Penny Kittle (she/her/hers)
Penny Kittle has surrounded herself with young people, great books, and piles of their writing notebooks for 41 years across five states. After 34 years teaching in grades K-12, she now teaches writing part-time at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She knows the power of two essential things: all students will build independent reading lives of joy, curiosity, and hunger when given agency; and teachers who write with their students generate community and creative power. She is the author of nine books including Micro Mentor Texts, 180 Days, Book Love, and Write Beside Them. She is the Chairman of the board of the Book Love Foundation where we believe in empowering teachers through grants for books and a vibrant, worldwide community of free professional learning with authors and educators.
2026 Sessions
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25 Books Students Love
Make the match between individual readers and 25 books that will keep them turning pages late into the night. This session will focus on strategies… Read More →
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Bind a Community of Writers with Story
You have stories to tell that no one can tell but you. The crafting of narrative in history, memoir, and in fiction leans on decision-making,… Read More →
2025 Sessions
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Build Readers and Writers with Deliberate Practice
Each year we help students construct identities of power and opportunity, to challenge themselves as readers and writers, and to act with agency in our… Read More →
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What Studying Taylor Swift Taught Me & My Students
In college composition (Kittle’s version) this fall, we studied the power and influence of Taylor Swift as a reader, writer, influencer, and creator. We examined… Read More →