In my recent post about “literary immersion,” I talked about how I get students immersed in stories. But, all of those strategies are completely useless if the book we are reading isn’t good enough.

I have come to describe this exuberant, joyful reaction to literature as being a result of literary immersion: complete preoccupation and delight in a novel.

Enjoy some little glimpses into the classroom.

And so I sing the poplars; and when I come to die
I will not look for jasper walls, but cast about my eye
For a row of wind-blown poplars against an English sky.

Through poetry, the Ingalls are able to keep their spirits alive through the nearly-lethal winter. Where there was dark, silence, and a dull throbbing headache, poetry sheds light, brings joy, and banishes pain.

Just as nothing green can grow in a trodden garden, nothing beautiful can bloom in a mind that is numbed day after day by cheap stimulation.

Every year, I make literary Valentines to pass out to my classes which accompany the books we are reading at the time.

Each day in the classroom is filled with beauty, and it is often difficult to decide what to write about. So, here is a little bit of everything from this week.

It is through discussion that we help children to access the most valuable part of poetry—the connection to real life.