I was really happy when Fern Creek Elementary invited me back to their school carnival.  I was also really happy when my brother Dan and my friend Vanessa offered to help.  Last year I did it alone and was prepared to do that again, but it’s so much easier and more fun for the kids […]

You wouldn’t know it from blog posts, but the Lit Lab has been to various places this winter and spring.  One of my favorite places to go is the afterschool program at the South Street Ministry.  Unlike most other places, I return every few weeks.  I love the fact that to the students in the […]

My fall 2012 plan before Hurricane Sandy had been to drive the Lit Lab myself from Winter Park to Summit and back.  When Sandy hit New Jersey and New York, I decided to drive up to Rockville, MD, leave the Lit Lab there, take the bus back and forth to New York so I could […]

I really like the Morristown Neighborhood House because it tries to improve the lives of children by addressing the needs of the community as a whole.  The services include daycare and preschool, before and after-school care, mentoring,  tutoring, a career center, a computer lab, gang intervention, scholarship assistance, summer camp and recreation for all ages.  Jane and I went to the after-school […]

About a month ago, I decided it was time to think about the next step for the Lit Lab.  In September, Erin started a new job as the librarian for 1,200+ students at Eckstein Middle School.  I am thrilled that she is now able to use all the skills she has learned and practiced to do […]

I didn’t actually shed a tear, but it felt a little like sending my baby off to college.  Erin and Ben are now the caretakers of the Little Lit Lab.  They drove it through Glacier National Park and brought it home to Seattle.  Erin will now be using it for Lit Lab activities on the […]

Lucky for us (and lucky for her students), my sister-in-law Beth was teaching summer school in Minneapolis.  We had a great morning recreating the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  Once again the favorite character to add was the enchanted monkey, followed closely by the wizard.  Luckily we had lots of animal hats and masks so all […]

Toward the end of July, Allie and Erin flew out to New York.  We spent one playing and then loaded the Little Lit Lab to drive to Minnesota.  Our first stop was in Novi, Michigan where we connected with our good friends, Mary and Joe Drouillard.  Mary and Joe have been foster parents for many years and […]

Last July I went out to Seattle for a Bringing Theatre into the Classroom workshop.  Erin and I spent five days learning and practicing all kinds of theater activities that can be used to bring stories to life.  What an energizing experience!  The participants all had one goal in mind – finding creative ways to make […]

In June Madame Copyright joined me for a day of storytelling at Lincoln-Hubbard Elementary in Summit, NJ.  It’s so much fun going back to my old school to share my love of reading with students there.  I always feel welcomed by my friends.  We had fun adding characters into the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  […]