Big Reveal: Giving Thanks for Community
A crisp nip in the air, leaves dancing from green to yellow to orange, the scratch of claw on earth as squirrels dig hiding places for acorns—this can only mean one thing: Thanksgiving fast approaches! If you ask me what…
Start the New Year with Pages
January 2026 is right around the corner! Pages classes are designed to 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…
How to Find What you Need
Alphabetical Annotations are HERE! A is for About Authors All About Blog Categories – You are HERE! Announcing – Click through to find out what’s new and happening at Blackbird & Company. Arts Guild – All things visual and musical…
Print Shop Coming Soon!
Come January, Blackbird & Company will be launching Print Shop! Our awesome collection of downloadable Discovery activities are designed to engage students, Kindergarten through 8th Grade, in focused, independent work pinpointed on specific academic skills with opportunities to build…
A Reason for Handwriting
About a dozen years ago, a friend shared with me that she decided to bypass teaching her children the art of penmanship. Her children would jump straight to keyboarding: “This is the computer age. Cursive handwriting is archaic. Why do…
Imagine a Big Idea: A State Quilt
The big idea was to study our state in detail for one full school year, learning its basic geography and all the state symbols. There was no pattern. We just designed it the way we wanted it as we journeyed…
Moving BEYOND the Topic Sentence
Squirrels are everywhere. That’s for sure! Most young writers have had a squirrel encounter or two. Tapping into a rich storehouse of knowledge is a great place to learn to craft a HOOK—not a topic sentence, a HOOK! The best…
Meet Kimberly
Me? What if I told you that the day my grandmother gave me a dinky white portable typewriter I made each of my family members mailboxes for The Friday Night Flash out of a Captain Crunch cereal box? What…
On Looking Closely…
The habit of observing is habit worth developing—a habit of being. Observation of simple objects is the best way to begin your Observation Journal—think shell, spoon, marshmallow, apple. Begin this activity in kindergarten and continue through 12th grade! Create an…