About Us

Our mission is to help students to become confident, fluent, independent writers who are comfortable with language and use rich, varied vocabulary.

In 2015, Sheila Bean launched the My Words Books series, including My Words, My First Words, Mes Mots (FSL), Mes Mots (immersion), and Canadian English. Each book was created in consultation with talented teachers and language specialists. A Spanish specialist was hired to write Mis Palabras. The books are used in schools across Canada.

A Saskatchewan farm kid from the town of Rouleau (better known as Dog River in Corner Gasa popular Canadian TV show), Sheila holds degrees from the University of Regina and the University of Calgary.

She has a rich background in language and learning. After 13 years as a newspaper journalist in Saskatoon, she moved to Calgary, where she taught elementary students for 17 years as a classroom teacher for the Calgary Board of Education. Her teaching career included a focus on literacy and music (especially West African drumming), and she taught for three exciting years at City Hall School. Sheila has decades of experience with creative journals, and she has taught countless journalling lessons to students and to teachers. She retired from teaching in 2019.

During her years in newsrooms and in classrooms, Sheila also edited many nonfiction books. Since her retirement, she has volunteered at English-immersion programs for adults in Europe.

My Word Books are published by Small Nation Inc., a Canadian business owned by the books' creator. We are always pleased to hear from teachers, school administrators, parents, and students who use our books. If you have suggestions for changes or additions to the current books, please contact us.

Thank you for buying our books and for not copying, scanning, or distributing any parts. By respecting the spirit as well as the letter of copyright, you support authors and publishers, allowing them to continue to create and distribute the books you value.

 

 

What people are saying

I absolutely love the My Words personal dictionaries. They are my go-to resource during my Gr.2 ELA classes. Our focus in class is to develop rich and descriptive sentences and journal entries. The students love when they look up a word and discover all the other words that could be used instead. I love that my students become more confident and independent with their writing once they learn how to use this resource. We also have amazing conversations that further develop our vocabulary. My school purchases this resource, and it travels with the students to the next grade. I cannot recommend this handy resource enough! It's truly a game changer. 

- Jennifer Harris teaches at Glamorgan School in Calgary