Articles

The Big Screen: Reimagining Read Aloud

Ruth Metcalfe leverages pandemic adjustments into making the read aloud experience bigger and better for her students. The simple act of projecting the read aloud book leads to significant adjustments to meet the needs of young readers.

Learning Joy

Bitsy Parks shares the story of a striving student, and pinpoints the elements of a rich workshop classroom that supports finding joy in becoming literate.

Planning for Virtual Literacy Intervention

Stephanie Affinito curated a wise and useful guide to plan virtual literacy intervention. Useful resources are included for those who are teaching remotely or in person.

It’s About Survival

Melissa Styger shares an end-of-year letter writing celebration that allows students to reflect on the year and provides an invitation to next year’s students to be excited about the future.

Take a Chance

Julie Cox invites us to take risks in order to encourage students to try new things with their writing and reading. Julie concludes that when teachers are professional risk-takers, we are more available to students and know how to help them when they fail.

Student-Planned End-of-Year Celebration

Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills know the end of the school year is full, yet they take the time to reflect and celebrate what learners have built throughout the year by asking students to create a plan for a final celebration.

A Collection of Treasured Life Lessons

Melissa Quimby leads her students in rich thinking about life lessons and encourages them to treasure the wisdom from books.

Creating Progressions to Meet Learners Where They Are

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share how to create and use learning progressions to support students in deepening their understanding of theme. Download a copy of a theme progression.

Be the Teacher

Tammy Mulligan turns to her students for advice on how to make phonics lessons “sticky.” The Be the Teacher Center was created and has become a staple in her primary classroom.

The Choice Literacy Book Club Discusses Apple and Magnolia

The Choice Literacy Book Club discusses Apple and Magnolia.

Deepening Discussion with a Circle Process

Jen Vincent strengthens the authenticity of a share session in writing workshop by building and tending to relationships that honor a circle process that originated in Indigenous communities.

Determining Importance in Fiction

Dana Murphy guides us in listening and responding to students during strategy-building lessons to grow readers. In this example, she shows the complexity and nuances of direct instruction to build comprehension strategies.

Student-Led Reading Seminars

Tammy Mulligan organizes her second graders to teach reading seminars to their peers. She outlines the steps to make this engaging practice a reality in any classroom.

Create-Your-Own Reading Challenge

Leigh Anne Eck encourages students to create their own reading challenges to stretch their reading identities. Download the challenge to share with your students.

Invitations to Reading a Variety of Genres

Katherine Sokolowski shares the genre invitations she issues to students to help them grow as readers.

The Choice Literacy Book Club Discusses The Proudest Blue

Picture of the Week

Bitsy Parks shares a Picture of the Week routine that builds real-life literacy skills, and documents and celebrates important moments throughout the school year.

Poetry Part 1 Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss poetry on the podcast.

Novels in Verse (Booklist)

Leigh Anne Eck curates a fantastic booklist of novels in verse for middle-grade and young adult readers.

Age Poems

Katherine Sokolowski immerses students in poetry with mentor texts about age and time to linger in thinking about their own ages. This combination invites poetry into classrooms and gives students space to embrace the genre by writing their own age poems.

Rehearsal for Writers Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss student-led learning on the podcast.

Making Data Personal Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss student-led learning on the podcast.

Student-Led Learning Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss student-led learning on the podcast.

Mining the Data

Heather Fisher shares how to rebrand data meetings as mining meetings to turn anxiety and frustration into actionable and meaningful responses to data.

Making Data Review More Personal

Dana Murphy describes an approach to “data-review days” that looks beyond numbers to the faces of kids and talks about all kids in all of their humanity.

Student-Created Assessments

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

A Perfect Opportunity for Choice: Showing Theme

Tara Barnett outlines ways to offer choices for students to show their understandings of a book’s theme. Download a choice board and rubric.

The Choice Literacy Book Club Discusses Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith Scott

The Choice Literacy Book Club discusses Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler and Melissa Sweet.

Feedback to Writers (Part 2) Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss feedback to writers on the podcast.

Celebrating Reading Identities in the Elementary Classroom

Melissa Quimby offers a creative and practical idea to get to know students’ reading identities.