Tag: graders

  • November 28, 2023

    November 28, 2023

    Last week, I received a packet of letters from a class of fourth graders at Herrera Elementary in El Paso, Texas. Their teacher, Ms. Gibbens, read them The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and the kids wrote letters telling me all the different ways they connected with the story. Each letter included a piece of…

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  • May 3, 2023

    May 3, 2023

    I keep thinking about a teacher I met in the signing line in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. She was telling me about her experience of reading aloud to her class of third graders, and I said, “It matters so much. You are giving those kids a true gift.” This teacher looked at me…

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  • June 12, 2019

    June 12, 2019

    I was in line at the post office when the woman next to me said, “You wrote that Edward book, didn’t you?” “Edward Tulane?” I said. “Yep. I read that book to my third graders this year and I couldn’t read the last chapter out loud. I was crying too hard. One of my kiddos…

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  • November 29, 2012

    November 29, 2012

    Here is a life-sized elephant constructed entirely of poems (haikus and diamantes) written by second and third graders, and inspired (in part) by a few odd lines from The Magician’s Elephant: “The dimensions of an elephant are most impressive. The dimensions of an elephant are impressive in the extreme.” Some of the students who had…

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  • February 7, 2012

    February 7, 2012

    Last week (when I was feeling puny) I received a letter from fourth graders at Hillside Elementary in Hasting-on-Hudson, New York. The letter is wonderful and funny (“We think your life is interesting. We like how you say, ‘I can’t write’ and then go into your office and write!”). The kids also sent a poster…

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