Library

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.

Reflections on a Year of Read Alouds

Karen Terlecky mulls over a year of read alouds in her 5th grade classroom as she makes plans for the coming year.

Parent Contributions Beyond Instructional Support

Parents want to contribute, but not all contributions are welcome or even helpful when it comes to teaching children how to read and write. Trish Prentice has suggestions for making the most of family skills and willingness to help.

Guiding Readers in Kindergarten: A Planning and Assessment Template

If you’re considering guided reading groups in your kindergarten classroom, you’ll want to read Mandy Robek’s advice for getting started and keeping track with a simple planning and assessment form.

Still Revising After 10 Years: Sorting Through Pitfalls of Study Groups

Jennifer Allen considers how her study groups have changed over the past decade as she continues to balance district demands with teacher choice.

Books and Activities from Around the World to Celebrate the Holiday Season

People around the world celebrate the holidays in different ways, and that diversity provides wonderful learning opportunities this time of year.  Stella Villalba shares literary holiday projects and a booklist around the themes of “peace” and “wishes” that might help students find common ground in family traditions.

Math, Writing, and Coaching to Learn

Heather Rader works with a 5th grade teacher to infuse more writing into her math curriculum.

Closing Out the Library: Cleaning Up and Thinking Ahead

Franki Sibberson provides a series of questions to help you focus on what students need in classroom and school libraries, as well as how those needs might be changing.

“The Wrath of Guess Jeans”: Debrief

In this third video in a three-part series, Katie Doherty leads her 6th graders through a response activity. The text they are reading was written by a middle school student over a decade ago, and its themes of popularity and belonging still ring true for students. In this installment, Katie debriefs with students about the value of the writing activity.

Keeping “House” in a Literacy-Rich Classroom

Ann Williams has a terrific idea for keeping materials organized in literacy workshops and building student independence at the same time.

Quick Take: Time Constraints in Conferences

In this two-minute video, Aimee Buckner explains how she deals with time constraints when she is conferring with students.

Redesigning a Classroom: Putting Students First (and Technology in Its Place)

Mandy Robek faces the challenge of creating a warm and inviting classroom environment that still includes some cold, hard computers for student use.

Unexpected Gifts: Technology and Community in the First Days of School

Andrea Smith is surprised and delighted at what technology adds to her classroom in the early days of school.

A District Film Festival: Giving Kids An Authentic Audience for Their Work

Lights, cameras, and even a red carpet!  Bill Bass documents how a film festival brought high school teachers and students together, with a strong focus on connecting district goals and standards to the fun projects.

Connecting Students, Wall Charts, and Reading

In this conference with third-grade student Jeffrey, Beth Lawson helps this young reader think through the importance of developing stamina to get through the first 50 pages of a book.

Science Workshop Whole Class Debrief

In this final video in a three-part series, Jennifer Morgan discusses what was learned during a science observation and writing activity in her grades 3 and 4 classroom.

Preparing for Book Talks

In this first video in a two-part series, Katie Doherty meets with her sixth-grade students who will be sharing their book recommendations with the class.

Injecting Writing into . . . Everything: Ellipsis Stories

"DOT DOT DOT" – a phrase made famous in Mama Mia, it's also the spark for some writing instruction linked to read alouds from Heather Rader.

When to Group?

Reading groups are such an ingrained element of our teaching culture that teachers can feel guilty if they choose other instructional methods. In this conversation with fourth-grade teacher Rachel, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey (“The Sisters”) talk about when it makes sense to group students.

Book Matchmaker: Helping a Struggling Reader in 5th Grade

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson shares books and genres a struggling 5th grader might enjoy.

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.

Injecting Writing into Everything: Bringing the Outside In

Heather Rader helps a 3rd grade teacher break through the resistance of some student writers.  The magic tool?  A dirty onion from the garden.

Starting a Newbery Club with Students

If you want to re-energize teen and tween readers in your school, start a Newbery Club.  These voluntary groups read, discuss, and take their best guess of which book will win the coveted award in mid-January.

Procedural Writing in Math

Heather Rader explains how mentor texts for math instruction need some specific attributes.

Ending the Year with Literacy Gifts

Student Book Talks

In this second video in a two-part series, Katie Doherty's sixth-grade students share their book recommendations with the class. Students work from a template provided by Katie to ensure their presentations are brief, thoughtful, and connected to reading workshop.

Pencil Plans

The care and use of the lowly pencil in classrooms says a lot about what we value and our relationships with students.

Book Clubs: Setting the Stage with Conferring

We want students to discuss books in thoughtful, sophisticated ways in book clubs, but those skills don’t always come naturally.  (Wait – do those skills ever come naturally?) Beth Lawson explains how she confers with individual children in her third-grade classroom to prepare them for independent book clubs with peers.

From Teacher to Coach: Building Community in the Early Days

The transition from teacher to coach is tricky. Melanie Quinn has advice for building relationships with colleagues in the first weeks of school.

You Never Know What You’re Going To Get

When students help us organize materials, we are often pleasantly surprised at the results.