Latest Content
Using Self-Portraits as an Assessment Tool for Early Writers

Becca Burk guides us in using self-portraits as an assessment tool for early writers. Becca shares a rubric, self-portrait samples, and practical next steps for her kindergarten writers.

Let’s Write Together: The Importance of Class Books

Jen Court considers whether creating class books is a valuable use of time for today’s young students. As she teases out this question, she realizes class books are a relevant and essential instructional strategy.

Learning from Our Favorite Illustrators

Ruth Metcalfe tapped a plethora of resources to help her first-grade writers understand how to communicate meaning with illustrations.

What’s Your Point of View?

Molly James helps us develop an essential point of view for uplifting choice in decision making for young writers and readers.

Alert! Mistakes in Progress

Becca Burk gives the science behind mistakes and growth, and offers suggestions on ways to use mistakes as a means to help students become critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Energizing Early Readers: The Classroom Library as a Co-Teacher (Booklist)

Ruth Metcalfe shares a fun-loving and inspiring early reader booklist to help boost reading energy in her classroom library.

Validating Students

When an excited young reader interrupts the quiet hum of reading workshop, Becca Burk analyzes the important unseen choices students make as learners, and the powerful messages teachers’ responses send.

Level Two Unlocked: Using the Language of Video Games to Engage Students in the Assessment Experience

Heather Fisher considers the research behind gamified experiences and applies it to a lengthy first-grade phonics assessment. Heather challenges us to gamify assessments to maintain the integrity of the assessment while increasing student engagement.

Helping Writers Self-Correct

What to do with writers who catch errors in isolation but not in their own writing? Cathy Mere suggests three ways to help students self-correct their writing.

Do the Hard Thing

Becca Burk reminds all of us that one of the important parts of being a teacher is helping students believe they are capable. Becca shares three practical ways to uplift student capability.

Good Work, Writer

Becca Burk asserts that every child can become a writer when given materials, opportunity, and authentic glimpses into what it means to be a writer. Most importantly, though, children need adults who believe they are writers.

Math Is Everywhere

Bitsy Parks shares an initial read aloud to encourage primary students to develop the ability to see math everywhere.

Student-Created Assessments

Ruth Metcalfe releases responsibility to her first-grade class to create formative assessments and take ownership in their learning.

Making Feedback Visible for Young Writers

Ruth Metcalfe is determined to make teaching points from writing conferences visible for her young multi-language learners. She offers a how-to guide for all teachers to do the same and make the teaching accessible to students even after the conference is over.

Cut-Apart Sentences in Small-Group Reading

Ruth Metcalfe candidly shares the way she tackles the transfer of reading skills with her small group by using cut-apart sentences.

What “Should” Kindergarten Writing Look Like at This Point in the Year?

Melanie Meehan shares insights to emphasize the importance of responding to emergent writers and understanding the progression of young writers.

What Is Communication? A Mini-Inquiry Project and Booklist

Bitsy Parks leads her first-grade class in a study about communication to strengthen their socially distanced and muffled-by-masks community. Included is a booklist.

Helping Young Writers Make Plans

Tammy Mulligan promotes independence in her student writers by supporting them in creating writing plans. A download of a planning template is included so your students can create writing plans, too.

Offering Playful Choice to Show Learning

Tammy Mulligan shares her quick thinking when students are bored with book clubs and reminds us all of the importance of offering playful choice for students to show their learning.

Book Selection for Early and Emergent Readers

Some emergent readers happily browse for books and explore them independently. For others, it’s a struggle. Cathy Mere shares her favorite strategies for helping all readers get comfortable with selecting books on their own.

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.

Word Walls in Preschool? Yes, You Can!

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.

Authentic Reading in Kindergarten

Dana Murphy realizes the best way to introduce students to reading in kindergarten is to apply the principles that work at home with her own children.

A Community Reads “Wonder”

Katherine Sokolowski had a dream — her whole community reading and celebrating the same book. She explains how she helped coordinate, organize, and purchase hundreds of books for a community-wide reading of Wonder.

Mentors for Process and Habits

Ruth Ayres shares some of her favorite mentors and mentor texts for developing good writing processes and habits.

Helping Young Readers Focus on Print

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.

Potato the Crow: Blurring the Lines Between Reality, Fantasy, and Play with Young Learners

Leslie Woodhouse discovers a dollar store find takes on a life of its own in her preschool classroom in this delightful essay.

Words with Friends

Melissa Kolb explores what needs to be in place for our youngest students to learn how to converse kindly.

How to Speak “Friend”

Melissa Kolb shares some of her favorite mentor texts for helping preschoolers understand friendship.

Teaching Search Skill Basics to Students

Bill Bass has advice for teaching web-based search skills to students.

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