Tea in the Heather is Kate Roberts's classic tale of family and community in the hill-farms and slate quarries of Gwynedd. Beautifully realized, never idealized, it follows the life of Begw Gruffydd, the little girl who grows from the age of four to nine in the book. With her eye for detail
As an English teacher, Kate Roberts has seen the power of whole-class novels to build community in her classroom. But she's also seen too many kids struggle too much to read them--and consequently, check out of reading altogether. Kate's had better success getting kids to actually read - and enjoy it--when they choose their own books within a workshop model. "And yet," she says, "I missed my whole-class novels." In A Novel Approach, Kate takes a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both whole-class novels and independent reading and arrives at a persuasive conclusion: we can find a student-centered, balanced approach to teaching reading. Kate offers a practical framework for creating units that join both teaching methods together and helps you: - Identify the skills your students need to learn - Choose whole-class texts that will be most relevant to your kids - Map out the timing of a unit and the strategies you'll teach - Meet individual needs while teaching whole novels - Guide students to choice books and book clubs that build on the skills being taught. Above all, Kate's plan emphasizes teaching reading skills and strategies over the books themselves. "By making sure that our classes are structured in a way that really sees students and strives to meet their needs," she argues, "we can keep reaching for the dream of a class where no student is unmoved, no reader unchanged by the end of the year." Video clips of Kate working with students in diverse classrooms bring the content to life throughout the book.
The creatures of Cooee town are all scared of Ivan the cat . . . until he gets a collar with a shiny new bell. Now everyone is safe-or are they?Ivan wants to work out a new knack to get rid of his bell. He practises and practises, until one day he sends his bell tumbling, rolling and free Now he can sneak up on old Polly the cockatoo, high in her gum tree. Who can save her?
The creatures of Cooee town are all scared of Ivan the cat . . . until he gets a collar with a shiny new bell. Now everyone is safe-or are they?Ivan wants to work out a new knack to get rid of his bell. He practises and practises, until one day he sends his bell tumbling, rolling and free Now he can sneak up on old Polly the cockatoo, high in her gum tree. Who can save her?
Reading fiction is at the heart of our classrooms. It’s what we love. It’s what we want our students to love—whether whole class novels, book club texts, or independent choices. But to love fiction, kids need to be able to and hopefully want to read without our constant guidance and instruction. How can we coach students towards more proficient, independent practice when they read? Kate Roberts offers strategies to teach the skills students need to confidently analyze character, theme, and craft—strategies they can repeatedly practice across time and texts. Since reading strategies alone don’t help teachers or students understand the “why” and “how,” each strategy is anchored by: Two-page Essays in which Kate describes her thinking about the strategy and explores the human connection to it. Why does this strategy matter? How does this strategy connect to ways we can think about our own lives? Lessons that offer step-by-step ideas for teaching the skills and strategies in ways that make sense to kids. Examples of student work and ideas for feedback bring the lessons to life, while templates, tools, and graphic organizers make teaching them that much easier. The Heart of Fiction is about more than skill building. It’s also about the conditions we can set up in our teaching to make this work stick, and for our students to truly grow into themselves as readers. It’s about the lifeblood of our classrooms.
The Punk History 2026 Wall Calendar juxtaposes vibrant works of art with witty, on-the-nose observations about the highs and lows of modern society. With meme-worthy captions about everything from the joys of office gossip to the pitfalls of dating, this calendar adds a touch of culture and levity to any space. Features include: 12" x 12" (12" x 24" open) Fold-around cover design eliminates need for plastic packaging Printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based ink Planning spread for September–December 2025 Spans January–December 2026 Generous grid space for notes, appointments, and reminders Official major world holidays and observances Moon phases, based on Universal Time Each monthly spread features witty and sarcastic captions paired with vibrant classical art
The Punk History 2026 Day-to-Day Calendar is your daily fix of classical art with a modern, sarcastic twist. With art from the Renaissance to Impressionism, and meme-worthy captions about everything from relationship problems to annoying work emails, this calendar is perfect for those who appreciate a mix of high culture and relatable humor. Features include: Page size: 5.354" x 4.488" No single-use plastic Recyclable chipboard easel backer for desk or tabletop display Printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based ink Full-color tear-off pages Back of pages are blank for notes or shopping lists Day/Date reference on each page Combined weekend pages Official major world holidays and observances Each page features witty and sarcastic captions paired with vibrant classical art
A classic of 20th-century Welsh literature is given a contemporary treatment in this new translation of "Y Byw sy'n Cysgu." Set in a tight-knit Welsh-speaking community at a time when separation, adultery, and divorce carried huge social stigmas, this novel is full of insight into human character and changing social mores, reflecting the influences of Chekhov and Maupassant on the author's response to the erosion of youth's certainties.
Snowdonia, 1880, and Jane Gruffydd is a newcomer to the district, dressed to the nines and almost fainting in the heat of the interminable prayer meeting out on the mountainside...In the pages of this classic 1936 novel, we see the passionate and headstrong Jane grow up and grow old, struggling to bring up a family of six children on the pittance earned by her slate-quarrying husband, Ifan. Spanning the next forty years, the novel traces the contours not only of one vividly evoked Welsh family but of a nation coming to self-consciousness; it begins in the heyday of Methodist fervour and ends in the carnage and disillusionment of the First World War. Through it all, Jane survives, the centre of her world and the inspiration for her children who will grow up determined to change the conditions of these poor people's lives, to release them forever from their chains.
Has a man ever played acoustic guitar at you? Have you ever wished to stop being perceived? Do you love walking aimlessly around art museums? If you or anyone you know would answer “yes” to these questions, the Punk History 2027 Day-to-Day Calendar may be for you. Combining relatable captions with gorgeous pieces of classical art, this calendar is clever, beautiful, and packs a punky-punch. Features include: No single-use plastic Page size: 5.354" x 4.488" Recyclable chipboard easel backer for desk or tabletop display Printed on FSC®-certified paper with soy-based ink Full-color tear-off pages Back of pages are blank for notes or shopping lists Day/Date reference on each page Combined weekend pages Official major world holidays and observances Each page features witty and sarcastic captions paired with vibrant classical art
Gumby. Barbie. Slinky. WHAM-O. Spirograph. Hot Wheels. Atari. These toys--and the stories of the kids, parents, child-rearing experts, inventors, manufacturers, and advertisers they affected--reflect the dynamism of American life. Senior exhibit developer and best-selling author Kate Roberts, along with senior curator Adam Scher, spotlight forty-five memorable toys, placing them in historical context and examining their development and launch, their impact on kids and the larger community, and their reflection of the social and cultural shifts of each decade. The book, developed in conjunction with the national traveling exhibit of the same name, will include firsthand stories shared by adults who revered these toys as kids as well as research gleaned from primary sources and toy experts and collectors. Kate Roberts is senior exhibit developer for the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) and author of the best-selling book Minnesota 150. Adam Scher is a senior curator in the collections department at the MHS.
If you’re reading this, you probably have a unit plan nearby—stuffed in a binder, buried in a shared drive, or gleaming from a fresh box of published curriculum. There’s solid content in there. Maybe even great content. But if you’ve found your way to this book, something isn’t lining up: the work doesn’t fit your students, gaps remain, or last year’s units didn’t deliver. All too often, curriculum shortfalls are chalked up to implementation. But in Unboxing the Curriculum, author Kate Roberts, with Maggie Beattie Roberts, argue that it’s usually the road map that’s the problem. The path doesn’t lead where it should, and sometimes, there be dragons. This book offers a field guide for charting a better course through unit planning. In its pages, you’ll learn to ? see your curriculum clearly, ? set smart priorities, ? tailor units to your classes, ? monitor for equity, engagement, and relevance, ? and build supplemental materials that truly support your students. With real classroom examples and team-friendly protocols that apply to any subject, grade level, or program alongside a robust appendix full of practical use-tomorrow tools, you’ll navigate prepackaged or scripted curricula and prewritten units without losing sight of the students in front of you. The result? A path learners can take to their destination. Like a well thought out map, Unboxing the Curriculum plots a direct route through mandates and box sets right to the hearts of the students in front of you.
"Love brings us in close, leads us to study the details of a thing, and asks us to return again and again. These are the motivations and ideas that built this book." --Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts You and your students will fall for close reading. In Falling in Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts show us that it can be rigorous, meaningful, and joyous. You'll empower students to not only analyze texts but to admire the craft of a beloved book, study favorite songs and videogames, and challenge peers in evidence-based discussions. Chris and Kate start with a powerful three-step close-reading ritual that students can apply to any text. Then they lay out practical, engaging lessons that not only guide students to independence in reading texts closely but also help them transfer this critical, analytical skill to media and even the lives they lead. Responsive to students' needs and field-tested in classrooms, these lessons include: strategies for close reading narratives, informational texts, and arguments suggestions for differentiation sample charts and student work from real classrooms connections to the Common Core State Standards a focus on viewing media and life in this same careful way. "We see the ritual of close reading not just as a method of doing the academic work of looking closely at text-evidence, word choice, and structure," write Chris and Kate, "but as an opportunity to bring those practices together to empower our students to see the subtle messages in texts and in their lives." Read Falling in Love with Close Reading and discover that the benefits and joy of close reading don't have to stop at the edge of the page. Read a sample from the book to learn more about Chris and Kate's close-reading ritual for students and for an annotated text that shows how it works.
