When
I was in elementary school, we had to write a “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”
essay at the beginning of each school year. And I hated it.

Summer
was my secret time away from the hustle and bustle of school year activities. I
spent hours wandering in the woods, making clothes for my Barbie dolls, and
reading Encyclopedia Brown mysteries on the tiny porch attached to my bedroom.

Summer
is still a special time for me. I usually spend July refueling from a school
year filled with author visits and conference speaking. I do lots of writing.
And I read and read.

This
summer was a little different because I wasn’t writing for kids. I was writing
for adults. Teachers to be exact.

Now
that the final NGSS draft is available, I worked with my co-author, veteran
teacher Nancy Chesley, on a pair of educational resources that bring together
NGSS and CCSS using (what else?) children’s books. Over the last 3 years, this
project has had more than its fair share of challenges, but I’m happy to report
that we made good use of my quiet period and got lots of work done. Our own
final draft is finally taking shape. Hooray!

The
books still need to go through the editorial process, so they won’t be out for
a while, but I know that educators are already starting to think about how to
address the NGSS and—if possible—create lessons that also support the Common
Core ELA standards.

So
this year the Monday strand of this blog will offer book lists and teaching
ideas that make it possible to integrate science and language arts with the new
curriculum standards in mind.

Next
week, I’ll start with the kindergarten standards and move up from there. It’s
going to be a great year.