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Vertical Whiteboards

Tammy Mulligan shares how vertical whiteboards are a powerful tool to support collaboration and make student thinking visible.

Indoor Walks

Gigi McAlister discovered that using indoor walks is a way to help students engage in their learning and strengthen their learning community through conversations.

Pick One: How to Establish a Community of Readers

“Pick one!” These are the words that begin to grow a community of readers. When students say, “I’m done,” Becca Burk points toward the classroom library and encourages them to pick a book and begin growing strong roots as a reader.

Reclaiming Space: Weeding to Grow a Healthy Library

Books, like gardens, need to be tended to regularly for the whole library to thrive. Gigi McAllister gives tips for anyone in the weeding process for their school or classroom library.

You Know How to Show Them

Becca Burk tackles the issues associated with distraction when it comes to helping students engage with a book rather than a device.

Morning Hike

Gwen Blumberg helps us consider and create space for a variety of personalities and learning needs. Inspired by a morning hike, she takes her observations and applies them to give space for all students to learn.

Responding to Dysregulated Behaviors: What about the other kids?

Becca Burk reflects on the other kids in the classroom who witness dysregulated behaviors from a classmate. She reminds us of the way grace and acceptance are prominent  when we look for the silver linings in difficult situations. This is the third installment of a four-part series chronicling the responses when a student with dysregulated behaviors joins Becca Burk’s kindergarten class mid-year.

Responding to Dysregulated Behaviors: A Symptom of What?

When a new student spirals into anxiety and becomes aggressive, Becca Burk finds herself with a dislocated knee and advocating for the student to return to the classroom. This is the second installment of a four-part series chronicling the responses when a student with dysregulated behaviors joins Becca Burk’s kindergarten class mid-year.

Let’s Begin

Gwen Blumberg reflects on the community developed at a writing retreat and encourages teachers to consider the community of learners they will intentionally nourish this school year.

Responding to Dysregulated Behaviors: “What’s a Book?”

When a new student joins Becca Burk’s kindergarten classroom and asks, “What’s a book?” Becca realizes some behaviors are new to even the most veteran teachers. This is the first installment of a four-part series chronicling the responses when a student with dysregulated behaviors joins Becca Burk’s kindergarten class mid-year.

Do I Belong?

Tammy Mulligan considers ways to help students feel and know that they belong in the classroom community. The more we broaden our knowledge of others, and discover more about who we are and what we care about, the more our sense of belonging can grow. 

Kindergarten Celebration of Writing

Molly James encourages us to consider ways to make a writing celebration meaningful. You’ll be inspired by her kindergarten writing celebration.

Revisiting: Getting to Know My Students

Mandy Robek decided that despite the increasing pressures and time-consuming expectations, she will nourish healthy relationships with students. Here are some tried-and-true practices that she wants to maintain.

Fostering Reading Lives in the Library

Gigi McAllister fosters engaged reading lives through goal-setting in the library. She shares ways we can encourage all readers to have robust reading lives.

Story Walks

Christy Rush-Levine invites students into a story walk. While many of our school activities require students to sit still and be quiet, story walks with wordless books are a simple way to invite students to move and talk, with powerful outcomes.

Early Writing Opportunities in the Library

Gigi McAllister shares informal writing opportunities for students in the school library. Informal and engaging writing activities where students have lots of choice and encouragement make them feel empowered as writers, help them generalize the writing skills they are learning in the classroom, and create joyful writing experiences. 

Tips for Interactive Word Study

Lisa Mazinas offers tips for building fluency in elementary readers.

Eight Tips to Make Virtual Learning Equitable and Accessible for All Students

Lisa Mazinas reminds us of ways to make virtual learning equitable and accessible.

Responding to Appeals for Help

Dana Murphy outlines three options to respond to a student who is stuck when reading and looking to the teacher for the answer. By being mindful when students appeal for help, we can make intentional, on-the-spot decisions to empower students to become better readers.

The Power of Story

Becca Burk reminds us of the power of story and community when she uses a social story to help a kindergartner overcome the fear and anxiety from being forgotten on the bus. Becca shows us how to use a social story to develop confidence to overcome difficulties.

Fostering a Love of Reading in All Students

Lisa Mazinas reminds us of the importance of fostering a love of reading in all students. She offers specific ways to reconnect students with the enjoyment of reading.

Let’s Do It Again, Together

Heather Fisher revisits a whole-school vocabulary routine that she set in motion. In this update, she shares the ways she adjusted to work together as a team rather than fly solo. This might be just the school-wide vocabulary routine you’ve been craving.

Morning Message 5 — Meaning and Content Connections

In this installment of the morning message series, Ruth Metcalfe unlocks a wide range of opportunities to support learning in any content area.

Morning Message 4: Application and Differentiation

The possibilities for differentiation during morning message are almost endless. Ruth Metcalfe highlights ways to meed a wide variety of needs via morning message.

Morning Message 3: Word Study and Conventions

There is much debate in today’s educational landscape around what and how to teach young readers about print. No matter what your classroom realities are around teaching how sounds, words, and language work, Ruth Metcalfe attests that using a morning message is an engaging way to support word study and conventions.

Morning Message 2: Routine and Community

Ruth Metcalfe reminds us of the power of routines and shows how over the course of time, morning message is an anchor in her first-grade classroom community.

Morning Message Series: When and How

It’s not always easy to hold on to effective instructional routines and find ways to embrace new initiatives and mandates. In the first installment of a morning message series, Ruth Metcalfe addresses the issue of time. 

Developing Reader Identities: It Is More Than Magic

Becca Burk reminds us of the importance of building a reading identity within all students so they can become stronger readers.

When They’re Hard to Teach

Cathy Mere reminds us of the complexities of teaching readers, especially those who are in intervention. She shares the “rules” she’s put in place for herself when a rough patch is hit and little growth is gained.

Reclaiming Our Time

Vivian Chen gives four steps to adjusting a lesson from the teacher’s guide to reclaim your time and make the lesson more meaningful and engaging to students.

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