Articles
Here is where you’ll find all the latest print features from our contributors. If you’d like to browse specifically by grade level, topic, or contributor, you can use the links in the right sidebar.
Latest Content
Whole-School Animal Research
Gigi McAllister shares an annual school-wide research project she leads in the library. You’ll be inspired by the way a focus on research can bring joy and belonging to all students in all grades.
Feedback Writers Will Use
Vivian Chen offers insights into the conditions needed to help writers value feedback. She discusses written and verbal feedback, as well as AI-generated feedback.
Shared Writing with Older Readers and Writers
Mandy Robek explored using shared writing experiences in her third-grade classroom and discovered it offered many rich literacy learning opportunities.
Now What? We Went on a Field Trip
Mandy Robek thoughtfully connects a field trip to multiple literacy experiences in her second-grade classroom. If you’re looking to leverage the field trip experience for reading and writing, you’ll love Mandy’s process.
Uplifting Independent Reading in the Living Room
Gwen Blumberg offers ways to make the library a welcoming space for readers to settle in with their choice of books. Classroom teachers can consider creating a living room, too.
Mentor Texts Elevate Readers and Writers
Bitsy Parks uses mentor texts to elevate her students as writers. Although mentor texts are included in many curriculum programs, Bitsy offers more opportunities for students to use mentor texts to strengthen their reading and writing lives.
Writing About Reading: A Search for Authenticity
In this powerful essay, Leigh Anne Eck challenged herself to read a complex text and discover the authenticity of writing about reading. She transferred her experience to create meaningful opportunities for her students as they write about their own independent reading.
Quick and Easy Reading Responses
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills offer three ways for students to write a quick and meaningful response inspired by their independent reading.
Sketchnoting in the Library
Gigi McAllister shares how she helped her students get started with sketchnoting during read aloud time. Perhaps like Gigi you aren’t a natural at this format, but you’ll be inspired by the value and ease of introducing this powerful note-taking technique.
Fostering Classroom Dialogue
Gretchen Schroeder shares her big takeaways from reading Inspiring Dialogue. Now more than ever, we need to help students express themselves and claim their voices, because the classroom is one of the last places where we can engage in dialogue about big questions with those who might not share our beliefs.
Meaning Makers
Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills push against the adage that “early readers are focused solely on learning to decode, while later readers are making meaning.” Instead they remind us of the beautiful way all readers are meaning makers.
Zooming In and Stepping Back
Gretchen Schroeder creatively leads her students in chronicling key scenes from a novel so they can evaluate which ones are important and use it as a reference throughout their discussions.
I Was Wrong About…
Gretchen Schroeder invited her students to write personal essays inspired by the 2022 New York Times series “I Was Wrong About.” Gretchen shared with her students (and with us) the way she was wrong about her mammy collection.
Alternatives to a Literary Essay: Two-Voice Perspective Poems
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills offer an alternative to writing a literary essay for middle school students. Providing alternative ways to discuss and demonstrate understanding about reading can be a welcome break from an essay for both students and educators, with valuable learning still taking place.
Delving Deeper Through Inquiry-Based Learning
Jodie Bailey suggests using books, pictures, or examples to begin or increase inquiry-based learning in your classroom. Using an example of learning more about pi from her classroom, Jodie offers ways to help students deepen their learning in any content area.
Girls’ Sports Books
Leigh Anne Eck noticed a gap in her library when it came to books with athletic female protagonists. After discovering many titles to add to her own library, Leigh Anne compiled this booklist so we can all fill this gap in our classroom libraries.
Literacy Skills in All Content Areas
Julie Cox reminds us that each content area is full of opportunities for students to give shape to their ideas in all kinds of ways that don’t look like traditional essays but still help them develop their literacy skills.
Leading with Empathy in the Classroom
Melissa Quimby offers profound advice for what to do when we notice inattention, excessive questioning, frozen learners, or disruptive behaviors. She recommends letting empathy lead our next steps.
I’m an Everything Person!
Bitsy Parks writes about the connection between identity and engagement, offering small steps to help all students believe in themselves as learners.
Love Poetry: Take It or Leave It, but Tell Me Why
In today’s world we are bombarded with opinions that are increasingly polarizing, and this is especially true for teens and their opinions of love poems. Gretchen Schroeder uses love poems to help students learn how to back up an opinion with criteria, details, and examples.
Considerations for AI in the Classroom
Julie Cox wrestles with the use of AI to support high school writers. In this article she offers filters for educators to determine the role of AI in their classrooms.
Unleashing Writers
Mandy Robek chronicles the way choice and independence allowed students to have more energy and joy while writing.
Reframing Writers
Julie Johnson encourages educators to take a more in-depth view when assessing student writers. Checklists don’t necessarily grow writers, but focusing on what students are doing well and nudging them forward will.
Literary Salons: Book Clubs, Elevated
Inspired by the 17th-century popularity of literary salons, Gretchen Schroeder changed the usual book club routine for her high school students. Literary salons allow people to explore big topics and ideas together without reading the same book. They can create engaging discussions, expose students to new ideas and books, and give them the chance to learn from one another in a relaxed way.
How to Promote Civil Discourse in Your Classroom
Matt Renwick shows how to build the capacity of all students to engage in civil discourse.
Navigating the Election Season Booklist
Mandy Robek shares a booklist inspired to give students background about U.S. presidential elections.
Putting Political Talk into Perspective
Gretchen Schroeder encourages teachers to help students know how to talk politics by establishing a positive mindset and attitude when approaching conversations.
Patterns of Prompting
We spend our days prompting whole groups, small groups, and individual learners. We’ve all been in situations where we may not have known what to say. Melissa Quimby offers advice on how to be educators who use language brimming with curiosity and encouragement.
Vertical Whiteboards
Tammy Mulligan shares how vertical whiteboards are a powerful tool to support collaboration and make student thinking visible.
Indoor Walks
Gigi McAlister discovered that using indoor walks is a way to help students engage in their learning and strengthen their learning community through conversations.
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