Pre-K
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Potato the Crow: Blurring the Lines Between Reality, Fantasy, and Play with Young Learners
Leslie Woodhouse discovers a dollar store find takes on a life of its own in her preschool classroom in this delightful essay.
Words with Friends
Melissa Kolb explores what needs to be in place for our youngest students to learn how to converse kindly.
How to Speak “Friend”
Melissa Kolb shares some of her favorite mentor texts for helping preschoolers understand friendship.
Teaching Search Skill Basics to Students
Bill Bass has advice for teaching web-based search skills to students.
Can Books Harm Children? Support and Censorship
Shari Frost asks a provocative question: Can books harm children? She explores practical ways for teachers to walk the fine line between support and censorship in matching books to students.
Animal Backpacks and Literacy Joy
Kelly Petrin finds animal backpacks are a wonderful tool for building literacy skills in young learners, as well as the home/school connection.
The Data Wall Debacle
Shari Frost has a suggestion for what shouldn’t be on classroom walls: student assessment scores. She explains why this practice can be harmful to students.
The Gifts of Literacy
Kelly Petrin reflects on what she values most in the final days with children in her preschool program, and what she shares with parents.
A Booklist for Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. Sarah Klim presents some favorite titles to share with students and build awareness in this booklist.
Children’s Literature for the Olympics
The Olympics are just around the corner, and Sarah Klim has suggestions for read alouds in a new booklist.
Jennifer Serravallo on Formative Assessment (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Jennifer Serravallo about formative assessment in this podcast. Jennifer is the author of The Literacy Teacher’s Playbook, Grades 3-6: Four Steps for Turning Assessment Data into Goal-Directed Instruction.
Keep Going
Ruth Ayres has advice for moving forward, staying positive, and focusing on what’s important.
Tell Me More
Gretchen Taylor finds the three little words “tell me more” provide breakthroughs in helping her middle school students respond to reading.
Powerful Conferences
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
Dandelions, Chinese, and Patience with Our Youngest Learners
Kelly Petrin meditates on the importance of trust and patience when looking for ways to connect with preschoolers.
Pumpkin Time: Provocations and Stories with Preschoolers
Kelly Petrin reinvents a pumpkin decorating project with her preschoolers to help them build storytelling skills.
Lessons from Listening to Toddlers Read (Home Is Where the Books Are Series)
What can you learn from having toddlers "read" to you? Plenty, as Meghan Rose soon discovers.
Using Pinterest for Professional Development
Franki Sibberson finds Pinterest is a useful tool for professional development.
The Minimalist: Essential Texts for Kindergarten Teaching
Max Brand develops a "Swiss army knife" booklist of texts that he can't live without when teaching young learners.
In Defense of Dictation
Leslie Woodhouse finds dictation is a critical tool for understanding young writers and their sense of story.
Are You Excited About Next Year?
Kelly Petrin finds a bare classroom at the end of the year leads her to improvise with stuffed animals and literacy with her preschool students. The mix of play and reading is so successful that it changes her planning for the fall.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Early Reader Chapter Books for Boys
Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury finish their summer fun for early readers series with a booklist for boys interested in chapter books.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Comics and Graphic Novels for Early Readers
Early readers love comic books and graphic novels. Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury give their top picks in their latest summer fun for early readers booklist.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Classic Books for Early Readers
Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury have written a series of booklists for early readers, perfect for sharing with parents looking for suggestions. The first installment tackles the classic books many of us cherish from our own childhood days.
What Can Charlie Do?: The Value of Response Journals in Preschool Classrooms
Kelly Petrin shares the power of response journals with preschoolers.
Death in Books: Finding Our Way After Loss
Books can help children deal with the toughest challenges in life. In a new booklist, Andie Cunningham shares her top picks for stories about characters grappling with the death of a loved one.
Do You Have Any Questions? Conferring with Families
We've all experienced that moment in a parent conference. You finish your spiel, which includes assessment data, charts, and an anecdote or two about the child. And when you're finished, the parent asks, "But how is my child doing?" Melissa Kolb explores the reasons why there can be a mismatch between our sense of useful information in parent conferences and a parent's expectations.
Three Ways to Build Purpose in a Preschool Reading Workshop
Melissa Kolb finds her three- and four-year-old students are ready for more focus during reading time.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Max Brand describes how he uses images to build reading and writing skills among his kindergartners.
A Literary Taste of Home (Home is Where the Books Are Series)
Meghan Rose may live in Los Angeles, but the home of her heart will always be New England. In this booklist, she shares her favorite picture books about everything from the Red Sox to Maine blueberries to give her children a sense of where she grew up.
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