Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Katie McEnaney

@katiemcenaney.bsky.social

2.3K followers 2.5K following 890 posts

Teacher. Writer. Lover of words and history. One-time archaeologist. Nonfiction Ninja mentee. SCBWI. 12x12. #amquerying #5thgrade She/her. https://katiemcenaney.com/ and https://www.thelogonauts.com/ for book rec's

katiemcenaney.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · Mar 2

#50PreciousWords is my all-time favorite writing contest! You can read my entry, First Playdate Fears: a reverso poem, here on @viviankirkfield.bsky.social 's site. Enter by end-of-day tomorrow! #kidlit #amquerying

viviankirkfield.com/2025/03/02/5...

Please reply and share yours!

First Playdate Fears: a reverso poem

50 Precious Words 2025
By: Katie McEnaney

Playdate time?

Nervous,
Not
Excited.

Let’s imagine:
He’s in my room.

Laughing at my books.

Collapses
My fort.

He climbs around
While I worry.

Knock
Knock

While I worry,
He climbs around
My fort.

Collapses
Laughing at my books.

He’s in my room.
“Let’s imagine!”

Excited,
Not
Nervous:

Playdate time!

[Includes a drawing of a blanket fort piled with books that I drew.]

11 1 36

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 4h

Yes! We had like a good stretch of bath times at ~4yo that were all OK Go videos. He loved the car one and The Writing on the Wall especially.

1 1

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 7h

Wait ... 🤔

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 13h

And it holds up! Needing exact count is frustrating, but the kids loved it. ♥️

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 13h

The Getty has a downloadable version here: www.getty.edu/education/co...

www.getty.edu

1 2

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 15h

My 5th graders played The Royal Game of Ur last week! They were blown away by the idea that people had been playing this 1000s of years ago - and that the rules seem a lot like Trouble. 🤔😆

#archaeology4kids 🏺

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 16h

The Royal Game of Ur is the world’s oldest playable boardgame!

Played by Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia about 4,500 years ago!

It is a two-player race game, the rules of which have been deciphered from a cuneiform tablet.

Game from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. 📷 British Museum

#Archaeology

British Museum photo showing a two-player board game with gaming counters known as the Royal Game of Ur. Dated c. 2,500 BC.

The game board is composed of a hollow box made of wood adorned with shell plaques. There is a drawer at one end for storing game pieces and dice. The top of the board is covered with twenty square-shaped off-white shell plaques, each bordered with dark-blue lapis lazuli. The shell squares are intricately decorated with blue inlaid patterns including dots inside circles and eye-shapes. Five squares are inlaid with flower-shaped rosettes with red limestone and blue lapis lazuli petals.

The game board is roughly rectangular in shape. Viewed from above in the photo, on the left side of the board is a block of 12 squares made up of 4 across by 3 down. On the right side of the board is a block of 6 squares made up of 2 across by 3 down. The two blocks are joined by two squares extending between the second square down on the end row of the left block and the second square down on the first row of the second block.

Dimensions H: 2.40 cm, L: 30.10 cm, W: 11 cm, (W 5.70 cm at narrowest part)

Beneath the board are 14 disc-shaped gaming counters. On the left are 7 white pieces, inlaid with 5 spots of blue lapis lazuli. On the right are 7 black pieces inlaid with five white spots.

Between the game pieces are three tetrahedron-shaped dice. L to R: Dark blue, brown, cream.

2 8 49

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Joe Jackson Stan Account @scottacarter.bsky.social · 1d

Somehow the liberal arts college of a major R1 has produced 3 MacArthur Fellows in the past 6 years. Maybe we're on to something over here!

news.wisc.edu/two-uw-madis...

Two UW–Madison professors named MacArthur Fellows

Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have been awarded 2025 MacArthur Fellowships.

news.wisc.edu

1 1

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 1d

Put a 6 on the front and a 7 on the back. Then you can be ... 6/7!

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Kirsten W. Larson @kirstenwlarson.bsky.social · 1d

This roundtable is 🔥! Join me at NCTE Denver. Learn how books build design thinking, inclusivity, critical thinking, respectful communication & resilience. Walk away with ready-to-use lesson ideas. Nov 21 @ 12:30 PM. #NCTE2025 #STEMeducation #TeacherLife #kidlit

"Promotional graphic for NCTE Denver 2025 roundtable session featuring headshots of five authors - Vicky Fang, Kirsten Larson, Jen Malia, Lindsay H. Metcalf, and Colleen Paeff - discussing activating future dreams with STEM books, scheduled for Friday, November 21 at 12:30pm"

1 1 8

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Melissa Stewart @mstewartscience.bsky.social · 1d

Teachers! Librarians!
Nonfiction Mentors Texts to Guide Revision of Informational Writing
tinyurl.com/44z8w4er/
@katiemcenaney.bsky.social @ellenbunn3.bsky.social #TLsky #Skybrarian #SchoolLibrarians #edusky #kidlit
@jessicalanan.bsky.social @kirstenwlarson.bsky.social @diannaaston.bsky.social

1 5 18

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 2d

Costco has these!

Sanders Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels from Costco

1 5

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 5d

I know. It just made me smile. Her sculpting details were incredible!

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 5d

For the record, the nerd in me needs to point out that there was no lava at Pompeii. A pyroclastic surge of superheated mud after a day of raining stones would actually have been chocolate colored to begin with! 🌋🪨🤣

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 6d

Just confirmed I'm one of the author victims of the blood sucking company Anthropic that stole my book to train it's LLM. I filed a claim and it felt really good. If you're an author who may have been victimized, you can find out here:

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/?_gl=...

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

17 400 1.5K

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 6d

I wish! Couldn't get my ideas gelling in time. Good luck, Jyn!

1 1

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 6d

Did they email you about the one that didn't qualify or only the one that did? (Some of my academic books were on in the list but are unlikely to qualify.)

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

KaitlynLeann7 @kaitlynleann17.bsky.social · 8d

Submit your entry NOW for the 2025 #FallWritingFrenzy #kidlit competition. See post for more details!

@lydialukidis.bsky.social

2025 Fall Writing Frenzy Entry Form is UP!

Click on the blog post above to enter into the Fall Writing Frenzy for 2025! Make sure to thank our donors and invite all your #kidlit writing friends to submit a story for great prizes by Oct 3rd! Find the rules here. If you have any questions, make sure to check our FAQs. Can't wait to read your work! Sincerely, Kaitlyn Sanchez

kaitlynleannsanchez.com

7 23

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Jess Keating @jesskeatingbooks.bsky.social · 8d

An inspiration for my entire life.
Thank you Jane, for your wisdom, your intelligence, your heart, and your sheer guts.

We'll try to carry on and make you proud.

💙 1934-2025

Jane Goodall, absolute queen of conservation, sitting happily next to a chimpanzee.

3 32 210

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Melissa Stewart @mstewartscience.bsky.social · 8d

Teachers! Librarians!
Tips for Exploring Mentor Texts in the School Library
tinyurl.com/249wsdf4
@katiemcenaney.bsky.social @ellenbunn3.bsky.social @steamteambooks.bsky.social
#TLsky #Skybrarians #SchoolLibraries #educsky #kidlit

2 11

Reposted by Katie McEnaney

Cait Darfler..... is on SUBMISSION! @caitdarfler.com · 8d

📚👍 So many good books.
#kidlit #kidlitart #picturebooks

Forts
Katie Venit & Kenard Pak
@katievenit.bsky.social
@kenardpak.bsky.social

This is a story I wish I wrote. Lyrical. Gorgeous. My little talked about all the forts we have around the house now and have had in the past. So lovely.

Cover for Forts shows a treetop scene with a small blue tree house and a little girl with a white cat sitting in the door to the fort.

3 3 16

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 9d

I'm sorry, what? 😼

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 9d

Oh my gosh, Steph, this sounds amazing! 💚🐍🪨

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 9d

He's perfect. What a sweet, caring message for kids.

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 10d

Absolutely amazing news on all fronts! 🎉

1 1

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 10d

🤔

I lost like 10 minutes of class today because while introducing the idea of using the thesaurus for word choice in their poems, *this* was directly underneath the search bar. Thanks, Merriam-Webster.

Merriam-Webster home page with an explainer about six-seven in their slang section

Katie McEnaney @katiemcenaney.bsky.social · 10d

writersrumpus.com/2025/09/23/picture-book-review-cassinis-mission/

Picture Book Review: CASSINI’S MISSION by Katie Venit

This highly recommended picture book tells the true story of one spacecraft’s unexpected search for life beyond our planet.

writersrumpus.com