Tammy Mulligan
Tammy Mulligan co-authored It’s All About the Books and Assessment in Perspective with Clare Landrigan. At work, you can find her teaching and thinking alongside elementary teachers and kids. On other days, she is in her garden, hiking in the woods, or hiding behind a pile of children’s books. Connect with Tammy on Twitter @TammyBMulligan
Latest Content
Navigating the Interpretation Process
Tammy Mulligan shares how she introduces students to the process of interpreting literature at different grade and developmental levels.
Interpretation and Comprehension
Teaching comprehension skills can be a complex and overwhelming task. Tammy Mulligan shares a process for expanding and deepening student interpretations of text.
Making Learning Stick: Learning Progressions and Student-Created Exemplars
Tammy Mulligan explains the process of having students analyze and create models of good writing and analysis for assessing themselves and peers.
Reading Mats Build Confidence
Tammy Mulligan explains how the use of the popular “reading mats” can help build reader confidence.
Writers Make Plans
Tammy Mulligan considers the rituals she has for preparing to write, and then uses what she learns in classroom writing workshops.
When Learning Gets Tricky, Go Back to the Pigs
Whenever a tricky literary concept comes up, Tammy Mulligan finds herself returning to a favorite mentor text to guide students. She explains the value of shared simple stories for understanding complicated literary elements.
Book Club Tools
Tammy Mulligan shares the importance of giving students choice and agency with book club tools to improve engagement and quality of the conversations.
Moving from Interactive Read Alouds to Book Clubs
Tammy Mulligan shares how teachers can move seamlessly from thoughtful conversations during whole-class read alouds to lively book clubs.
Grand Conversations and Read Aloud
Are your conversations during read aloud stilted or shallow? Tammy Mulligan recommends weekly “grand conversations” to spark more thoughtful talk. She provides the tools you need to get started in your classroom.
Interactive Read Aloud and the Whole-Class Notebook
Tammy Mulligan enhances the quality of the class read aloud and student discussions with the use of a whole-class response notebook.
Whose Point of View Matters? Considering Multiple Perspectives
When it comes to including and understanding others, it may be hardest to empathize with those who disrupt or bully others. Tammy Mulligan shares her four favorite mentor texts for understanding students who are angry and lash out.
Detour Texts
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain the concept of “detour texts”—picture books to use as mentor texts in the intermediate grades to illustrate complex literary elements. They also share three of their favorite new children’s books to use as detours.
Mentor Texts for Letter Writing
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share some of their favorite mentor texts for a unit on letter writing.
Voice and Choice in the Goal-Setting Process
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan take a child step by step through the process of creating a meaningful writing goal.
Putting the “Gradual” Back into Gradual Release of Responsibility
If it’s not sudden release of responsibility or no release of responsibility, what does gradual look like? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan bring this model to life.
Using Reading Notebook Covers for Reflection and Goal Setting
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan are using reading notebook covers in ingenious ways.
Reading Workshop in Kindergarten: When and How to Launch
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share wise advice about launching workshops in kindergarten.
Ending Reading Workshop by Planning for September
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find a little effort at the end of the school year pays big dividends when launching workshops in the fall.
Understanding the Summer Slide: Sharing Data with Parents and Students
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain why it is important to share data with parents while school is still in session in order to avoid the summer slide. This is another installment in their summer reading series.
Making Summer Reading Plans
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have advice for making summer reading plans with students. This is the next installment in their summer reading series.
Getting Books into Students’ Hands for Summer Reading
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share tips for getting books to students for summer reading. This is the first installment in their new summer reading series.
Previewing and Picture Walks with Fiction Texts
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan provide previewing how-to advice for grades K-2 teachers.
Eliminating the Conga Line: Teaching Young Children About Strategic Thinking
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan manage to synthesize workspace cleanup, student independence, and a concrete analogy for strategy work in classrooms.
Teaching Revision Through Talk, Routines, and Drawing
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have some practical advice for using drawing, talk, and routines as ways into understanding writing revision for learners in the primary grades.
What to Say on Parent Teacher Night
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan present some of the anecdotes and research they would share with parents during open houses and conferences.
Building Community Protocols
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share two of their favorite protocols for building community among educators.
Getting the Most Out of Visiting a Colleague’s Classroom (PODCAST)
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan talk with Franki Sibberson about strategies for getting the most out of observing in a colleague’s classroom.
A More Literate Show and Tell
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan work with a kindergarten teacher to integrate literacy skill development into this favorite routine of young children.
Off the Dance Floor and Onto the Balcony: Getting the Big Picture in Schools
In the day-to-day triage of our schools and the sense of urgency that pushes us to always be accountable for every minute of the day, it is understandable that we tend to forget to pause to think about our larger goals. No one wants to “waste time.” This activity helps everyone keep the big picture in mind.
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan on Assessments, Data, and Balance (PODCAST)
As the data pours in throughout the year, it’s hard to keep a sense of balance and purpose. Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan chat with Franki Sibberson in this podcast about data and balance.
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan on Getting the Most Out of Grade-Level Team Meetings (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan, the founders of Teachers for Teachers, talk with Franki Sibberson about how to link grade level team meetings with student achievement, and build stronger teaching communities at the same time.
Planning Small Groups to Teach Phonetic Skills
The gap between a child learning a phonetic rule and actually being able to apply it is one that often vexes teachers. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find systematic planning and routines for focused small-group work help many of their colleagues succeed in their phonics instruction.
Big Ideas: Balancing Plans with Authentic Response
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan learn important lessons about planning, themes, and life when they share Knuffle Bunny with a group of kindergartners.
The Power of Checklists in Primary Literacy Workshops
Knowing our most sophisticated professions use checklists to get it right, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share and explain checklists that work well for students.
Favorite Short Mentor Texts for Demonstration Lessons
For teacher leaders who are called upon to do demonstration lessons, here is a “must-have” list of short, potent books.
Whole-Group Share Sessions in Literacy Workshops: Essential Elements
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan found that even though the group share is the shortest part of the workshop, teachers reported many issues that needed attention. These issues can be resolved with attention to the framework, modeling and more.
Teaching Stamina Strategies to First Graders
Tammy Mulligan works with two seven-year-olds to teach them strategies for building reading stamina.
Balancing Assessments Through Better Classroom Notes
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain how literacy coaches can validate and support teachers by helping them refine their classroom notetaking skills.
Relentless Consistency: Finding a Common Teaching Language Without Scripts
Sharing a common teaching vision begins with a common language, but not a script. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share how teachers can work together to develop consistent ways of talking about literacy learning.
Ways to Avoid Coaching Traps
There are many traps for new literacy coaches that are rarely discussed. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share the most common four they try to avoid.
Assessment Conferences: Listening to and Learning from Our Students
Research, decide, and teach – Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan use Lucy Calkins’ wise advice in assessment conferences with children.
Tips for Conducting Demonstration Lessons, or How to Avoid the “Am I Doing This Right?” Question
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have advice for teachers and literacy coaches leading demonstration lessons.
Draft Stamps: Moving Learners at All Levels Forward
The draft stamp is a simple tool for tracking and accountability, no matter the age of the learner.
“To Teach is to Learn Twice”: Creating Professional Communities in Schools
What are the hallmarks of professional learning communities that work well in schools?
Creating a Coaching Schedule
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Ladrigan give advice on creating schedules for literacy coaches that integrate district goals and teacher interests.
Teaching Students Retelling Strategies
Retelling is an essential skill for readers, and it’s one that is crucial for success on most state exams too. In Part 1 of a two-part series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share strategies and sample lessons.
Next Steps: Thinking about Retelling During Reading
Retelling is an essential skill for readers, and it’s one that is crucial for success on most state exams too. In Part 2 of a two-part series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share strategies and sample lessons in this installment.
Helping Students Deal with Distractions
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan offer lesson suggestions for helping students self-monitor and deal with distractions during literacy workshops.
It’s Not the Assessment – It’s How You Use It
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan discuss ways teachers can get the most out of any assessment data collected early in the year, moving beyond numbers for insights into how to structure and target instruction.
Teaching Revision to Struggling Writers
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan offer three strategies to use during writing conferences with struggling students.
Is “Just Right” Still Just Right?: Helping Children Select Appropriate Books
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan consider how the incredibly useful and widely accepted “just right” term can sometimes limit how students think about book selection and their identities as readers. This essay includes sample lessons to help expand the ways young readers think about and discuss their reading preferences.
Making Data Analysis a Motivating and Worthwhile Process
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan have ideas for staying motivated while analyzing data. If you’re drowning in assessments, there are a few lifelines in this piece.
Tips for More Effective Debriefing Sessions
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share strategies and seven different observation templates for participants to download and try out.
Creating Data Teams
Literacy leaders are spending more and more time organizing, compiling, and storing assessment data, often leaving little time to analyze the findings with teachers. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain the value of enlisting tech support to assist with the data load.
Understanding Students in Intervention Programs
Using data to make wise decisions about students who are struggling is one of the most important tasks in schools. In this series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan take you through the process of linking data to instruction plans in intervention programs.
Sharing Data with Families at Parent/Teacher Conferences
How can teachers use assessment data in conferences with parents, without overwhelming them with information? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan recommend a "data snippets" approach.
Challenging Advanced Young Readers: Harder Texts Aren’t Always the Answer
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan discuss the concept of “challenge” in considering what texts are the best fit for advanced young readers who might be able to decode any text, but don’t yet have the experiences needed to tackle sophisticated concepts.
How Do We Talk with Parents About What It Means to Be Challenged in Reading?
Discussions with parents of precocious young readers can be tricky. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have some tips for these conferences.
Triangulating: The Importance of Multiple Data Points When Assessing Students
No data point for any child stands alone. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan write about the importance of triangulating data when looking at student assessments, and in the process affirm the value of classroom observations.
Lessons from Family Writer’s Workshop
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan remind us that our own children are often our best teachers. Here they share all they learned from their children during a summer of writing together.
Expectations for Grade-Level Team Meetings
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan share their top tips for improving team meetings.
From Congeniality to Collegiality: Protocols for Meetings and Observations
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan suggest a few tested and successful protocols for meetings and study groups that foster more thoughtful conversations.
Opening Classroom Doors
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share many nonthreatening techniques to break down resistance among teachers to classroom visits and collaboration.
Structuring Coaching Conferences
Get the most of your one-on-one coaching conferences with these suggestions from Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan.
Talking with Parents about Text Difficulty
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan write about how to share the research base and goal of producing lifelong readers with families in understandable terms. The article includes a handout to share at parent meetings.
What Reading is Like: Sports Analogies to Use with Parents
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan provide some sports analogies to share with families when talking about reading growth. The article includes a handout of prompts parents can use to spark discussions about books with their children.
What My Son’s Reading Difficulties Taught Me About Teaching Struggling Readers
No matter how many education methods courses and professional development workshops you take, if you’re a parent, your children will always teach you the most about how students learn. Tammy Mulligan shares three practical strategies for reaching struggling readers that she learned from experiences with her son.
Making Book Logs Purposeful for Students
Is the use of reading logs getting a little stale in your classroom? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have suggestions for assessing and refreshing the activity.
The Bed and Breakfast Model: An Analogy for Schools
Have you ever struggled as a literacy leader to explain the balance between creativity and common standards in teaching; between shared expectations and individuality? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan present an analogy that might help.
Why and Watch Me: Making the Abstract Concrete for Readers
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan present some teacher question and reflection prompts for helping struggling readers understand why and how reading is a meaning-making process.
Selecting Texts for Strategy Teaching with English Language Learners in Mind
Text selection for English language learners poses special challenges. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain how the criteria for “just-right books” are different for ELLs, and provide practical examples of how teachers use these principles of book selection in their classrooms.
From “Data Drowning” to “Data Wise”: What Are We Doing Now?
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan provide an activity for staff meetings designed to help schools sort through the purpose and value of current assessments.
Moving from Data to Practice
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan give advice for how to create databases and graphic analyses of assessment information that teachers can readily access and use.
I’m Done! What’s Next?
Tammy Mulligan contemplates the unique pleasure of finishing a piece of writing, as well as the challenges of helping students figure out what’s next.
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