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“Article of the Week” Activity in Fourth Grade

Tony Keefer finds that the article-of-the-week activity (adapted from Kelly Gallagher's work) is a good way to integrate short shared texts into his fourth-grade literacy workshop.
 

Collecting Ideas in the Writer’s Notebook

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

Previewing a Book with an Eighth Grader

In this brief conference, Katie Baydo-Reed chats with an eighth grader as he previews The Wednesday Wars and makes connections to the main character.

Multiple Strategies for Kindergarten Readers

Tammy Mulligan explains why it’s important to encourage kindergarten students to use other strategies beyond “sound it out” in this demonstration small group.

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.

Rereading and Retelling to Inferring: Part 2

Linda Karamatic uses texts her second graders already know to build their inferring skills as they construct a chart together.

Words Chart Minilesson

Ruth Ayres develops a word chart in this brief minilesson with second graders.

Exploring Inferring with Second Graders: Part 1

Linda Karamatic uses a read aloud to launch a group activity to build understanding of  inferring.

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.

Tracking Characters: A Conferring Tip

Aimee Buckner teaches a fourth grader a strategy for using a sticky note to keep track of characters when there are multiple narrators in a novel.

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.

Inside and Outside Views: Conferring with Rebecca

Ruth Ayres confers with first grader Rebecca about perspective and illustrations in her writing.

Modeling Annotation in 8th Grade

This video from Katie Baydo-Reed’s eighth-grade classroom is the second part of a series on teaching annotation skills in middle school. A catch-up link to the first video in the series is provided.

Second-Grade Minilesson on Capital Letters

Ruth Ayres presents a minilesson on capital letters to a second-grade class.

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.

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.

Writing a Strong Ending: 4th Grade Writing Conference

Tony Keefer confers with fourth grader Tommy to help him write a stronger ending.

Thinking About Theme

Karen Terlecky explains how she designs instruction and uses mentor texts to teach theme, and includes a video example of a minilesson.

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.

Partner Reading Conference in First Grade

Katie DiCesare confers with Jack and Praneel about their partner reading.

Illustrations in Kindergarten: Conferring with Dalton

Ruth Ayres confers with kindergartner Dalton early in the year, focusing on his illustrations to build storytelling skills.

Strong Girls Book Group

Franki Sibberson shares a range of books that include compelling female characters with a group of fourth-grade girls.

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.

Holding Thinking Minilesson with Second Graders

Deb Gaby uses an analogy of animal tracks to introduce the concept of "holding thinking" in reading journals to second graders.

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.

Writing Leads Minilesson

A writing lead is a door — readers will either want to walk through it or shut it and move on to something else. That's the analogy Karen Terlecky uses in this video of a fifth-grade writing workshop minilesson.

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.

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