6th

Fostering More Curricular Collaboration in Teams: The Meeting Notes Form (TEMPLATE)

Katie Doherty faces daunting challenges as a grade-level team leader in her middle school. A simple notetaking form works wonders in elevating the conversations and collaboration.

Strong Girls (BOOKLIST)

If Nancy Drew was an important literary role model for you when you were a preteen, you might enjoy a peek at the sassy new gals who are influencing our tweens.

Middle School Readers at Mid-Year (SURVEY TEMPLATE)

Katie Doherty finds surveys of student reading habits and preferences are really useful in the winter, after she knows her students and they’ve settled into a routine.

Weekend Headlines: Peer Response

In this second part of a three-part video series, Katie Doherty and her sixth grade students continue the Weekend Headlines activity. In this installment, Katie sets up a peer response procedure.

Weekend Headlines: Whole Class Share

In this final installment of a three-part video series, Katie Doherty and her sixth-grade students continue the Weekend Headlines activity.  In this installment, students share their writing with the whole class and respond.

Middle School Classroom Makeover Part I

In this first of a three-part video series, “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help 7th grade teacher Erin declutter and rearrange her classroom.

Quick Take: Advice from Katie Doherty on Starting a Middle School Reading Workshop

In this one-minute quick take video, Katie Doherty has advice for middle school teachers who are thinking of launching a reading workshop in their classrooms.

Weekend Headlines: Introduction

In this first of a three-part video series, Katie Doherty and her sixth grade students begin the Weekend Headlines activity. Each Monday, students listen to Katie share some of the headlines from the local newspaper and then share their "headlines" from the weekend.

Middle School Library Makeover Part I

In this first of a two-part video series, “The Sisters” (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) work with students, a librarian, and a principal to makeover a middle-school library. This first installment features the creation of a “cozy area” and new book browsing displays.

Middle School Library Makeover Part II: Stacks and Recap

The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) collaborate with a middle school librarian, principal, and team of students to makeover the school library. In this final segment of the series, they redo the stacks and meeting area, and then talk with students about the transformation of the entire library.

6th Grade Classroom Room Tour

Katie Doherty shares how she has organized her 6th grade classroom to support students at her bustling middle school.

Inferring Read Aloud Part I

Katie Doherty demonstrates how she uses picture books to teach inferring strategies to her sixth graders in this video series. Part I is a presentation of the book to students.

Teaching Inferring with Picture Books Part II: Partner Shares

Katie Doherty’s 6th grade students discuss the read-aloud through partner shares.

Teaching Inferring with Picture Books Part III: Whole-Class Debrief

Katie Doherty's 6th grade students debrief after a read-aloud and partner share focused on inferring.

Middle School Classroom Makeover Part III

In this third installment of a three-part video series, “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help 7th grade teacher Erin declutter and rearrange her classroom. This installment focuses on the challenges of classrooms with very little storage space.

Middle School Classroom Makeover Part II

In this second of a three-part video series, “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help seventh-grade teacher Erin declutter and rearrange the media area of the classroom, creating a cozy library space.

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.

Comprehending Graphic Novels: A Primer for Teachers

Mary Lee Hahn provides a quick primer for teachers new to graphic novels, as well as suggestions for using these novels to teach comprehension.

Common Core Conversations: Increasing Argumentative Writing

Teachers continue to puzzle over and sort through the terminology in the Common Core related to opinion and persuasive writing. Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader consider terms and teaching strategies.

Breathing New Life into the Writer’s Notebook

Tara Smith finds her sixth graders have years of experience with writer's notebooks by the time they reach her classroom. How to inspire enthusiasm for a familiar tool? Mix old favorite tasks and lessons with fresh texts and tech-savvy options.

Field Experience: Supporting Independent Reading, Choice and Stamina

Helping students learn to choose books and develop stamina are important to developing independent readers. Ruth Ayres designed a field experience with opportunities to see minilessons, small group instruction, team meetings and a share session that support independence in readers.

Field Experience: Book Talks to Empower Independent Reading

Talking Through Characters

Melanie Meehan shares activities that help students talk about their characters before writing about them in a realistic fiction unit.

Using Skype in the Classroom

Katherine Sokolowski has suggestions for Skype use in classrooms, covering everything from student etiquette to special events.

Organizing Materials to Support Literacy Learning (Classroom Design Series Part 3)

Ann Marie Corgill shares how she organizes materials for literacy learning in the third installment of her design series.