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Status of the Class for Readers and Writers

Matt Renwick reflects on the importance of building students’ identities as readers and writers and the power of a daily status of the class. Download a template to put this routine in place in your own classroom.

Giving Feedback to Energize Writers

Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills ponder the importance of energizing writers with feedback. They offer tips to ensure feedback uplifts writers.

A Three-Part Conferring Kit

Bitsy Parks shares a simple three-part conferring kit that will position anecdotal notes to guide instruction.

Quick Take: Using Mailboxes for Private Feedback

Christy Rush-Levine shares her system for streamlining passing papers and offering a place for private feedback.

Persuasive Writing Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss reflective practice on the podcast.

February 4, 2022: Persuasive Writing

This week’s newsletter is about persuasive writing.

The Choice Literacy Book Club Discusses Outside, Inside LeUyen Pham

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss reflective practice on the podcast.

January 28, 2022: Word Work

This week’s newsletter is about word work.

Using Images for Rehearsal in Persuasive Writing

Melanie Meehan makes a case for the power of pictures to provide a foothold and access point for students to enter the writing pathway. She shares an example of using images to engage in persuasive writing strategies.

Opinions! Everybody Has One

Leigh Anne Eck shares a tool to help students develop their persuasive voices, build community, and expand their perspectives. Included is a download to put opinion journals to work in your classroom.

Cut-Apart Sentences in Small-Group Reading

Ruth Metcalfe candidly shares the way she tackles the transfer of reading skills with her small group by using cut-apart sentences.

What “Should” Kindergarten Writing Look Like at This Point in the Year?

Melanie Meehan shares insights to emphasize the importance of responding to emergent writers and understanding the progression of young writers.

Choice and Whole-Class Texts Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss reflective practice on the podcast.

January 21, 2022: Choice and Whole-Class Texts

This week’s newsletter is about choice and whole-class texts.

What Do You Meme: Logical Fallacies

Gretchen Schroeder teaches her high school students how to notice and combat logical fallacies, a much needed skill due to the fact that most of her students use memes as their primary news source.

Honoring Student Choice in a Teacher-Chosen Text

Tara Barnett offers practical and engaging choices to students when reading a teacher-selected whole-class text. Download the reading choices survey and a sample pacing calendar to offer your students more choice during a whole-class read.

What Criteria Should We Use When Selecting Whole-Class Texts?

Christy Rush-Levine reminds us that text selection affects students. By shaping a unit of study to contain texts of varying formats and representing a wide variety of characters, students are empowered to develop their own ideas even while reading a whole-class text. Download a diverse text list to deepen a discussion of how family shapes identity.

Tips for Selecting Inclusive Texts

Hannah Tills and Josie Stewart challenge themselves to select more inclusive texts so all students feel as though they belong. They offer six suggestions to help us examine our bookshelves, thinking, and curriculum.

January 14, 2022: Be Present

This week’s newsletter is about being present.

Book Talk: Sheets and Delicates by Brenna Thummler

Christy Rush-Levine pairs Brenna Thummler’s books Sheets and Delicates in a book talk for her sixth-grade class.

Using Digital Photos to Enhance Learning

Stella Villalba uses photos in the classroom as a powerful tool for critical thinking and reflection. Photos allow students to process complex learning as it happens.

Presence Required

Christy Rush-Levine reminds us that it requires presence to sit alongside young readers and writers. In two examples, we find resilience for meeting students at their points of need and then teaching them as readers and writers.

Welcoming Spaces Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss reflective practice on the podcast.

January 7, 2022: Welcoming Spaces

This week’s newsletter is about welcoming spaces.

Keeping Unity

When students feel safe, they are positioned to learn. Julie Cox shares ways to create a learning environment that brings unity to her high school classroom.

What Is Communication? A Mini-Inquiry Project and Booklist

Bitsy Parks leads her first-grade class in a study about communication to strengthen their socially distanced and muffled-by-masks community. Included is a booklist.

Reflective Practice Podcast

Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss reflective practice on the podcast.

December 3, 2021: Reflective Practice

This week’s newsletter is about reflective practice.

Grow and Innovate with Reflection

Julie Cox makes a case for reflection as an essential tool for growth and innovations. She shares simple and powerful practices that will allow all educators to continue to deepen their instructional practices.

The Reluctant Marathoner: Reflecting on Student Engagement

Gretchen Schroeder uses her reluctance as a marathon runner to reflect on how to encourage more engagement in reading and writing.

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