Posted on July 10, 2026July 3, 2026 by Kimberly

10 Days and Counting! 🎉

Soon Print Shop will be loaded with goodies designed to enhance your primary, elementary, or middle school student’s ELA journey.

Simply click the “Print Shop” link from the orange bar at the top of the landing page of our website and you will discover four new categories: More for Teachers, Writing Mentor, Penmanship, and ABCeDarian Projects.

But not yet!

Brand new buttons will go live July 20, 2026.

That’s TEN days from today…

~Kimberly

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Download your Summer Bingo for free on Printshop HERE and submit a picture of your completed bingo sheet below to enter the raffles. Bingo will run June 1st through August 31st—so print out your bingo sheet and get to crossing off squares!

Summer Bingo!

Posted on July 1, 2026July 6, 2026 by Kimberly

Always Be Prepared!

It all began with Little House in the Big Woods. Published in 1932. This book is the first in the series of her memories growing up in the American Midwest during the last quarter of the 19th century. While these books are fictionalized, they are considered by most historians to be primary sources from this period of American History.

I read each and every book in the series back when I was in middle school back in the 70s. About the same time, the TV show was released. I imagine Laura Ingalls Wilder never imagined her stories would impact so many humans in the 20th century and beyond. Even though she lived a long life, she died in 1957, long before the television show.

My two favorite books are The Long Winter and Farmer Boy (in that order). The Long Winter is the tale of how the Ingalls family survived the brutal winter storms in Dakota Territory during 1890. Let me tell you, it is a page turner! Discovering the “twisting of hay” technique alone is worth the read! But Farmer Boy is unique, a stand alone, being the story of Almanzo Wilder’s childhood—the man who Laura later married.

Two of my now adult children adored Farmer Boy as did countless of my students! The standout, of course was the description of food, especially the “stacked pancakes” Almanzo adored. That boy could EAT!

So what has this got to do with being PREPARED?

Absolutely everything!

Here, at the dawn of July, Think forward. Read the books (or listen on Audible) you have chosen to explore this coming year. As you read, listen for words that strike your fancy, sentences and passages that underline. Use sticky tabs to mark words, sentences, and passages you want to share. Flip through your student’s workbooks to see what will be expected. Calendar out your schedule. Use the Parent/Teacher button dropdown on the orange bar at the top of our home page. Here you will find suggested Lesson plans for every single one of our ELA unit types. You will also, in this area, find our Answer Keys. Head over to Print Shop and scroll down to find FREE Writer’s Checklists, Character Trait Cards, and a wonderful spelling program.

Be Prepared for Section 5!

If you and your student are working through the Earlybird Fall unit, please bake some mini apple pies. If you aren’t, find a reason to bake some pies! This is still a a happy fall tradition in our home.

Checkout our Student Project Gallery for inspiration. Every single CORE selection has a Section 5 Project Week. Don’t skip this culminating activity.

Make plans now!

Be Prepared!

~Kimberly

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Summer Bingo!

Posted on June 30, 2026May 26, 2026 by Claire Sakelson

Print Shop for Primary

Scarcity is not always a bad thing. Of course, when it comes to natural resources—water and food—scarcity creates a problem.

But scarcity also might mean that something is unique, precious.

Sometimes scarcity might prevent waste. I work tirelessly to purchase fresh vegetables that will be used completely. Too often, when I was younger, lettuce and celery and carrots would wilt, berries would mold before I had a chance to prepare them for my family. Scarcity has helped me solve this problem.

I have a dear friend, a bonafide artist, who has made a pact with herself to not only work through all the materials in her studio, but to also see what might become of trash combined with a bit of imagination. Trash to ephemera—recycle, reuse, repurpose. Sandra’s “Sunset Clouds Over SLO” (oil on repurposed cardboard, 4 x 4) fits the bill whimsically.

Coming in July, Blackbird & Company will be expanding its offering to support primary students (TK, K, 1st, and 2nd) in gaining the skills that are often overlooked in our electronic era.

Cutting, pasting, coloring, painting, folding, and making actually set the stage for higher learning. More significantly, the activities we are providing will always offer a little nugget of knowledge. I smile remembering the piggy banks of olden times, likening out Print Shop for Primary being pennies and nickels and dimes and quarters that little minds are adding to their fund of knowledge.

Our concept of offering Print Shop for Primary ABCeDarian style, constrains and connects learning to the 26 letters of the alphabet where all of the English language originates. These 26 letters, organized individually or in combination creates the 44 sounds we humans use to communicate. This truly is an awesome example where scarcity is maximized.

Included with our July Print Shop drop, will be our ABCeDarian Activity Box. This kit will include books and projects across domains of learning—anatomy, animal life cycles, color theory, fine art, craft, the alphabet, and much more. Everything in the box will promote independent learning, fine motor skills, focus, patience, and offer information to build the fund of knowledge. Simply stated, the ABCedarian box is certain to delight!

But here’s the thing: We are only making 50! Yes, FIFTY! Because of the handmade nature of the ABCeDarian Activity Box, we decided to treat it very special. That’s scarcity for you! Watch for the release next month when Print Shop for Primary goes live.

Posted on June 30, 2026June 30, 2026 by Claire Sakelson

ABCeDarian Activity Box

Scarcity is not always a bad thing. Of course, when it comes to natural resources—water and food—scarcity creates a problem.

But scarcity also might mean that something is unique, precious.

Sometimes scarcity might prevent waste. I work tirelessly to purchase fresh vegetables that will be completely utilized. Too often, especially when I was younger, lettuce and celery and carrots would wilt, berries would mold before I had a chance to prepare them for my family. Scarcity has helped me solve this problem.

I have a dear friend (@sandra2paint), a bonafide artist, who has made a pact with herself to not only work through all the materials in her studio, but to also see what might become of trash combined with a bit of imagination. Trash to ephemera—recycle, reuse, repurpose. Sandra’s “Sunset Clouds Over SLO” (oil on repurposed cardboard, 4 x 4) fits the bill whimsically.

Coming in July, Blackbird & Company will be expanding its offering to support primary students (TK, K, 1st, and 2nd) in gaining the skills that are often overlooked in our electronic era.

Cutting, pasting, coloring, painting, folding, and making actually set the stage for higher learning. More significantly, the activities we are providing will always offer a little nugget of knowledge. I smile remembering the piggy banks of olden times. I’m likening our “Print Shop for Primary” projects to pennies and nickels and dimes and quarters that little minds are adding to their piggy bank of knowledge.

Our concept of offering Print Shop for Primary ABCeDarian style constrains and connects learning to the 26 letters of the alphabet where all of the English language originates. These 26 letters, organized individually or in combination, create the 44 sounds we humans use to communicate. This truly is an awesome example of maximizing scarcity.

Included with our July Print Shop drop will be our ABCeDarian Activity Box. This kit will include books and projects across ABC domains of learning—anatomy, animal life cycles, color theory, fine art, butterfly craft, the alphabet, and much more. Everything in the box will promote independent learning, fine motor skills, focus, patience, and offer information to build the fund of knowledge. Simply stated, the ABCeDarian Activity Box is certain to delight!

But here’s the thing: We are only making 50! Yes, FIFTY! Because of the handmade nature of the ABCeDarian Activity Box, we decided to treat it very special.

That’s scarcity for you!

Watch closely for the release next month when Print Shop for Primary goes live.

Don’t miss out!

~Kim

HAVE YOU STARTED PLAYING SUMMER BINGO?

Summer Bingo!

Posted on June 29, 2026June 6, 2026 by Claire Sakelson

Submit to Reveal now—July 1st is right around the corner!

Everyone has a story to tell.

Everyone has an idea or an experience or a perspective so unique that it demands to be shared.

That’s the magic of Reveal. Reveal is the finger on the pulse of our student community. When I read this journal, I catch a glimpse of the hearts of our students because with every piece of writing comes a sliver of the author’s soul. Writing carries power! It’s personal!

Reveal (our Blackbird & Company literary journal) is how we highlight students’ unique voices and big ideas. Check out the Reveal 2024 and Reveal 2025 editions to see for yourself.

But don’t wait too long—submissions for Reveal 2026 close July 1st!

Submit your student’s work here to give them a chance to be featured in this upcoming issue.

May these printed words spur on your creativity!

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Summer Bingo!

~ Claire S.

Posted on June 24, 2026June 6, 2026 by Kimberly

Summer Phonics for Reading + Writing

Does your student struggle to spell well? Stumble to decode simple words and phrases? Or do you have a student who just needs a bit more direct instruction, a bit more time for slow, methodical practice? Summer’s here! Time to help these students fly.

What if you had everything needed to engage your students in the process of remediating reading and writing skills at your fingertips? We’ve got you!

Click through to: The Wonderful World of Phonics

Reading builds a rich vocabulary, grows our knowledge of the world, and sparks BIG ideas.

Writing begins with an idea and is crafted to words on a page by a courageous thinker.

Our open-ended unit provides you, the teacher, with all the tools necessary to guide your students into the wonderful world of phonics. Our curriculum, rooted in Orton-Gilligham wisdom, is user friendly and affirming for the older student who needs additional direct instruction and independent practice to shore up skills. Includes all you need to know about phonics, a placement guide, plus lesson guidance each step of the way.

Help your students dive into 2026 with the ELA tools that will enable them to read and write and think well!

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Summer Bingo!

Posted on June 21, 2026June 6, 2026 by Kimberly

Welcome Summer

Being a West Coast dweller, I’ve never engaged in the quintessential summer activity of catching lightning bugs (fireflies) in a jar. But I’ve seen it on film, in photographs, and I’ve certainly read about the activity! Here, in California, we have fireflies, just not the nocturnal flashing variety.

One of my favorite children’s author / illustrators is Patricia Polacco who creates picture books filled with her wonderful family memories. When Lightning Comes in a Jar is a perfect summer read, especially for those of us who might otherwise not experience the delight if fireflies!

And since summer has arrived, and we are on the subject of fireflies, I have to recommend Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe. I’ve read this wonderful story aloud countless times to my children and nearly have it memorized!

The story begins, “On a summer evening I looked up from dinner, through the open window to the backyard. It was growing dark. My tree house was a black shape in the tree and I wouldn’t go up there now. But something flickered there, a moment—I looked, and it was gone. It flickered again, over near the fence. Fireflies!”

Not only is this a terrific opportunity to learn about these amazing creatures, but also to explore themes of empathy, kindness, and responsibility. Doing the right thing will not be easy, but when the boy realizes that the fireflies do not shine as bright in the jar he releases them back into the wild. And, when he does, I always imagine his heart shining a bit brighter.

Here’s to the wonder of summer!

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Summer Bingo!

~Kimberly

Posted on June 17, 2026June 12, 2026 by Kimberly

Let’s Puzzle Some More

Once again, hop on over to Red Hen Toys and pick up the Binomial Square puzzle. Of course, this Montessori / Froebel inspired material is designed to prepare students for more complex math instruction down the line—proportional reasoning, base 4 numeration, polynomials and more.

But for this summer activity, the goal is to integrate the activity into the art of writing. Begin by presenting your student with a blank journal, a pencil and some colored pencils. Here is a little nugget to spark curiosity:

Did you know all multiplication problems can be represented by a rectangle?

Copy this sentence and move on to create original questions in the journal.

Encourage students to freely explore, beginning with questions, questions they will write in a journal:

How many blue pieces are needed to make a square? or How colors does it take to make a square?

Keep exploring and composing questions along the way. From here move on to statements like:

There are sixteen pieces in the Binomial Square puzzle.

Finally, begin to build shapes and craft instructions—imperative sentences. From the image above, a first sentence might read:

Pick up the bright yellow rectangle and place it vertically on the right on the table in front of you.

Next, place the light green rectangle horizontally flush right at the bottom of the bright yellow rectangle, creating a 90 degree angle.

Keep going from here! This activity engages your students in active learning—reflection and problem solving instead of passive direct instruction. Students who enter into the activity of journalling and puzzling, will be setting the stage for more advanced math learning, but more importantly for advanced writing. Slowing down and observing relationships between the puzzle pieces, will strengthen observational skills. The process of communicating observations with words on paper will develop skills and strategies that will help your writers write well.

DON’T FORGET TO PLAY BINGO!

Summer Bingo!

~Kimberly

Posted on June 12, 2026 by Kimberly

A Writer’s Magnum Opus

As the school year has only just ended, now is the perfect time to ask a beautiful question or two! As a writer, what has my student gleaned? What is the best lesson I passed on? What is my student’s magnum opus? And, as a teacher, what is mine?

So what exactly is a magnum opus? E.B. White demonstrates this beautifully. Charlotte’s Web begins with the tension of an ax. Life on the farm causes Fern to face life and death, “‘I don’t see why he needs an ax,’ continued Fern, who was only eight. ‘Well,” said her mother, ‘one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.'” Of course, we know how the story goes. Fern rescues the runt and sets the action into motion.

But, let’s get back to the matter at hand, the concept of magnum opus. Toward the end of the story, in chapter 19, Charlotte refers to her egg sac as her magnum opus. But when Wilber thinks the peach colored cotton-candy like thing is a toy, Charlotte sets him straight. And in the process of setting Wilbur straight, Charlotte unpacks the term for us, “It is my egg sac, my magnum opus. Latin for great work. This egg sac is my great work—the finest thing I have ever made.” Charlotte’s sac, containing 514 eggs becomes a powerful representation of her legacy.

Later, in Chapter 22, almost at the very end of the book, E.B. White crafts a sentence so perfect, that I would deem it a magnum opus:

“It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.” ~E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Our Blackbird & Company students are continually constructing ideas—words to phrases, to sentences, to paragraphs, to essays. Now is the perfect time as summer saunters in, to look back on your student’s body of writing from the past year in search of a magnum opus! I’m certain you will be able to pull a singular sentence from your student’s body of writing. One sentence that stand’s above the rest. Post the sentence up on the refrigerator, read it often. In so doing you are encouraging the student’s important work, but you are also reminding yourself that a significant part of being a teacher is inspiring, applauding, marveling in the work of the student!

~Kimberly

Posted on June 8, 2026June 6, 2026 by Claire Sakelson

Hop on a summer reading safari!

One of my favorite parts of summer is the freedom this season offers.

While it’s wonderful to explore literature through a structured curriculum, there’s a different kind of wonder in meandering through the literary jungle on your own, going wherever the wind and your whims take you. So what better time to traverse genres and worlds and stories than during this upcoming summer? Put on your safari hat and jump in the Jeep; it’s time to explore.

To get inspiration for which books to crack open as I lay at the beach, I asked Blackbird & Company teachers for recommendations. Take a look at these books and see if any strike a spark within your soul—personally, I can’t wait to bushwack through these new worlds!

Ms. Cathi: The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter

When I was young, I used to spend the night with my great-grandma in her tiny apartment. She had a wonderful collection of Reader’s Digest hardcover anthologies that was an early delight because I could devour an entire story in just one night, quietly snuggled in the bed next to her while she slept. She also had a collection of Gene Stratton-Porter books that eventually attracted my attention and kept me engaged for much longer than just one night of reading.

My favorite in the collection is The Keeper Of The Bees. Full of beautiful descriptions of nature, both human and botanical, I was drawn into the story of human tragedy, passion, heroic self-sacrifice, pure virtue, and devoted love on display amongst vibrant colors of flowers, trees, stormy clouds, and of course, bees.

I pull this favorite from my shelf once per year for a reminder of my Memaw’s legacy of rich reading she placed into my hands. I always read with tears and finish with a full heart as I am reminded of how wonderful life can be when not just lived, but shared lovingly with others around us.

~ Ms. Cathi

Ms. Lori: Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit

One of my all-time favorite romantic comedies is You’ve Got Mail. A great truth is revealed in this movie by the main character, Kathleen Kelly when she says, “When you read a book as a child it becomes a part of your identity in a way no other reading in your whole life does.” I was an avid reader as a child and each one of those books is not only seared in my memory, but they also molded my future literary tastes. I enjoy all genres—historical fiction, adventure, mystery—but fantasy/science fiction is my absolute favorite. I escaped into the world of Narnia through a wardrobe with C.S. Lewis, walked Middle Earth with J.R.R. Tolkien, and flew into outer space do battle against an alien race with Orson Scott Card.

But what started it all was a book my librarian aunt read to me as a 4-year-old, Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit. This delightful, magical fantasy revolves around five siblings who come upon a sand-fairy buried in a gravel-pit. Now, don’t be thinking Tinkerbell, this sand-fairy is ugly and grumpy, and grants wishes grudgingly, and all wishes turn to stone at sunset. As you can imagine the children become involved in a series of adventures with unintended consequences. It is all great fun, so much so that the future author Edgar Eager was inspired to write a book for children based on it called Half Magic. His book is wonderful, but I highly recommend that you read the book that started it all, Five Children and It.

~ Ms. Lori

Ms. Clare: Wonder by R. J. Palacio

My favorite summer reads are the books you can read over and over again and still uncover something new in, be moved to tears by, remember something lost, and be reminded of the kind of person you want to be in the world. That is what the story of Wonder does for me. Mr. Tushman, the principal in the story, reminds us in his end of the year speech, to be “kinder than is necessary”—that we can make the world a little better and maybe, just maybe someone may recognize in us the face of God glimmering in human form.

Download your Summer Bingo for free on Printshop HERE and submit a picture of your completed bingo sheet below to enter the raffles. Bingo will run June 1st through August 31st—so print out your bingo sheet and get to crossing off squares!

Summer Bingo!

Let the summer inspiration begin!

~ Claire S.