The struggle seems worth it. On the other hand, when we do something that doesn’t align with our identity, we see difficulty as a sign that we’re in the wrong place, the struggle proving we don’t belong. 

So for example, when I view myself as a runner, the hardship I experience has meaning because it’s pushing me to become more of who I am. When I saw myself as someone just trying out running, however, every obstacle became proof that I wasn’t cut out for this sport.

The same goes for writing. For a writer, the challenge of getting ideas on the page is important because it shapes the person to become more of who they are. For the “I’m not good at writing” or “writing is boring” student, the struggle inherent in writing is discouraging.

Therefore, our goal isn’t to shape students into people who write sometimes. We want our students to be WRITERS.

Identifying as a writer doesn’t mean you have it all figured out. As Thomas Mann said, “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” Being a writer means you have something to say—and each student is brimming with wonderful, colorful, vibrant ideas, if only they have the means to express them. 

This year, let’s lean into identity to drive action. Every student is a writer—and we can’t let them forget it.

~ Claire S.

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Announcing: The ABCeDarian Journal

ABCeDarian Journal

We’ve created a wonderful journal with hand drawn pictures—yes, hand drawn with dip pen and ink—to guide little ones into the wonderful world of phonics. The alphabet is so much more than that catchy tune we learned as youngsters. I don’t know about you, but when I reach the end of the song, “…now I know my ABCs, oh how happy I will be,” I chuckle because something doesn’t quite add up! Singing the song is fun and all, but the English alphabet is so much more than names of letters. Each letter makes a unique individual sound, and in combination, well the possibilities are magnificent!

The 26 letters of our alphabet make the 44 sounds that, in combination, comprise every single spoken word! Let that settle in for a moment! Not so simple, right?

For this reason we’ve created the ABCeDarian Journal for your TK and Kindergarten students to move deeper into the wonder of the alphabet. The will learn to recognize each letter’s shape as they learn to form the letters.

 

More importantly, they will begin to learn about the sounds that each of the 26 letters make while strengthening fine motor and creative skills!

There are colorful stickers included, and, of course, we have all the add-ons you will need to engage your student—sand tray and alphabet stamps! Click through and get ready for fall!

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Learning with Leonardo

Look • Imagine • Create

Observation begins with a question: What am I seeing? In a world filled to the brim with stimulation, it is easy to take our senses for granted. Though we are usually quick to have thoughts on things that we taste and smell, sight (of all things) can often be overlooked. We see so many things on a daily basis that it’s easy to forget to stop and really look.

Learn to think and create. This 20-lesson interdisciplinary unit guides students into biographical research of Leonardo. Students will read to discover and write what they glean. Each week they will be guided through observational exercises and learn to draw from the Renaissance Man’s sketchbooks, encouraged each step of the way by our instructional videos that can be accessed at your convenience.

Your student will culminate with an original research paper, a sketchbook of warm-ups + drawings, a focused framable drawing, and a tool kit of skills.This unit is recommended for students 5th grade through adult!

Click through to see one week of the unit in action.

 

~Kimberly

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Rules for Summer

Rules? ...for SUMMER?

It’s summer and I am driving my twelve-year-old son and a group of his friends to Junior Life Guard practice at the beach. We pick up the twins and drive to another house to pick up three more. Gracie gets in the car still eating her breakfast. This gets the kids talking about “rules” for eating in the car. There is debate back and forth, should food be allowed, if so, what type of food? Crunchy? Smelly? Soggy? The list is endless, but all agree that mouths should be closed, chewing should be silent, mess should be cleaned up.

I’m currently reading a book called Rules by Cynthia Lord, in preparation for a brand new Literature and Writing Discovery Guide. The book is about a girl named Catherine who has an autistic brother named David. David has difficulty navigating social situations and needs clear rules to help him know what to do.

Some rules are easy, “Don’t stand in front of the TV when other people are watching.” Some rules are more complicated, “You can yell on the playground but not during dinner.” As you read the book you start to understand how many “unwritten rules” we give ourselves and others—rules that guide our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

This made me think about the unwritten rules we give ourselves regarding summer. I know I have had them over the years. During my last online Pages Online class for the school year, the students had a whole discussion on what they consider approved summer activities. I remember graduating from college and being repelled by anything I felt was going to “teach” me something for an entire year!

But what if we change the rules? What if we write new rules for summer? Like: “Read everyday while feeling the sun on your face, your bare feet on the earth and your imagination running wild.” After all, when it comes to writing, we learn rules so we, as writers, can break rules! What if learning and play, curiosity, exploration, and fun for our little ones were all the same, not separate, not something to be avoided but embraced. I say learning can be all these things, and so much more—especially early learning! For this reason we are offering, once again, our Extra Play Tool Kit of Learning for TK through 2nd grade students!

 

Extra Playful Tool Kit of Learning

To begin, click through to discover our brand new collection of projects designed for early learners: Print Shop ABCedarian.

Gross Motor

  • Have your student write the letters they are learning outside with chalk, or paintbrush and water. It’s okay to use big fun strokes.
  • Have your student watercolor or paint letters -tracing a piece of paper.
  • Have your student collect stones, sticks or leaves and make the letters with materials.
  • Have your student write the letters in the dirt with sticks.
  • Put the card with the word or sound out on the floor or tape to the wall. Have your student hop or run or dance to the sound you say.
  • Have your student pick an animal and act like that animal while going to tag the card.
  • Go on a scavenger hunt around the house collecting or naming items that start with the sound you are working on.
  • Have your student make the shape of the letter with his body and make the sound.
  • Have your student throw a bean bag on a letter sounds or words you have learned—use the cards from Hatchling or put words on bigger pieces of paper.

Fine Motor

  • Glue buttons or beads onto a big block letter B written on a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper.
  • Engage in a beading activity with pipe cleaners.
  • Draw wavy or zigzag lines for your students to cut, following the lines.
  • Use an eyedropper and colored water to drop into little soap saver suction cups.
  • Find pictures in magazines that start with different sounds, cut, and paste

I Spy Sounds in Books while Reading

Find pictures in books that start with the sound(s) you are working on: “Do you see anything on this page that starts with a ___ sound?” Give your child time and patience. If your child finds a sound but does not start with the sound you asked for respond in an encouraging way, praising the sound they did find. If the sound was “p” but they found “b” you might say: “Wow, you found a picture with the “b” sound,  “ball” begins with this sound! Now ask if you can have a turn too. You can model finding the “p” sound. Look I found something round too, “pizza” starts with a “p” sound.

Moveable Alphabet tips and games

  • The letters in the Moveable Alphabet are organized in alphabetical order to help students process as they see, feel, touch and do. Ask your student to find the letter (or letters) that makes the ___ sound. You can do this weekly after learning sounds, to practice and reinforce. Always have your children find the letters to match sounds and to also put away the letters when possible.
  • Have your student take the letter sound you are working on or reviewing out of the moveable alphabet box. Have your student walk around the room or permitted area and put the letter in front of any object that starts with that sound. You can play this same game with first, middle and last sound. See game below.
  • Put out letters of moveable alphabet in a sequence on the table and have letters that are missing. Have your student fill in the missing letters (examples: a__ c,  d e __,  g __i,  j  k  __).
  • Ask your student to find the first sound in a word. For example, try the word hat (this list can be the same word cards you practice with Hatchling Volume 1 or Volume 2).
  • Ask your student to find the middle sound—this will be the short vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) in closed syllable words. Closed syllable words have 1 syllable, one vowel, and are closed in at the end by a consonant or consonants. For example, the word “dog” or “stand” are closed syllable words.
  • Play the Magic “E” game. Spell out any of the following words in the lid of the Moveable alphabet:  cap, car, spar, her, them, kit, bit, pin, twin, rod, nod, hop, glob, hug,  cub. Have your student add the Magic “E” to the end of the word and read with the long vowel sound.
  • Play “My Mistake” with your student. Once your child has completed Volume 1C, CVC words (consonant/vowel/consonant words), you can play with the words you have learned and add new ones. Using the CVC objects, spell words and make mistakes. Ask your students to check your words and ask if they are correct. If they find the mistake have them change the letter to make it correct. For example, beside the object “bag” you spell “bog” with the Moveable Alphabet. Have your student correct your mistake.
  • Play “What New Word” with your student.  After completing 1C and 1H in Hatchling, Volume 1, see if your student can make new words out of words they have learned. For example, they learned the word “bag” in Hatchling 1C. How many words can they make if they take away the letter “b” and replace with a different sound (gag, hag, jag, lag, mag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag, zag)? Let the words be nonsense or part of a longer word or names. Have fun and be playful. The point is you want your student to identify the correct sounds.

 

Have fun… the thing is, when it comes to summer, PLAY is learning! The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy the “rules” you write this summer!

 

~Clare

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Fall is Just Around the Corner!

And its, by far my favorite time of year…

Fall feelings are near!

Once upon a time, over two decade ago (wow), our family covered this white pumpkin with orange yarn—one strand at a time. What’s the point of this, you ask? Delight springs to mind. But looking back, it is precisely these types of activities that built patience into my four children. They will be the first to tell you that nothing beautiful happens speedily! This project took many October days to complete in little spurts.  During the process my four exercised their observation skills. They became very aware of the fact that the pumpkin’s shape is organic, non-symmetrical.  They gained fine motor skills applying glue with a brush, cutting a strand of yarn just the right length, and affixing. Ultimately, they exercised grit by seeing this exercise to its conslusion.

Never discount the power of a good craft!

Now, during the last slow days of summer, is the time to get busy preparing.  Whether you are teaching primary, elementary, middle or high school students ELA, we’ve got you!

Primary is Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade

For primary students be sure to check out Print Shop which is chock full of ABCeDarian crafts—crafts tied to the sounds of the alphabet. Why? Because English Language Arts is an art form that requires curiosity, imagination, and hand skills. After all, we believe the best technology for learning to write well is the pencil. Download projects, gather material, and be prepared to begin the school year with ease.

L is for Leaf 01

Elementary is 3rd and 4th and 5th  Grade

Help your students build a rich lexicon—their very own collection of words. Check our our Print Shop introduction to the wonder of words with this Collective Noun downloadable activity.

And begin the 3rd grade with Operation Lexicon Traits of Character to help your students collect a specific collection to describe the rich characters they will encounter as they read stories.

And click through to Print Shop, More for Teachers, and you will discover our brand new Reader’s Guides. These are crafted to walk with you through a close reading, offering some insights that we hope will inspire you and your students.

Reader's guide: Grayson

Middle School is Grades 6 and 7 and 8

In middle school, students are learning to use rhetoric to make their sentences stylish. One True Sentence: Tools of Style, begins in 5th grade and really ramps up in middle school. Amplification? Polysyndeton? Tools of Style help students write better sentences. Print Shop Writer’s Guides offer more practice along the way.

High School is Grades 9 and 10 and 11 and 12

This is where Blackbird & Company students take flight! With CORE Level 4, students will read and explore characters, themes, symbols and motifs, journalling for four weeks and culminating in a literary essay guided each step of the way.

Our Pages Online offer Literature + Writing Level 4, Intermediate and Advanced Composition,  plus Art History / Studio and Music History / Appreciation electives.

 

Now’s the time to get prepared! Fall is around the corner and this means the start of a brand new school year. We’re here to help!