4th
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Whole Class Research Planning in 4th Grade
Andrea Smith’s fourth graders brainstorm next steps for their research project on owl habitats, which includes writing a research proposal.
Keep Going
Ruth Ayres has advice for moving forward, staying positive, and focusing on what’s important.
Rethinking Nonfiction Topic-Based Text Sets
Franki Sibberson concludes her series on redesigning nonfiction sections of classroom libraries in the age of the Common Core.
Rethinking Nonfiction Series Books
Franki Sibberson explains how she features nonfiction series books in her classroom library.
Rethinking Nonfiction Author Baskets
Franki Sibberson realizes she needs to highlight nonfiction authors in new ways in her classroom library.
Explanatory Grammar Moves: Right-Branching Sentences
Jeff Anderson continues his Explanatory Grammar Series with a feature on the power of right-branching sentences.
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.
Curating a Nonfiction Classroom Library
Franki Sibberson writes about how her thinking about nonfiction is changing her classroom library in this first installment of a four-part series.
Powerful Conferences
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
Writing a Strong Ending: 4th Grade Writing Conference
Tony Keefer confers with fourth grader Tommy to help him write a stronger ending.
Reporting and Crafting: Conferring with Ezra
Ruth Ayres confers with Ezra about revision — using a mentor text to help him move from reporting to crafting in his writing.
Kindle Highlights: Conferring with Nicole
If you’ve ever used a Kindle reader, you might be fascinated by the highlighted notes of other readers. Franki Sibberson uses those notes in a conference with Nicole.
Finding a Writing Buddy
Beth Lawson helps her fourth graders sort through what makes peer collaboration work during writing buddy time.
Two Lessons for Teaching Theme
Franki Sibberson writes about how she chooses books for theme instruction and shares two lessons.
Strong Girls Book Group
Franki Sibberson shares a range of books that include compelling female characters with a group of fourth-grade girls.
She Wants to Be Katniss for Halloween: Courageous Girls in Books
Shari Frost celebrates a tomboy who finally finds a female character she wants to emulate with a booklist highlighting courageous girls.
Exploring Explanatory Moves Writers Use
Jeff Anderson explores the difference between informational and explanatory writing, and what that might mean for teaching craft moves to students.
Research Book Clubs for Struggling Readers
Beth Lawson finds that a nonfiction research book club is just the grouping structure needed for a group of struggling readers in her fourth-grade classroom.
Building Stamina and Book Choice Skills
Franki Sibberson continues a discussion with a small group of students who often abandon books. This is the second installment in a two-part video series.
Abandoning Books Discussion
Franki Sibberson works with a small group of fourth graders who often abandon books.
Whole-Class Research Planning
Andrea Smith leads her fourth graders through brainstorming for their owl research project.
Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet
Julie Johnson provides helpful tips and a letter for parents to help keep students safe on the Internet.
Emphasizing Empathy: September Literacy Contracts
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller are Emphasizing Empathy in their September literacy contracts for middle school students.
Owl Research: Whole Class Explanation of Marking Up Text
Students are given a nonfiction text to mark up during a close reading with a partner in this video from Andrea Smith’s fourth-grade classroom.
Conferring in 4th Grade: The Dilemma of Multiple Novels
Melissa Styger confers with a fourth-grade student who is reading two novels simultaneously, and shares her criteria for determining when it’s appropriate for students to read multiple texts.
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.
Fourth Grade Writing Workshop Minilesson on Focusing
Franki Sibberson shares some tips and strategies with her fourth graders from the web for focusing and organizing their writing.
What Data Will You Be Collecting?
Tony Keefer explains why attitudinal survey data is important to collect early in the year, and shares different reading surveys he uses with students to understand their needs in the first six weeks of school.
Rethinking the Assessment Binder
Franki Sibberson’s dilemma? How to file every evaluation so it is organized and accessible (since she never knows when someone might ask for it), while still finding a way to keep the assessments she needs every day at her fingertips.
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