Latest Content
What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About . . .?

Ruth Shagoury and Melanie Quinn asked their colleagues to share the “most beautiful thing” about the puzzling student each of them is looking at closely in their study group. This is a great activity you’re looking for a quick and easy icebreaker to spark some positive energy in your next study group or staff meeting, and remind everyone of the joys of our profession.

Just Because It’s Skinny, Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy: Matching Books to Transitional Readers in Grades 2-4

Franki Sibberson writes about her evolution in choosing books for transitional readers in grades 2-4. Franki includes a handy list of criteria for evaluating whether new short chapter books are appropriate for young readers.

Conferring with Children: Principles and Procedures

“The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) share their principles and procedures for conferring in the classroom.

Opening Classroom Doors

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share many nonthreatening techniques to break down resistance among teachers to classroom visits and collaboration.

The Porch in August: Letting It Be

Shirl McPhillips reminds us "in the face of all that tugs at us from the past and from what's to come, we can step into the moments of the day with our students and take pleasure in what we find there." Such wise words for any time we need to hit the pause button in our lives.

Learning with Intensity: A Study Group Discussion Prompt

"Learning with Intensity" is a study group activity which takes participants back to a time when they became passionately involved with learning. Ruth Shagoury shares the structure of the activity and insights from one group who gave it a test drive.

Creating Structures to Sustain Our Work

Jennifer Allen explains how she enlisted teachers to lead a day-long inservice.

Ode to a Sweet Snowy Day for Two

Shirl McPhillips’ poem “Ode to a Sweet Snowy Day for Two” is designed for paired reading. Shirl also gives advice for celebrating poetry as an oral art in classrooms.

Messengers

This is a lovely poem with a message about how poetry can move us, and why it is essential in classrooms.

Collecting Literacy Stories Icebreaker (PRINT DOWNLOAD)

If you want a terrific activity to nudge colleagues to share more of their successes and failures, you might want to download Cindy Hatt’s question templates and explanation of the collecting stories activity. It’s also a fun strategy for building listening skills and community among teachers and coaches

Assessing Spelling in Writing Workshop Part 2: Noticing Patterns in Individuals, Small Groups and the Whole Group

Katie DiCesare took on the challenge of developing a one-page assessment tool to analyze the spelling needs and abilities of each of her 1st graders. In the second of her three-part series, Katie shows how she translates the findings from individual students into instructional plans.

Reflecting on the First Six Weeks of Word Study

Franki Sibberson explains how she rethought word study during the first six weeks of school, giving manypractical examples of activities and routines with her intermediate students.

Meeting Areas (Design Photo Essay Series)

Design tips from “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) for beautiful and functional meeting areas.

Teaching Themes Through Keywords

Aimee Buckner presents a simple strategy for helping students look for themes as they read a new text.

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.

Short Units, Big Messages

Those "in-between" writers in grades 3 and 4 present special challenges to teachers.  Some are fluent and versatile, writing page after page of drafts.  Other students struggle to craft even a sentence. Franki Sibberson explains how short texts and brief genre units can help intermediate writers with a wide range of abilities.

Root Metaphors for Teaching: Learning from Our Passions

Ruth Shagoury finds her passion for bread baking leads to rethinking how she differentiates instruction for students. Her colleagues then come up with their own metaphors in the study group activity.

Tight Spaces Part I: Maximizing Room for Literacy Learning (PHOTO ESSAY)

The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) have some ingenious tips for freeing up traffic paths and clustering literacy work areas.

Wall Displays (PHOTO ESSAY)


The Sisters (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) contribute a photo essay on design tips for wall displays.

Forming Teams to Help Struggling Readers:A Pilot Project (TEMPLATES)

Andrea Smith shares observation strategies used within a teaching team.    The article includes templates developed by the group.

The Rolling Pin: Looking into Things

Celebrating simple, ordinary things – it’s what poetry and learning are all about.

I Believe . . . Some Thoughts on Marathons and Sustained Professional Development in Schools

Jennifer Allen runs her first marathon, and finds the good, bad, ugly, and ultimately inspiring experience is a great metaphor for professional development design that endures.

Connecting Language and Hope: A Study Group Activity

The teaching profession needs an abundance of hope. In this creative study group activity, Andie Cunningham helps young teachers connect language and hope through art.

To Fart or Not to Fart? Reflections on Boy Writers

"To Fart or Not to Fart?" was the question at the first meeting of Jennifer Allen's boys' literacy study group for teachers, and what followed was a rollicking discussion of writing, taste, and books that hook boys.

Staying True to Our Beliefs When Working With Struggling Readers and Writers in Grades 3-6

Franki Sibberson writes about the challenges of holding true to our beliefs in working with struggling readers, and shares the questions she asks herself as a way of self-monitoring her teaching with strugglers.

Assessing Spelling in Writing Workshop Part 3: Embedding Instruction

In the last installment of this three-part series, Katie DiCesare shows how she translates the findings from individual students into instructional plans when she uses a spelling assessment in her 1st grade classroom.

Tight Spaces Part II: Design Photo Essay Series

The Sisters' design tips on tight classroom spaces cover walls and creative storage in this photo essay.

Enhance Your Classroom Poetry Collection

Franki Sibberson shares poetry collections that can do double and triple duty across the curriculum, and are favorites of her grades 3-4 students.

How I Flunked Literacy Leadership 101

Jennifer Jones finds she is still learning on the job as a literacy coach, especially when it comes to building relationships through collaborative teaching. Here she shares a breakdown in communication with a colleague, and how she is working to rebuild the relationship.

Change Quote Collection

If you're looking for some provocative quotes on change, you might enjoy this quote collection from the Choice Literacy Archives.

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