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Keeping Track of Questions

Andie Cunningham observes a third-grade teacher as she systematically improves the quality and depth of student questioning over time.

Shared Reading in the Intermediate Grades

Shari Frost explains why shared reading is valuable for older students, with examples of the practice in the intermediate grades.

Understanding the Middle East Through Children’s Literature (BOOKLIST)

Sheiks, harems, and terrorists — the stereotypes of the middle east from popular culture may not be realistic, but they sure are pervasive. Ruth Shagoury and Andie Cunningham find authentic alternative views to present to children in their new booklist.

Research IS the Project (Primary Research Series)

Heather Rader blurs the line between research and presentation in the final installment of the primary research series.

Embracing the Growth Mindset with Audiobooks

Jennifer Vincent explains how recorded texts were a potent tool for reaching a struggling fourth-grade reader.

KLWL: Ordering Research (Primary Research Series Part 3)

Heather Rader looks at the importance of frontloading information for young learners in the third installment of the primary research series.

March Book Madness

Basketball’s March Madness has many possibilities in schools. Tony Keefer tries a similar format with brackets and voting for March Book Madness.

The “Tys” of Student Research: Safety and Credibility (Primary Research Series Part 2)

Heather Rader shares the second installment in our primary research series.

Beyond Text Features in Nonfiction Instruction

Franki Sibberson considers how the demands of the Common Core and the complex mix of online and offline nonfiction texts are changing the skills she teaches students.

Putting the Search Back in Research

Heather Rader launches a new four-part series on teaching research skills in the primary grades. This first installment highlights search techniques for children.

Science Challenge

Franki Sibberson’s fourth-grade students share results from the weekly science challenge.

Getting More from Wonderopolis

Franki Sibberson uses Wonderopolis with her 4th grade students, helping them learn to research and dig more deeply at the site.

From “Show Me the Lessons” to Sustainable Planning (Part 4 of the Opinion/Argument Writing Series)

This is the final installment in Heather Rader's series on argument and opinion writing in the intermediate grades.

Peer Conferring: The Release Phase

Amanda Adrian concludes her series on peer conferring, analyzing the value of students working on their own after instruction and practice.

Lists, Facts, and Reports: Conferring with Anna

Franki Sibberson confers with fourth grader Anna to help her connect report writing with her love of animal lists.

Touchy Topics for Opinion/Argumentative Writing

When students take a stand in writing, they will almost inevitably bring up touchy topics. Heather Rader considers the challenge in part 3 of her opinion/argumentative writing series.

Thank You For Arguing

In the second installment of our teaching argument/opinion writing series, Heather Rader uses a continuum dialogue and modeled writing with intermediate students.

Brainstorming Student Blogs

Franki Sibberson works with a group of students who want to create a collaborative blog of interviews. The discussion reveals some of the challenges of blog writing, including consistent posting and developing topics that might endure over time.

Fun in January: A Mock Caldecott Unit

Katherine Sokolowski discovers a seven-day Mock Caldecott unit is a fun way to build a reading community by predicting the winners, and Skyping with another class to share results.

 

Book Matchmaker: Nonfiction to Read Cover to Cover

With the Common Core emphasis on nonfiction, teachers are striving to integrate more nonfiction texts throughout their literacy workshops. Franki Sibberson shares her favorite nonfiction texts that can be read cover to cover.

I Love a Good Argument

As Heather Rader works with teachers and teams on opinion/argumentative writing, she’s considering the anatomy of an argument and engaging ways to teach it.

Teaching the Rule of Three to Writers

Aimee Buckner finds that teaching the rule of three to young writers adds variety to student texts.

Writers Inspiring Writers

Melissa Styger invites colleagues and family members into the classroom to share their writing process with students.

Previewing a Read Aloud

Franki Sibberson previews a read aloud with her grades 3 and 4 students.

Peer Conferring: The “Try It On” Phase

Amanda Adrian continues her series on how teachers can scaffold and model peer conferring. In this installment, Amanda uses the fishbowl technique with students.

Poetry All Year Long

Ann Williams shares how she builds a love of poetry in her fourth-grade classroom all year long.

Common Core Booklist: Writing Personal Narratives

Personal narratives are an important part of the Common Core in 4th grade. Franki Sibberson shares a booklist of some of her favorite mentor texts for teaching narratives in the intermediate grades.

Peer Conferring: The Modeling Phase

Amanda Adrian provides a framework, sample model lesson, and peer conferring guide for students to use as they learn how to respond to their classmates.

Conferring for Conventions (Conventions Series Part 5)

Heather Rader gives examples of convention conferences in this final installment of the conventions series.

Aligning the Common Core and Conventions Instruction (Conventions Series Part 4)

Heather Rader works with a team of intermediate teachers as they connect their plans for conventions instruction and the Common Core.

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