5th
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Field Experience: Small Group Reading Instruction
Small group reading instruction is an important part of elementary literacy. This field experience is a sampling of a variety of examples.
Field Experience: Picture Books and Older Students
The value of picture books with older students is often questioned. Ruth Ayres assembled this field experience to allow insight into the depth and power of picture books for older students.
Field Experience: General Workshop Routines
This field experience invites us to consider the routines of opening the day, workshop norms, meeting areas and transitions to make workshop run smoothly.
Engaging Boy Readers: Beginning with Teacher Behaviors
Tony Keefer considers some of those awkward early conferences with male readers in his classroom, and shares advice on how to get the year off to a comfortable start with minilesson and conferring suggestions.
Reaching Evan with Read Alouds in the Intermediate Grades
Karen Terlecky reflects on the power of read alouds in the intermediate grades for welcoming older students who struggle with reading into the “club” of kids who love books.
Never Say Never: Motivation to Read from an Unlikely Source
Knock knock. Who’s there? A boy who loves sports and has no motivation for reading. Barclay Marcell discovers an unlikely source of engaging text for a child who just doesn’t enjoy books.
One Book, One School: Building Community with Shared Text
"When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind." These words from the book Wonder set Katherine Sokolowski on the path of designing a shared reading experience at her school that will build community and empathy across the grades.
Summer Planning: Goals and the Finish Line
Teachers always have big plans at the start of summer for reading, reflection, and changing classroom practice. Katherine Sokolowski explains how she translates those plans into action as the summer winds down.
Finding a Place for Graphic Novels in My Classroom
Katherine Sokolowski listens to her husband’s sage advice and develops a new relationship with graphic novels that disappear off her classroom shelves.
The Quest for the Perfect First Read Aloud of the Year
Franki Sibberson is on a quest to find the perfect first read aloud of the year, and the search helps her consider the goals and purpose of read alouds during the first days of school.
Rethinking My Nonfiction Library in Response to the Common Core
Franki Sibberson finds a new classroom, the Common Core, and tech considerations are changing the ways she organizes the nonfiction sections of her classroom library.
Inferring Small Group in 5th Grade
Karen Terlecky meets with a small group in her 5th grade class to discuss the strategy of inferring.
Making the Switch from Desks to Tables
Moving from desks to tables when redesigning a classroom is about a whole lot more than just furniture. Katherine Sokolowski explains what the change has meant to her classroom.
Worldwide Cinderellas
Erin Ocon discovers that worldwide Cinderella stories are a wonderful tool for building community and cultural awareness in her seventh-grade classroom and with English language learners. Erin describes how she uses a range of Cinderella picture books with students, and provides an extensive booklist for expanding your library.
What is the Content for Small-Group Instruction? (Part 2 of the Grouping Series)
Heather Rader considers how assessments and observations might be used to create flexible groups.
Matching Students to Nonfiction Texts in Grades 3-6 (BOOKLIST)
In this booklist, Mary Lee Hahn offers creative categories for considering readers in new ways.
Extreme Makeover: Revision Edition
Heather Rader finds short text and shared modeling of revision strategies are just the scaffolds students need to see the power of revision for improving writing.
Getting Started with Sentence Observations
Karen Terlecky details the assessments and preparation that goes into the design of her sentence observation program.
From “I Don’t Get It” to “Never Mind — That’s Amazing!”: Scaffolding Schema for Comprehending Poetry
Katie Doherty finds poetry is a powerful tool for helping her middle school students understand the value of schema while reading.
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.
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.
Why Read? – A Question to End the School Year
“Why read?” This is the question asked every spring in Erin Ocon’s middle school classroom, and in the process of answering it, she and her students rediscover a lot of what they’ve learned together throughout the year.
Setting the Stage for Historical Fiction
In this demonstration lesson from a fifth-grade classroom, Aimee Buckner works with students to construct an anchor chart for understanding the genre of historical fiction.
Previewing Nonfiction
Teachers are adding more nonfiction to their classroom libraries, and looking for ways to promote nonfiction with students in light of the emphasis on nonfiction in the Common Core. Franki Sibberson share tips for previewing nonfiction with students.
Book Matchmaker: Teaching Theme in the Intermediate Grades
Students need strong mentor texts for understanding the concept of theme. Franki Sibberson shares many of her favorites in this Book Matchmaker.
Reading Conferences in 5th Grade
Karen Terlecky confers with her 5th graders during reading workshop.
Learning to Write Engaging Nonfiction: A Middle School Partner Writing Study
Ann Marie Corgill takes a big risk and pairs her middle-school students randomly for a nonfiction writing project, and finds the risk pays off.
Book Matchmaker: Intermediate Read-Alouds
Franki Sibberson shares some of her favorite read-alouds for the intermediate grades.
The Affect of Tech on Splrs
Heather Rader considers the cultural divide between teachers and students who are “screenagers” when it comes to texting. If u r getting LOLed out in ur classroom u might want 2 read this.
Book Matchmaker: 5th Grade English Language Learners
Robin Heist is an elementary teacher looking for books for her older English language learners who are reading below grade-level expectations.
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