Author Archives: Annie Campbell

The morning sun streams through twelve-foot windows and spills across the desks of Room 204.  The children stand and face the flag, hand over heart,   “I pledge allegiance…” Early in the year, scraping chairs, shuffling feet, and muffled whispers make … Continue reading →

Yesterday, I sat in my rocking chair beneath the Campbell Avenue sign and read The Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson to my third graders.  This book is a tribute to the children who marched with Dr. Martin Luther … Continue reading →

Happy Valentine’s Day!   Not much is known about St. Valentine, but it doesn’t matter, because this really isn’t a saint’s day.  Reason fades into the shadows as the heart has its day. City corners may be occupied by vendors with … Continue reading →

“Mrs. Campbell, did Christopher Newport have a parrot?” I had just finished describing Christopher Newport, the explorer who brought the first colonists to Virginia.  I explained that he had been the prototype for J.M. Barrie’s Captain Hook; and that he … Continue reading →

We’ve been working for change in Room 204.  We’ve been working for Haiti. We’ve been working for change:  for quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies.  The children have cleaned closets, made beds, emptied dishwashers, cleaned rooms, and taken out the recycling.  … Continue reading →

Samuel Clemens wrote as Mark Twain. Charles Dodgson wrote as Lewis Carroll. I was thirteen years old, living in Jerusalem,  and I wanted a pen name, too.  I kept it a secret.  In the gold trimmed pages of my red … Continue reading →

By invitation, Shakespeare comes into Room 204 and takes over.  Once in, his language and stories are so powerful that it is impossible to keep him out!  Children seem to be getting to know someone whom we can’t see.  But … Continue reading →

I almost always cry when I finish a really good book.   When I  finished Teacher Man by Frank McCourt on a plane, I closed the book with a quiet sob (and no, it was not a sad ending). I … Continue reading →

I’ve read a lot during this holiday break—and am reminded that most of what I know about reading I’ve learned on Christmas vacations. And summer vacations. I’ve learned about reading in tree houses and on trains; on sandy beaches and … Continue reading →

Many mornings I go to Starbucks on the corner of Stuart and Robinson in the Fan.  It is a quick walk to and from school and a quick start to a good day.  The December decorations there include a big … Continue reading →