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Bookroom Makeover in the Midst

In this video tour, Jessica Ardela and Josie Stewart talk about the renovations in progress in bookrooms at their school in Dublin, Ohio. The goal is to make it easier for students and teachers to access the texts they need, as well as create spaces for professional conversations among teachers.

Purposeful First Grade Reading Share Sessions

Katie DiCesare prompts her 1st grade students during the reading share time at the end of workshop to make connections between the strategies they use during independent reading time and the day’s minilessons.

Preparing for Book Talks

In this first video in a two-part series, Katie Doherty meets with her sixth-grade students who will be sharing their book recommendations with the class.

Book Matchmaker: Characters Across the Grades

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson provides a range of books for teaching character development in fiction for grades 3-5 students.

“I Am the One Who . . .” Building Writing Skills and Community in Middle Schools

In this 12-minute video, Katie Doherty leads her sixth-grade students as they try the prompt “I am the one who . . .” during writing workshop. This is an excellent activity for building classroom community.

Student Book Talks

In this second video in a two-part series, Katie Doherty's sixth-grade students share their book recommendations with the class. Students work from a template provided by Katie to ensure their presentations are brief, thoughtful, and connected to reading workshop.

Book Matchmaker: Teaching Point of View

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson provides a range of books for teaching point of view for grades 3-5 students.

Portable Anchor Charts for Literacy Coaches

Jennifer Allen explains the many uses of portable lightweight anchor charts in her work as a literacy coach.

Revising Titles Minilesson

In this minilesson from Franki Sibberson’s grades 3 and 4 classroom, Franki takes students through the process of selecting and revising titles. She uses the poem “Confessions of a Reader” by Carol Wilcox as a mentor text.

Book Matchmaker: Helping a Struggling Reader in 5th Grade

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson shares books and genres a struggling 5th grader might enjoy.

Science Workshop Whole Class Debrief

In this final video in a three-part series, Jennifer Morgan discusses what was learned during a science observation and writing activity in her grades 3 and 4 classroom.

Quick Take: Awkward Beginnings with English Language Learners

In this short video, Ruth Shagoury gives two pieces of advice to teachers who feel awkward as they are trying to communicate with young English language learners.

Book Matchmaker: Short Vowel Practice with Older Students

In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson tackles the tough question of how to find texts for students who need help with short vowels, but are too old to enjoy many primary texts.

Content Connections in Reading Workshop

In this four-minute video, Andrea Smith confers with a 4th grade student interested in immigration, helping her set up an independent reading and learning plan.

Book Matchmaker: New Books for Intermediate Readers

From humor to novels in verse, Franki Sibberson shares her top picks for intermediate readers in this Book Matchmaker.

Preschool Morning Message

This five-minute video from Melissa Kolb's preschool classroom shows the value of morning message for teaching literacy skills. Melissa explains the skills children develop during this brief whole-class lesson and sharing time.

Preschool Book Browsing Time

This five-minute video from Kelly Petrin's preschool classroom shows the value of book browsing time. Kelly explains the skills children develop in language, book handling skills, and literacy independence during this time.

Choosing Mentor Texts for Reading

In this quick take video, Aimee Buckner explains her criteria for selecting mentor texts for small-group, individual, and whole-class instruction.

Conferring in First Grade

This nine-minute video from Katie DiCesare’s first-grade classroom demonstrates a range of conferring in the midst of writing workshop.

Using Comics in Literacy Workshops

Franki Sibberson works with her 3rd and 4th graders to use comics in the literacy workshop.

Quick Take: Time Constraints in Conferences

In this two-minute video, Aimee Buckner explains how she deals with time constraints when she is conferring with students.

Building the Reading Community Among Teachers

Jennifer Allen shares a few strategies for building the reading community beyond individual classrooms in your school. Book swaps, a shared staff novel, and family literacy breakfasts all reinforce the most important aspect of reading – it should be pleasurable and engrossing, no matter the age of the learner.

Digging Deeper with Rereading

In this video from Katie DiCesare’s first-grade classroom, Katie uses the strategy of rereading to help students look more closely at words—in this case, words that rhyme.

When to Group?

Reading groups are such an ingrained element of our teaching culture that teachers can feel guilty if they choose other instructional methods. In this conversation with fourth-grade teacher Rachel, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey (“The Sisters”) talk about when it makes sense to group students.

Drawing to Words: Conferring with Luis

In this four-minute video, Andie Cunningham confers with Luis during writing workshop. Luis is a six-year-old English language learner whose passion is drawing.

Book Clubs: Setting the Stage with Conferring

We want students to discuss books in thoughtful, sophisticated ways in book clubs, but those skills don’t always come naturally.  (Wait – do those skills ever come naturally?) Beth Lawson explains how she confers with individual children in her third-grade classroom to prepare them for independent book clubs with peers.

Book Matchmaker: Texts to Inspire Our Youngest Readers and Writers

In this installment of the Book Matchmaker series with Franki Sibberson, Franki helps first-grade teacher Danielle think through what books might spark better writing in her young students who are mostly interested in toys and video games.

Quick Take: Conferring with Young English Language Learners

In this short video, Ruth Shagoury gives advice to teachers conferring with young English language learners, explaining how other English language learners can be surprisingly helpful in conferences.

Literacy Letters: Helping New Students Understand Ongoing Assignments

How do teachers bring new students up to speed with ongoing assignments? In this video from Katie Doherty’s middle school classroom, Katie presents the latest “Literary Letters” assignment to her 6th graders. It is early spring, and all but two of the students have experience with this writing assignment.

Book Matchmaker: A Friendship Theme for Literature Circles

Franki Sibberson shares her top picks for literacy circles with a friendship theme. This is an excellent theme for building community any time of year.

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