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Character Study Share Session in First Grade
First graders in Katie DiCesare’s class discuss character traits in books from independent reading during a whole-class share session.
Celebrating Screen-Free Week (BOOKLIST)
Screen-Free Week is scheduled for May 5-11 this year. Here are some book suggestions to help you explore the issue with students.
A Booklist for Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. Sarah Klim presents some favorite titles to share with students and build awareness in this booklist.
Visiting the Doctor: Conferring with Alexis
Ruth Ayres confers with first grader Alexis about her visit to the doctor for a shot. The conference focuses on illustrations and labeling.
Brave Noah
Ruth Ayres tells the story of Noah, a brave first grader with a hard home life who has few happily ever afters as a writer.
Word Observations
Max Brand describes how word observations can work as powerful minilessons in elementary classrooms.
Simplifying Word Study
Max Brand has suggestions for simplifying word study.
Katie DiCesare on Word Learning (PODCAST)
Katie DiCesare chats with Franki Sibberson about word learning in Katie’s first-grade classroom.
Sentence Combining in Workshops
Heather Rader has strategies for using sentence combining in literacy workshops.
Children’s Literature for the Olympics
The Olympics are just around the corner, and Sarah Klim has suggestions for read alouds in a new booklist.
Conferring with Sebastian
Katie DiCesare chats with first grader Sebastian in this one-minute conference, then shares her reflections on where Sebastian might go next in his reading.
Jennifer Serravallo on Formative Assessment (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Jennifer Serravallo about formative assessment in this podcast. Jennifer is the author of The Literacy Teacher’s Playbook, Grades 3-6: Four Steps for Turning Assessment Data into Goal-Directed Instruction.
Formative Spelling Assessment
Max Brand has developed templates for grades K-2 and 3-5 to use for formative spelling assessments.
Keep Going
Ruth Ayres has advice for moving forward, staying positive, and focusing on what’s important.
Rereading for Writing: Conferring with Jack
Katie DiCesare confers with first grader Jack, using rereading to help him rethink the title of his story and possibilities for revision.
A Closer Look at Engagement
Are the terms stamina and engagement synonymous? Cathy Mere defines the terms by observing her first graders.
Inside and Outside Views: Conferring with Rebecca
Ruth Ayres confers with first grader Rebecca about perspective and illustrations in her writing.
Spelling Cycles: An Alternative to Weekly Spelling Lists
Max Brand developed Spelling Cycles as an alternative to weekly spelling tests. He explains how they work with an example from a third-grade class.
Powerful Conferences
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
Shared Blogging in the Primary Classroom
Shared reading and shared writing are essential instructional techniques in the primary grades. How about shared blogging for teaching children basic blogging skills? Cathy Mere describes how it works.
Partner Reading Conference in First Grade
Katie DiCesare confers with Jack and Praneel about their partner reading.
Group Conference in First Grade
Katie DiCesare meets with first graders Anna and Brendan to help them learn from each other and prepare to share their rereading strategies with the whole class.
Mentor Texts for “Versus” Stories
Shark vs. Train! Fork vs. Spoon! Versus stories are incredibly popular in writing workshops these days. Cathy Mere found herself struggling to teach narrative conventions to students writing versus tales, so she created a booklist of mentor texts.
Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet
Julie Johnson provides helpful tips and a letter for parents to help keep students safe on the Internet.
Kidwatching and Connections in the Early Days
Cathy Mere finds the early days of school are all about kidwatching and connecting with her first-grade students during reading and writing workshops. She shares some terrific guiding questions that might also help new teachers hone their observation skills.
Mentor Texts for Writing Endings
One goal of many primary teachers is to help students finish their drafts with an ending other than “The End” (or “they lived happily ever after”). Katie DiCesare shows her first graders many alternative examples, and she begins early in the year.
Using Pinterest for Professional Development
Franki Sibberson finds Pinterest is a useful tool for professional development.
Using Technology to Connect Young Readers and Writers
Julie Johnson reflects on how technology is changing her own reading community, and builds on this knowledge to connect readers and writers in her classroom with others through the Internet.
Notebooks, Goals, and Writing About Characters in First Grade
Katie DiCesare confers with a group of first graders about their writing notebooks, goals, and drafts about the characters they are studying during reading workshop.
Daily Routines: Finding Time for What Matters
Ann Marie Corgill provides some guiding questions to help teachers figure out priorities in their schedules for daily routines.
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