Shari Frost has enjoyed a rich and varied professional life as an educator. She has served as a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, a staff developer, and an instructor at the university level. Shari has taught kindergarten through fifth grades, and currently assists educators as a professional developer in the Chicago Public Schools. Her latest book is Two Books Are Better Than One.
Shari Frost shares ways teachers can show that they “see” and appreciate each student every single day.
Shari Frost shares her favorite graphic novel adaptations for the middle grades.
Shari Frost finds that the issues students may be dealing with in some children’s books can be overwhelming. She shares some of her favorite books for grappling with one troubling topic at a time.
Shari Frost explains why the simple act of “seeing” students can have such a potent effect in building a community of learners.
Journals? Writers’ Notebooks? Shari Frost shares tips and strategies for explaining the difference between the two for teachers, as well as professional development resources.
The 100th day of school has become an opportunity for classroom and schoolwide celebrations. Shari Frost provides many resources to ensure reading and writing are front and center on this special day.
Shari Frost remembers how she inadvertently stifled the creativity of one of her most enthusiastic first-grade writers. Her story has important lessons for all of us about the importance of voice and choice for learners of all ages.
Shari Frost is surprised to see guided reading used for proficient fifth-grade readers. She considers some strategic alternatives.
A word wall in preschool?! Shari Frost helps a teacher meet this impossible edict, and has a lot of fun in the process thinking about how our youngest learners acquire word knowledge.
A heavy sigh from a student is a cue to Shari Frost that he has heard the same Martin Luther King picture book biography one too many times in February. She shares her top picture book picks for expanding children’s awareness of black history all year long.
Shari Frost helps a teacher who has guided reading groups that have run amok, and discovers that the real culprit is a lack of time for reading and writing in the literacy block.
Shari Frost finds she has to do required, on-demand writing for a new job, and in the process develops a new appreciation for how teachers struggle with rigid reading and writing programs.
There are scores of new children’s books that continually tempt teachers. But how do you stock your classroom library with a limited budget? Shari Frost shares proven strategies.
Shari Frost and a teacher she is assisting notice some bins collecting dust in the classroom library. When the teacher resists removing the books, they work together to find creative ways to help students develop enthusiasm for neglected series and authors.
Is your mentor text a mirror for students? Shari Frost explains the term and provides criteria for selecting mirror books.
Shari Frost deals with the failure of a classic read-aloud text to reach young African American boys by finding more engaging books for them.
Shari Frost assists a teacher who is instructing a child stuck at level E, and in the process reveals some of the issues in treating all levels equally.
Shari Frost finds that the See-Think-Wonder activity is great to use as a “bell-ringer,” as well as throughout the day to promote deeper thinking and engagement.
What happens when you establish a routine early in the year, only to discover students aren't using it a few months later? Shari Frost mentors a teacher who is helping his young students improve their book selection skills.
Shari Frost explains how teachers can use paired texts to help young readers build their skills, starting with books they already know and love.
Are there ways for girls in literature to be heroic without fighting? Shari Frost asks herself this question in compiling her latest booklist.
Shari Frost uses playful texts to increase interest and stamina in emergent readers. She shares many of her favorites in this booklist.
Shari Frost challenges assignments in reading workshop that kill a love of wordplay and vocabulary development.
Are you contemplating the removal of your teacher desk this year? Shari Frost has suggestions for how to manage and house teaching materials you will need without a teacher desk.
Shari Frost observes a teacher conferring with a first grader who is mystified at the advice to "get your mouth ready," and it leads her to consider what works best in helping young readers.
Shari Frost helps a teacher dealing with dreadful how-to drafts from her students by sharing quality mentor texts.
If you are looking to increase the quantity and quality of graphic novels for your learners in your classroom library Shari Frost has a new booklist to get you started.
The “daily edit” is a common routine in many classrooms. Shari Frost explains why this may not be an effective way to teach conventions, and offers some alternatives.
Shari Frost finds that shared reading routines are easier to implement now because of tech tools.
Shari Frost encourages teachers to reconsider “the morning story” routine, a rote copying activity still prevalent in many primary classrooms. Shari offers some fun and practical alternatives.
How can you support the “outliers” in classrooms — students with unique needs or profiles who don’t neatly fit into any instructional group? Shari Frost offers some strategies.
Shari Frost cautions against overly stylized text in wall displays.
Sometimes you get a class of students that pushes every one of your buttons. Shari Frost provides a case study of one teacher’s survival strategies.
Shari Frost explains how teachers get creative with poetry notebooks.
Shari Frost has some practical suggestions for more thoughtful word work.
Many beloved characters from picture books are showing up in beginning readers, and in the process can lose a lot of their appeal. Shari Frost provides teachers with criteria for choosing between picture books or beginning readers.
Shari Frost is alarmed when she realizes how rarely children of color are represented as main characters in book series. She decides to compile a list of multicultural series books.
Shari Frost asks a provocative question: Can books harm children? She explores practical ways for teachers to walk the fine line between support and censorship in matching books to students.
Shari Frost finds before and after “snapshots” are a wonderful way to celebrate learning and get closure at the end of the school year.
Shari Frost has a suggestion for what shouldn’t be on classroom walls: student assessment scores. She explains why this practice can be harmful to students.
Shari Frost celebrates a tomboy who finally finds a female character she wants to emulate with a booklist highlighting courageous girls.
Shari Frost considers the “go-to” instructional strategy for struggling readers, word study, and explores how to make it work well in a case study of a third-grade group.
Shari Frost explains the power of shared writing in intermediate classrooms, especially for struggling learners.
Shari Frost explains why shared reading is valuable for older students, with examples of the practice in the intermediate grades.
Shari Frost describes how a sixth-grade teacher provides a range of poetry options to meet the needs of all students.
Shari Frost explains how interactive read alouds are the “kickboards” of reading instruction, especially for struggling readers. She explains how one teacher used them to support a struggling reader in 3rd grade.
Shari Frost visits classrooms early in the year and finds many have completely full word walls. In this essay, she shares research as well as practical reasons why it’s best to build the walls over time with students.
Shari Frost shares books with “squeal appeal” — here is a booklist of texts that energize and delight kindergarten learners.
Shari Frost shares literacy activity suggestions and a booklist of her favorite poetry anthologies.
It’s virtually possible to get together around a book without getting together at all. Shari Frost shows us how.
We know that the shorter our minilesson, the more time students will have to read and write, but it's not easy for many of us. Shari Frost has tips to shape up minilessons that have become maxilessons.
Shari Frost writes about the ways our perfectly organized bins may limit the teaching possibilities for many books. She takes readers step by step through her process of determining ways to use a sample mentor text to teach a multitude of lessons and strategies.
Shari Frost updates her original essay on guided reading with her latest thinking and criteria for placing students in guided reading groups.
Shari Frost has a gift for helping us think about purpose and this article is no exception as she turns her attention to the benefits of intentional anchor charts.
What books are most likely to succeed in teacher study groups? Shari Frost shares her criteria for books teachers will embrace. . .and actually read with enthusiasm.
Are picture books endangered species? Sales are plummeting, in part because parents and teachers are pushing students into chapter books at ever-younger ages. Shari Frost turns a critical eye on her own practice, and brainstorms practical ways to promote the value of picture books in classrooms.
If you're a literacy coach, the most important question to ask yourself may be this: How much time am I spending in classrooms? Shari Frost writes about how coaches can move beyond a quest for perfect demo lessons to a stance of co-learners with teachers.
If you want to do more with readers’ theater to promote fluency, but can’t afford one of those expensive kits, you’ll enjoy this booklist. Shari Frost has compiled her favorite readers’ theater books with texts and illustrations students love.
When teachers shift to a reading workshop model, sometimes they struggle most with the move from whole-class novels to more individualized reading. Shari Frost has advice for helping teachers work through the transition, as well as ways to ensure students still have some shared reading experiences with their classmates.
Sometimes the pendulum swings so hard in education that it’s hard not to feel whiplash. Shari Frost considers critiques of strategy instruction, analyzing what’s valid and what’s not in attacks on the flurry of post-its in classrooms.
If your district is considering cuts to its literacy coaching program, you’ll appreciate Shari Frost’s advice.
What texts work best for students with urban backgrounds? Shari Frost has suggestions for teachers.
How do we create schools and communities where everyone is passionate about reading and writing? Shari Frost has practical advice for teachers and school leaders.
Shari Frost is inspired to create a list of her favorite children’s book to film adaptations.
Is your system for sharing books from a school bookroom or literacy closet working well? Shari Frost provides 10 practical tips for getting the best use out of shared literacy resources.
“Why isn’t there an African American Henry and Mudge?” asks a teacher. This question leads Shari Frost on a quest to find the best early readers for multicultural students. In this booklist, she highlights her top picks.
Shari Frost finds "coaching cycles" are a valuable way for literacy coaches to work with teachers over time, but the first year of implementation was bumpy for her coaches. She shares some of the struggles her colleagues encountered in implementing cycles, as well as advice for overcoming these hurdles.
Shari Frost reflects on what went wrong (or right) when a literacy coach decides to return to the classroom, and in doing so considers the kind of support literacy coaches need to thrive.
Shari Frost finds herself appalled at some of the "books" children are reading in the name of phonics instruction, so she sets out to create a booklist of high quality children's literature that does more than just help children sound out words.
There are so many new professional books available for literacy leaders to purchase…and so little funding to buy them. Shari Frost gives the details of how one coach surveyed colleagues, assessed needs, and rooted out bargains before spending the precious $500 allocated for stocking the professional book library.
Shari Frost presents a tale of two literacy coaches – one who has had success building close relationships with colleagues, and one who has struggled. In analyzing their experiences, she presents eight practical strategies for building relationships over time.
Can we make time for play with our youngest learners, and still insure they are getting the literacy skills they need? Absolutely! says Shari Frost, as she shares many strategies the coaches and teachers she works with use to make letter, sound, and word learning fun.
Shari Frost writes about the “Level A Purgatory” many kindergartners and young students endure when teachers assign reading groups too early. Her feature includes other instructional options beyond small groups for early in the year that may be more appropriate for our youngest learners.
Shari Frost notices a neglected tub of big books, and goes on the hunt for shared reading practices among teachers and literacy coaches.
Shari Frost questioned the amount of writing going on in many elementary writing centers. She decided to work with a team of literacy coaches and teachers to explore ways to increase writing in classrooms – through better use of centers, or alternative programs. In this follow-up article, Shari presents two different solutions that are working well – one involves introducing writing tools in a more systematic way in centers, and the other is an implementation of a different program entirely for independent work.
Is it ever alright for a teacher to cry when reading aloud? Shari Frost and her colleagues select their favorite tearjerker read alouds, and what they’ve learned from sharing them with students.
Shari Frost shares the nuts and bolts of setting up open book clubs in your school. These clubs are a great way to expand the reading community, as well as connect school libraries and classrooms.
Shari Frost and her literacy coaching colleagues explore together how wordless picture books can change the landscape of literacy teaching in K-6 classrooms throughout a school.
Shari Frost sorts through the changing world of audio books, and their resurgence in popularity with smaller, cheaper, and trendier MP3 players. She shares some of the innovative ways literacy coaches and teachers in her network are using audio books.
Shari Frost finds writing centers are beloved by many teachers and students. There’s only one problem – very little writing appears to be going on in the centers.
Shari Frost considers selection, preparation, and pacing in choosing books that work well as read alouds in the primary classroom.
Shari Frost describes how literacy coaches shadowed children to get a sense of how much reading students were doing.
Kids might be missing out on great books that are a better fit if they are reading books just because they can. Shari Frost delivers a smart reminder about challenging advanced readers.
In many buddy reading programs we often tout the benefits for the younger, less experienced reader, but Shari Frost tells the story of a “big kid” reader with a legitimate reason to read books that were closer to his independent level. Read on.
There are so many new professional books available for literacy leaders to purchase…and so little funding to buy them. Shari Frost gives the details of how one coach surveyed colleagues, assessed needs, and rooted out bargains before spending the precious $500 allocated for stocking the professional book library.
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