3rd
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Math Journals
Julie Johnson rekindles her love affair with math when she incorporates journals and sees her students become more adept at organizing and explaining their thinking.
Strawberries, Fun, and Student Blogging
Andrea Smith evaluates the success of her new student blogging program.
Writers, Choice and Independence (Part I)
What does true independence look like among young readers and writers? A chance comment from a visitor to Aimee Buckner's classroom gets her pondering the amount of choice children have during units of study.
Wonderopolis: Nonfiction, Technology, and Web-Based Independent Learning
Wonderopolis hits the sweet spot so many of us are looking for in web resources for students, delivering free, engaging, high-quality nonfiction text and video in small chunks that can easily be integrated into literacy and science workshops. Andrea Smith explains how she uses Wonderopolis daily with her students.
Pencil Plans
The care and use of the lowly pencil in classrooms says a lot about what we value and our relationships with students.
Read Alouds for the First Day of School
Choice Literacy readers share their favorite read alouds for the start of the year.
Revising Titles Minilesson
In this minilesson from Franki Sibberson’s grades 3 and 4 classroom, Franki takes students through the process of selecting and revising titles. She uses the poem “Confessions of a Reader” by Carol Wilcox as a mentor text.
Injecting Writing into Everything: Prediction Stories
What happens between kindergarten and upper elementary grades to make students more hesitant about making predictions? Heather Rader has books and teaching suggestions for building prediction skills.
Connecting Students, Wall Charts, and Reading
In this conference with third-grade student Jeffrey, Beth Lawson helps this young reader think through the importance of developing stamina to get through the first 50 pages of a book.
Book Matchmaker: New Books for Intermediate Readers
From humor to novels in verse, Franki Sibberson shares her top picks for intermediate readers in this Book Matchmaker.
Science Writing Workshop Part 1
How can teachers connect the principles of writer’s workshop with science explorations? In this first of a three-part video series, Jennifer Morgan leads her 3rd and 4th students through the process of observing, talking, and writing in their science journals as they perform an experiment. In Part I, she presents the task to students and connects it with previous learning.
Book Clubs: Setting the Stage with Conferring
We want students to discuss books in thoughtful, sophisticated ways in book clubs, but those skills don’t always come naturally. (Wait – do those skills ever come naturally?) Beth Lawson explains how she confers with individual children in her third-grade classroom to prepare them for independent book clubs with peers.
Science Writing: Small Groups
In this second video in a three-part series, Jennifer Morgan leads her grades 3 and 4 students as they work together in small groups on a science and writing task.
Science Workshop Whole Class Debrief
In this final video in a three-part series, Jennifer Morgan discusses what was learned during a science observation and writing activity in her grades 3 and 4 classroom.
Book Matchmaker: Teaching Inferring to Intermediate Students
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson discusses the challenges of finding a range of books to teach the concept of inferring to grades 3-5 students.
Making Connections as a Reader and a Scientist
Heather Rader finds that reading is at the heart of scientists’ work.
Book Matchmaker: Characters Across the Grades
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson provides a range of books for teaching character development in fiction for grades 3-5 students.
Using Comics in Literacy Workshops
Franki Sibberson works with her 3rd and 4th graders to use comics in the literacy workshop.
Book Matchmaker: Teaching Point of View
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson provides a range of books for teaching point of view for grades 3-5 students.
Quick Takes: Advice on Book Hogs
In this quick take video, Franki Sibberson gives advice for dealing with "book hogs" — those students who try to grab any new book when it appears in the classroom library.
Parent Contributions Beyond Instructional Support
Parents want to contribute, but not all contributions are welcome or even helpful when it comes to teaching children how to read and write. Trish Prentice has suggestions for making the most of family skills and willingness to help.
Assessment Conferences: Listening to and Learning from Our Students
Research, decide, and teach – Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan use Lucy Calkins’ wise advice in assessment conferences with children.
Book Matchmaker: Short Vowel Practice with Older Students
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson tackles the tough question of how to find texts for students who need help with short vowels, but are too old to enjoy many primary texts.
Read Alouds for the Last Days of School
Choice Literacy readers share some of their favorite read alouds for the last days of school.
Injecting Writing into Everything: Bringing the Outside In
Heather Rader helps a 3rd grade teacher break through the resistance of some student writers. The magic tool? A dirty onion from the garden.
Literacy Keepsakes to Carry Home at the End of the School Year
Choice Literacy readers share their favorite gifts for students to make and take home at the end of the year.
More Literacy Keepsakes to Carry Home at the End of the School Year
Choice Literacy readers share more of their favorite end-of-year gifts for students to make and take home.
Beginning with the End in Mind: Planning Ahead for Closing Activities
Choice Literacy readers share their favorite end-of-year activities that circle back to events from the start of the school year.
The Power of Wonder Questions
Andrea Smith writes about how she uses wonder questions in her science curiculum.
Using Student Conferences to Build Book Choice Skills
Franki Sibberson provides focus questions and a template to help choose books with students for independent reading.
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