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Book Matchmaker: Texts for Young English Language Learners

Franki Sibberson shares some of her favorite new titles for young English language learners.

Fluency in Focus: Conferring with Jake

Gail Boushey confers with Jake, a seven-year-old who is setting a reading goal of developing fluency. After the conference, she debriefs with Joan Moser.

Conferring About Thesis Statements

In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson talks about supporting details for thesis statements. This is part of the video series from Beth’s room on essay writing.

The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 5

In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. In this fifth video, Heather and students shift from “I do” to “we do” as students try test their summary writing skills with partners

Conferring About Chunking Words in Second Grade

Sean Moore confers with a 2nd grader who is learning the strategy of chunking words in reading. Notice how Sean focuses the student, refers to previous conferences, and previews an upcoming whole-class reading.

The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 6

In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. In this final video, Heather and students debrief and capture their learning in writing.

Stuck on a Thesis: Conferring

In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson works with a student who has chosen a challenging essay topic and is struggling to develop his thesis.

“And Then and Then and Then”: Moving Students from Retelling to Thoughtful Response

Katie Doherty confers with sixth grader Kristina during reading workshop. Kristina is new to the classroom, and Katie demonstrates how to gently move a student from retelling to more thoughtful responses to literature with a few simple and carefully worded questions.

Stop and Track: Conferring with a Fifth-Grade Reader

In this conference with a 5th grader, Aimee Buckner shares two strategies — one to use when putting a book away between readings, and another to help keep track of characters in a complex narrative where the point of view is constantly shifting.

Middle School Book Clubs: Introduction

Katie Doherty explains why she has book clubs with her 6th grade students.

Conferring with Tweens: Boys and Series Books

In this conference from a 6th grade classroom, Katie Doherty confers with a boy who is reading a book from a series she is unfamiliar with – watch how she engages the child to learn about the series and refocus the discussion on skills and goals.

Guiding Reading Partners: Work on Accuracy

In this reading conference from a 2nd grade classroom, Linda Karamatic pairs two children who have similar needs in reading.

Middle School Book Clubs: Response Options

Students have different response options in Katie Doherty’s sixth grade book clubs.

Listen In: Writing in Math

Heather Rader confers with 2nd grader Maya about her math writing as Linda Karamatic listens in.

Middle School Book Clubs in Action

Katie Doherty talks about the links between strategy lessons and book club work in her 6th grade classroom. Katie also sits in on a book club discussion.

Listen In: Knowing When You’re Done

When is writing finished? Heather Rader confers with a second grader over that age-old question for writers as Linda Karamatic listens in.

Listen In: XBox Game Writing

Boys and their toys: Heather Rader confers with a second grader over his game writing while Linda Karamatic listens in.

Narrative Nonfiction in 5th Grade Part 2

In this lesson from a 5th grade classroom, Aimee Buckner guides students in a note-taking process to help understand the qualities of nonfiction narrative writing. In this second part of the lesson, students share their notes and Aimee makes connections to additional mentor texts.

Words and Images: Mentor Texts for Second Grade Boys

In this conference with two of her second-grade students, Linda Karamatic shares mentor texts and tips to help them with their writing. Both boys are writing stories with strong visual components.

Book Matchmaker: Picture Book Biographies

Franki Sibberson shares some of her favorite picture book biographies in the latest installment of Book Matchmaker.

Literacy Team Meeting: Focus on Word Work Part 2

In the second part of the literacy team meeting, teachers on the team move from the focus on sharing, to the important phase of where to go next as a team and as a school. Because the crucial work of the team is the work done between meetings, this is a critical discussion.

Frogs as Learning Ambassadors Part 1: Literary Nonfiction in 4th Grade

Andrea Smith gets creative in teaching literary nonfiction to her 4th graders in this video series.

Nonfiction Read Aloud

Sean Moore reads nonfiction aloud to his 2nd grade students. This is the first video in a two-part series.

Nonfiction Read Aloud – Part 2

Here are some more tips for nonfiction read-alouds, based on Sean Moore's reading of Plants That Eat Animals.

Preschool Centers

Centers can be an effective teaching and learning strategy in preschools. In this video, Melissa Kolb shares her rationale for using centers in her Head Start classroom with video examples of centers.

Book Matchmaker: “Cool” Books for a Struggling Second Grader

Franki Sibberson selects some “cool” books for a struggling reader who wants to fit in with his 2nd grade peers.

Book Matchmaker: Global Citizenship and Social Responsibility

Here are some newer books for teaching students about social responsibility and what it means to be a citizen of the world.

Astrigs, Asterisks, and Letting Students Lead

In this video from Linda Karamatic’s second-grade classroom, Charlie shares his punctuation “find” of asterisks with his classmates. He is reading the book Miss Child Has Gone Wild by Dan Gutman.

Book Matchmaker: Wordless Picture Books

Brad Smedley, an elementary principal, is looking for wordless picture books to share with his preschool classes.

Essay Writing: Thesis Statements and Supporting Details Minilesson

Beth Lawson works with her 4th graders to develop essays with strong thesis statements and supporting details, using a folder organization system to highlight different thesis statements for each child. This is the first video in a series.

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