Library

All the Writing Things: Putting Writers in Charge of Their Writing

Suzy Kaback is inspired by coding time and works with her students to develop an All the Writer Things tool to help writers reflect on their work as writers and become stronger and more efficient.

Personal Touches Early in the Year – Classroom Design Photo Essay Series

Make it personal with these lovely design suggestions from "The Sisters" for bringing students' homes into your classroom.

Five Things I’ve Used AI for This Week

From lesson planning to generating decodable texts, Dana Murphy shares five ways she uses AI as a reading interventionist.

Not Your Granny’s Grammar: Create Intentional Transfer to Writing

Patty McGee offers strategies to intentionally help students transfer their grammar knowledge to authentic writing experiences in this final installment of the Not Your Granny’s Grammar series.

Not Your Granny’s Grammar: Grammar Manipulatives

Grammar manipulatives create a helpful scaffold to allow students a chance to play and practice, leading to a greater likelihood of transferring skills to their writing. Patty McGee shares a few ideas for grammar manipulatives.

And the Winner Is… Planning and Implementing a Mock Book Award

Gwen Blumberg shares a school-wide approach to a mock book award experience. This clear step-by-step guide with a rich resource download makes it possible to implement in any school.

I Think, I Wonder, I Understand: Making Sense of the Work of Literacy Coaches

Jan Miller Burkins works with colleagues to develop the “I Think I Wonder I Understand” reflective tool for literacy coaches.

Unlocking Student Thinking: The Power of Problem Posing in Story Problem Contexts

Choice Numeracy | Problem posing is a strategy that involves students creating mathematical problems to solve or reworking given problems to change them in some way. Mallory Messenger shows how this strategy allows students to explore and test their current thinking. Download the Problem Posing with Problem Stems Recording Sheet to get started in your classroom.

Book Matchmaker: 3rd Graders Reading Below Grade Level

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson shares her favorite books for 3rd graders who are not at grade level, but don’t want to read texts that will embarrass them in front of their peers.

Picture Books for Naming Emotions

Mandy Robek continues her series on picture books for understanding emotional turmoil in students. In this installment, she shares a list of books that can help children name emotions.

Lifting the Quality of Peer Response

Tony Keefer discovers that his fourth-grade students need focused instruction and support to strengthen their peer conferring skills. Tony shares tips and two video examples from his classroom.

Writing Partner Feedback in Fifth Grade

Fifth-grade writers in Franki Sibberson’s classroom encourage each other and suggest revisions to their opinion-writing drafts in partner teams.

Activities Linking Books and Visual Learners for Early in the Year

What are the best books for the visual learners in your classroom? Carol Wilcox draws on her experience as a mom to two boys who do not love her “world of words” in coming up with suggestions.

Writer’s Workshop: Planning for “Dips”

We love seeing growth, but how can we plan for plateaus or even dips with young writers? Aimee Buckner finds it's all about commitment.

Connecting with Students at Home

Julie Johnson learns some important lessons about connecting with students remotely, and few of them are about technology.

Finding Topics in Writer’s Notebooks Minilesson

Sean Moore shares the importance of using a writer’s notebook to discover topics in this minilesson with his second-grade students from early in the year.

Collecting Ideas in the Writer’s Notebook

Ruth Ayres confers with third grader Jade about the importance of the “collecting” phase for writers.

Conferring with Spencer: Writing Notebook Topics

Katherine Sokolowski helps fifth grader Spencer brainstorm topics for his writing notebook.

Forming Groups Using a Planner

Dana Murphy explains how her small-group planner is an essential tool for organizing groups in her fourth-grade classroom.

The 4 Fs of Assessment

Justin Stygles describes the four crucial components of effective assessment.

Discussion and Summary As a Prelude to Fiction Writing

Haiku Writing

Mandy Robek shares the power of publishing poetry with her young writers.

Helping Kids Lead Every Day: Changing Who “Owns” Small Groups in the Classroom

Tammy Mulligan knows the most productive and engaging discussions to build reading comprehension are not monopolized by the teacher. She creates a structure to support students to engage in deeper work with each other in small groups. This is the first part of a three-part series.

Teaching Rereading During Class Read Alouds

Aimee Buckner teaches her 4th graders the power of rereading using the mentor text Goblins in the Castle by Bruce Coville.

First-Grade Writing Conference: Celebrations to Suggestions

Katrina Edwards begins her conference with first grader Allen by celebrating all he is doing well in his writing. She highlights his language and details in writing, before moving on to new strategies to try.

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.

A Minilesson on Minilessons

Franki Sibberson leads a minilesson in her fifth-grade classroom to help students design their own lessons. Students also assess what goes into a high-quality minilesson.

Integrating Vocabulary and Retelling Strategies into Read-Aloud

Stella Villalba scaffolds the language development of her first- and second-grade English language learners during read-aloud by highlighting vocabulary and providing a tool to assist with a partner retelling activity.

English Language Learners First-Grade Guided Group

Stella Villalba leads a guided reading group of first-grade English language learners, beginning with building vocabulary.

Student-Led Conferences from Many Perspectives

Jennifer Schwanke and Franki Sibberson share four perspectives on student-led conferences — teacher, principal, student, and parent.