Latest Content
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.

Using Art to Bridge Storytelling

Stella Villalba creates space for students to deeply notice the way artist Aminah Robinson uses images to share stories and testimonies.

Field Notes: 6 Ways to Respond Remotely to Build a Community of Writers

Ruth Ayres observes a writing workshop that is remote. She reflects on the ways students offer feedback and how their community of writers is established.

Honoring Student Identity

Christy Rush-Levine considers how to communicate to all students that their presence and their identities are valued and appreciated.

Socratic Discussion in Third Grade

Lora Bieghler facilitates a Socratic-style discussion among third graders.

Collaborating for Understanding in Writing

Mark Levine realizes explaining expectations for an essay assignment over and over again isn’t working. But when he has students write in pairs for a portion of his workshop, magic happens.

Whole-Class Reflection in Middle School

Mark Levine explains why whole-class reflection is an essential component of his middle school workshops.

Young Learners and Self-Talk

Do you have young readers and writers in your class who constantly talk to themselves? Stella Villalba helps a teacher decode the value of this self-talk for first grader Kayla, using it as a springboard for more learning.

Helping Students Develop Conversational Identity

Jen Schwanke writes about the challenges of helping students develop conversational identities, providing prompts to help teachers reflect on their strengths and needs in fostering talk in classrooms.

Growing Talk About Reading

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills find that struggling readers in the early grades benefit from scaffolds and repeated practice in small groups. They share some of their favorite tools, including key ring prompts and anchor charts.

Stepping Away from the Conversation

Jennifer Schwanke explains why sometimes the best thing teachers can do to foster better conversations in their classrooms is to step away and let the talk unfold among students.

Balancing Whole-Class and Independent Reading in Middle School

The choice between whole-class novels or independent reading can be a false one in many middle school classrooms. Katie Doherty’s sixth graders discuss their reading together of a novel in verse, and Katie explains how some shared whole-class texts can support independent reading.

Talk Guide

Gigi McAllister presents a guide to her fourth-grade students to improve talk in reading trios.

Stop and Inquire

Mark Levine capitalizes on what captures his middle school students’ attention with his Stop and Inquire routine.

Better Writing Response Groups

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills discover giving “compliments and wishes” aren’t enough when it comes to useful feedback for revision in peer groups. They implement a more structured response process for writing groups.

QR Code Listening Stations

Listening stations are invaluable in elementary reading workshops, and can also be a hassle to set up and maintain. QR codes to the rescue! Stephanie Affinito shares how she helps teachers use simple online tools for setting up QR code listening stations.

Using Podcasts as an Alternative to Article of the Week

Gretchen Schroeder adapts the popular "Article of the Week" activity with podcasts as an alternative in her high school classroom, and shares some of her favorite podcasts to use with students.

Balancing Reading and Talk

Mark Levine finds that the best way to deal with controversial topics like slavery in his middle school classroom is with open and focused whole-class discussions.

Monday Headlines

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills use Monday Headlines to energize students after the weekend, and get a peek into what’s going on at home.

Small Solutions for Big Problems with Classroom Discussions

Gretchen Schroeder shares some conversation fixes for when talk goes awry in her high school classroom.

The Power of Picture Book Conversations

Katie DiCesare uses conversations around picture books to build communication, community, and reading skills in her first-grade classroom. Late in the school year she reflects with students about why these conversations are so powerful.

The Importance of Their Words

Melanie Meehan shares strategies and prompts for helping easily distracted young learners focus in conferences.

Learning Vocabulary in Context with English Language Learners

Stella Villalba explores why it is so important to teach vocabulary to English language learners in context.

Setting the Stage for Meaningful Peer Feedback

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills develop a scaffold with an index card to help student partners move from agreeable talk to suggestions for revising writing.

Pausing for Reflection in Second Grade

Sean Moore helps his second graders remember the classroom routines and protocols for sharing reading reflections through a circle group.

Mid-Workshop Conversations

Stella Villalba finds mid-workshop conversations are a terrific routine to add to literacy workshops to promote growth, especially for English language learners.

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.

Whole-Class Conversations for Read Aloud Closure

Melanie Swider discovers that conversations after read alouds are a wonderful way for students to remember and retain the learning from shared texts.

How to Get a Book to Catch Fire

If your goal is to get teens more excited about independent reading, Gretchen Schroeder has suggestions to help.

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