Our contributors lead reading workshops in classrooms with creative flair. Over the past 12 years, we've filled our site with loads of suggestions, tools, and tips for using engaging books throughout the curriculum to hook kids on reading. Here is where you will find many stories of successful and not-so-successful workshop days, and what we learned from them. We bring these stories to life through hundreds of video examples.
Katrina Edwards confers with first grader Dylan, teaching this young English language learner the value of picture walks for comprehension.
Katherine Sokolowski explains why group conferences can be a powerful tool for building a reading community. The article includes a video of a group conference in her fifth-grade classroom.
Andrea Smith uses a reading conference with fourth grader Zoe to preview a book.
Christy Rush-Levine leads her middle school students in a choral reading and analysis of “Old Age Sticks” by E. E. Cummings. This is the first installment in a two-part series.
Shari Frost uses playful texts to increase interest and stamina in emergent readers. She shares many of her favorites in this booklist.
Justin Stygles wonders why a love of books doesn't necessarily translate into a love of reading for his fifth and sixth graders.
Shari Frost challenges assignments in reading workshop that kill a love of wordplay and vocabulary development.
Jennifer Schwanke finds teachers can get territorial about texts, “claiming” them for their grade level. She explores when it is appropriate to repeat the use of a text in subsequent grades.
Christy Rush-Levine explains why she stocks some books in her middle school classroom library that can provoke concerns from families, and how she deals with conflicts.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills give three principles they use to help avoid the “charts as wallpaper” syndrome in their fourth-grade classroom.
Leigh Anne Eck works to overcome years of student reliance on a reading incentives and rewards program by fostering reflection and intrinsic motivation with her sixth graders.
Christy Rush-Levine and some struggling eighth-grade readers consider misogyny in a popular children’s book.
Franki Sibberson explains why we need to move beyond our cherished definitions of quality when working with third graders in transition and embrace the books students love.
Christy Rush-Levine explains how she gradually stocked her middle school classroom library, as well as how she uses student librarians to ensure books aren’t lost.
Shari Frost observes a teacher conferring with a first grader who is mystified at the advice to "get your mouth ready," and it leads her to consider what works best in helping young readers.
Cathy Mere finds that with young learners, not all issues with fluency are created equal—different needs require different strategies.
Christy Rush-Levine introduces The Living to her eighth graders.
Christy Rush-Levine previews the book Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt.
Christy Rush-Levine piques the interest of her eighth graders in When We Broke Up by Daniel Handler.
Gretchen Schroeder finds that tweets are a terrific quick assessment tool for analyzing student understanding of everything from nonfiction texts to character development in classic literature.
Katherine Sokolowski helps one of her fifth-grade students compose a tweet to a favorite author.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills begin a few days before the start of break to help students develop summer reading goals and plans.
Christy Rush-Levine explains her formula for successful book talks in middle school that grab students' attention. We've also included a sample book talk.
Carly Ullmer describes the activity she’s developed for getting her middle school readers out of reading ruts by sampling different authors and genres.
If you are looking to increase the quantity and quality of graphic novels for your learners in your classroom library, Shari Frost has a new booklist to get you started.
Katie DiCesare shares the process of having her first graders choose their literacy goals, and her role in helping them refine goals through observation and conferring.
Christy Rush-Levine shows the power of using picture books with young adolescents to model close reading and deepen comprehension of sophisticated texts.
Stella Villaba models nonfiction writing for her first- and second-grade English language learners, and in the process integrates vocabulary instruction into her lesson. This is the final video in a three-part series.
Gretchen Schroeder makes a case for teaching the sonnet to teenagers in the age of texts and Twitter.
Melanie Swider finds word sorts are a great way to help intermediate students master new vocabulary for describing character traits.
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