Library
Choice Literacy Articles & Videos
The Choice Literacy library contains over 3,000 articles and 900 videos from 150+ contributors. Classic Classroom and Literacy Leadership subscribers have access to the entire library. Content is updated continuously, with five to six new features published each week.
Latest Content
Creating a Reflective Culture in Classrooms
Debbie Miller explains how the language we use with students conveys our appreciation for their thinking.
Organizing Book Bins: Letting Kids Help and Plan
Katie DiCesare writes about how children can be enlisted to help in creating and organizing book bins in libraries. But in Katie's classroom, the process of matching books to children begins with "My Stack" – her pile of books that changes daily, linking individual children and texts of interest.
Helping Students Find Their Own Mentor Texts
Franki Sibberson helps her students learn how to evaluation and discover their own mentor texts in her grades 3 and 4 literacy workshops.
Conferring About Character Traits
In this conference from a fifth-grade classroom, Clare Landrigan meets with a student to reinforce learning from a whole-class lesson on inferring and character traits.
Literacy Chats with Teachers: Routines and Guidelines
Principal Karen Szymusiak explains the format and goals of literacy chats at her school, and provides a video example of a grades 3-5 chat.
Fifth-Grade Word Study Homework
Karen Terlecky’s fifth-grade students share what they learned from their word study homework.
Making the Rounds: Visiting Everyone
Jan Miller Burkins finds getting into a classroom isn't that different from getting into a party. It's your choice whether you crash your way in or get a legitimate invitation – and how you get in certainly affects how you're perceived once you're there.
Collecting Stories: Opening Activity and Icebreaker (PRINT DOWNLOAD)
Ruth Shagoury’s collecting stories icebreaker is a fun yet thoughtful activity for opening a meeting or all-day professional development event with energy and reflection. It gets everyone moving around the room, talking with colleagues, and best of all, focused on students and curriculum.
Looking Back to Move Forward: The Plan Book Scavenger Hunt for Literacy Leaders
Jennifer Jones is as busy as the rest of us at the end of the school year. Yet she finds time spent in a “scavenger hunt” of her planning book/calendar is essential for setting realistic goals and scheduling professional development priorities for next year.
Small Group After Demonstration Lesson
In this small group after a demonstration lesson in a 5th grade classroom, Clare Landrigan talks through strategies for inferring the meaning of new words while reading.
Organizing for Independence: From Cubbies to Social Groups
In this brief video, Joan Moser talks about how she organizes student materials in "social groups" to avoid the use of desks or cubbies in her classroom.
January New Teacher Group Update: When Life Happens
Preparing for a forced sick day with her daughter, Jennifer Allen is reminded that the culture of professional development in her school is something she can depend on.
Writing Strengths Anchor Chart
Suzy Kaback's anchor chart activity builds a sense of community and peer editing connections in her middle school classroom.
Conferring with Children
“The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) talk about how their views have changed over time when it comes to conferring.
The Anticipation Guide: A Tool for Study Group Leaders
Suzy Kaback finds the Anticipation Guide is the “little black dress” of study group and staff development leaders, taking any literacy leader seamlessly from the classroom to PLCs and faculty meetings.
Linking Math and Writing Through Word Problems
In this six-minute video, Franki Sibberson demonstrates how she helps her 3rd and 4th grade students make connections between writing workshop and math problem solving.
Middle School Classroom Makeover Part I
In this first of a three-part video series, “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help 7th grade teacher Erin declutter and rearrange her classroom.
Student Reading Interview: Assessing Ana Part 2
This is the second video in a two-part series. Principal Karen Szymusiak interviewed Ana, a second grader, to learn more about her strengths and needs as a reader. In this week’s installment, Karen will share her findings with Ana’s teacher.
Big Books and Charts Organizer
In this two-minute video, Joan Moser shares a simple tool teachers can create for their classrooms to keep Big Books, charts, and laminated large materials organized.
Watching Teachers Teach: An Observation Form for Literacy Coaches
Being genuine about feedback is essential to educators. Jan Miller Burkins finds a form and process that allows her to be both thoughtful and specific.
Open Book Clubs
Shari Frost shares the nuts and bolts of setting up open book clubs in your school. These clubs are a great way to expand the reading community, as well as connect school libraries and classrooms.
Multicultural Picture Books for Young Children
These books do double duty – building community and understanding of the sounds of language.
Letting Go and Holding On: Evaluating Our Work as Literacy Coaches
It’s hard to know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve come from. Jan Miller Burkins has developed an evaluation form for literacy coaches to give to teachers.
Grade Level Team Meeting: Test Preparation
In this video of a 3rd grade team meeting, literacy coaches Janet Scott and Gail Boushey help third-grade teachers think through what is going well with test preparation, and what might be adapted before the tests begin in a few weeks.
Makeover for the Teacher Desk Area
"The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) work with Sarah Thibault and friends in Maine to makeover the teacher desk area in her 4th grade classroom.
New Teacher Conversations: Management Stories from the Classroom
Ruth Shagoury provides a workshop model for teacher leaders looking to encourage respectful conversation with new teachers on the topics that are near and dear to them.
Quotes about Literacy Leadership and Change
Quotes to inspire teachers who lead.
Giving New Readers a Diet of More Than Leveled Books
Franki Sibberson contemplates which diet plan she’ll try this month, and that leads her to think about what a steady “diet” of leveled books does for young readers.
Chance Encounter
Jennifer Jones ventured out to lunch with some former colleagues, and came home with a new perspective on the impact of her teaching after a chance encounter with YuYang, a former student.
Picking a Partner: Demonstration Lesson and Debrief
In this demonstration lesson from a K-2 classroom, Joan Moser leads students through guided practice in picking a partner.
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