Suzy Kaback
Suzy Kaback is a literacy teacher educator and a co-director of a Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teaching at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
Latest Content
The Language We Use and How It Strengthens Understanding
Suzy Kaback explores the importance of the way teachers use language and invite kids to use theirs. It is the key to knowing ourselves, tuning in to others, and understanding the larger world.
Belonging in a School Community
Suzy Kaback thinks deeply about the concept of belonging as an essential part of building a school community.
Fact or Fiction?
Suzy Kaback works with students to create a “fact or fiction” class book to explore the boundaries between truth and fantasy.
Call Me by My Name
Suzy Kaback reminds us that the language we use to talk about challenging students shapes our perceptions of them. That’s why she has moved to calling students “small teachers.”
Secret Reader
Suzy Kaback marvels at a very young learner who is a “secret reader,” and this leads her to reassess the value of constantly celebrating new skills in school communities.
Readers’ Guides: Helping Students Think About Informational Text
Suzy Kaback finds the task of creating readers’ guides helps students in the intermediate grades think about evidence in texts in more sophisticated ways.
Shoulders-Down Spaces
Suzy Kaback feels rising unease as a tourist in unfamiliar neighborhoods. The experience provokes empathy for students who find classrooms strange or uncomfortable.
Ohana Means “Family”
Suzy Kaback is startled to see a picture of her deceased father on the wall when she visits her daughter’s seventh-grade classroom. It’s the start of learning about the power of ohana in schools.
My World Maps
Creating “world” maps is a great way to explore the territories beyond school that matter most to everyone in your classroom. Suzy Kaback explains how to create them with students early in the year as a way to get to know them as learners and community members.
Puppy Chow
How do you know an assignment is authentic and worthy of your students' time? Suzy Kaback explains why you need to try it out yourself first.
The Writing Workout
Suzy Kaback meets with a group of teachers to talk through struggles in the writing workshops. Using a fitness analogy, they come up with strategies to try immediately in their classrooms.
The Professional Promise of Podcasts
Suzy Kaback discovers podcasts are invaluable for building her knowledge of social justice. She provides links to many of her favorite online sources to explore.
Frog and Toad and Tina and Maya: A Precocious Kindergarten Reading Group
Suzy Kaback ponders the precociousness of two kindergarten readers.
A Case of the Perennial Annuals
Suzy Kaback remembers saying goodbye to her first group of students as a young teacher.
The Pause That Refreshes: Write When the Conversation Gets Hot
When’s the best time for some spontaneous opinion writing? Suzy Kaback argues it’s when class conversations get hot.
Teaching the Genes
Suzy Kaback rethinks the concept of "managed choice" in writing workshops.
Laundry Line Luxuries
Suzy Kaback writes about the pleasures of slowing down and being inefficient sometimes in teaching and relationships.
Fresh Books and Age-old Skills
Suzy Kaback provides a booklist of newer texts that can be used to teach multiple reading strategies.
Photovoice: Exploring Content Literacy with Images
As Suzy Kaback explores the question “How does your expertise function?” she explains the power of Photovoice and details its use in K-12 classrooms.
Mentoring from the Real to the Ideal: Mental Images of Teaching
We know the power of mental images as a strategy for helping readers comprehend difficult text. Suzy Kaback uses a similar technique to help novice teachers envision success. Thisl is an activity you might want to try with a new teacher group.
Conversation Turns: Recordkeeping and Analysis Tool
Suzy Kaback provides a template for helping students note and reflect upon their talk.
The Draw-a-Reader Test: Informal Assessment Supporting Teacher Inquiry
The Draw-a-Reader test from Suzy Kaback is a fun way to get to know the readers of any age that also provides insight into their background knowledge and personal reading histories.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Recommending Yourself
Suzy Kaback asks her students to write letters of recommendations for themselves, and finds that the activity ripples across the school mentoring community. This exercise is a terrific catalyst for creating personal improvement plans.
Writing Strengths Anchor Chart
Suzy Kaback's anchor chart activity builds a sense of community and peer editing connections in her middle school classroom.
The Anticipation Guide: A Tool for Study Group Leaders
Suzy Kaback finds the Anticipation Guide is the “little black dress” of study group and staff development leaders, taking any literacy leader seamlessly from the classroom to PLCs and faculty meetings.
The “All About Us” Board: Linking Literacy and Community Building All Year Long
Suzy Kaback has terrific tips for an ever-evolving “All About Us” bulletin board to use from the first day of school to the last.
Important Book, Important Notes: Guiding Young Students Through Notetaking
Suzy Kaback catches a young learner near and dear to her in the process of plagiarizing. She uses the experience to develop a template to help students and colleagues with notetaking.
The Sharpening Stone
Summer is rushing along. Are you feeling restored or refreshed yet for the new year? Suzy Kaback writes about the power of the sharpening stone.
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