5th

Making Predictions and Finding Evidence in Text

In this video from a fifth-grade small group, Clare Landrigan talks with students about making predictions and finding evidence in text.

Fifth-Grade Word Study Homework

Karen Terlecky’s fifth-grade students share what they learned from their word study homework.

Helping Struggling Writers

How can we help students who are stuck when it comes time to write? Franki Sibberson shares a couple new strategies, including a book basket of texts selected by students themselves as useful for sparking writing topics in this photo essay.

Writing Strengths Anchor Chart

Suzy Kaback's anchor chart activity builds a sense of community and peer editing connections in her middle school classroom.

Teacher/Principal Conferring: Reflecting on Readers’ Notebooks

In this conference, Principal Karen Szymusiak and 5th grade teacher Liz Cramer discuss the ways Liz uses readers’ notebooks in her classroom.

Demonstration Lesson: Inferring Character Traits

In this demonstration lesson from a 5th grade classroom, Clare Landrigan leads students through a reading and discussion of inference and character development.

Small Group After Demonstration Lesson

In this small group after a demonstration lesson in a 5th grade classroom, Clare Landrigan talks through strategies for inferring the meaning of new words while reading.

5th Grade Strategy Group on Summarizing

In this strategy group, Karen Terlecky brings together three of her 5th graders to reread a nonfiction article shared with the whole class. They discuss main ideas, and do a writing activity together to build summarizing skills.

Fifth-Grade Room Tour

"The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) show the many creative and low-cost ways in which a colleague displays books and materials to build interest in literacy.

5th Grade Sentence Observation

Karen Terlecky explains the sentence observation routine in her 5th grade classroom, and provides a video example of students in action analyzing sentences.

5th Grade Room Tour

Karen Terlecky’s classroom tour focuses on the anchor charts and wall displays she uses to promote literacy with her 5th grade students.

Managing Book Boxes

In this first video in our “Organizing Book Boxes” series, Joan Moser (of “The Sisters”) explains three strategies she uses to help students pick books for their book boxes.

Differentiating Book Boxes

In this second video in our "Organizing Book Boxes" series, Joan Moser (of "The Sisters") explains how she differentiates the content of book boxes for students with different skills and needs.

Book Boxes Nuts and Bolts

In this third video in our "Organizing Book Boxes" series, Joan Moser (of "The Sisters") tackles the issue of what types of books and what levels are appropriate for student book boxes.

Main Ideas in Nonfiction

In this whole-class lesson, 5th grade teacher Karen Terlecky and her students consider how main ideas work in nonfiction texts.

Tiger Teams: Mixed Age Student Groups

In this video, Karen Szymusiak (the principal at Glacier Ridge Elementary School in Dublin, Ohio) explains how “Tiger Teams” work. Tiger Teams are mixed age groups of K-5 students who meet regularly to talk about their learning and the school community.

Narrative Nonfiction in Fifth Grade, Part 1

In this lesson from a fifth-grade classroom, Aimee Buckner guides students in a notetaking process to help them understand the qualities of nonfiction narrative writing.

From Compliments to Naming the Craft: Fifth-Grade Writing Workshop Share Session

This whole-class share session in Lesley Fowler’s fifth-grade classroom is the culmination of a nonfiction writing unit. Over the course of the year, students have moved from complimenting their classmates during these share sessions to writing down specific aspects of the piece they enjoyed or had questions about during the reading.

Book Matchmaker: Texts for “Outdoorsy” Boys

Those “outdoorsy” boys who love to fish and four-wheel all summer long can be a challenge to hook with books when they return to classrooms in the fall.  This Book Matchmaker feature presents a video preview of new titles to entice these intermediate readers, as well as a print supplement of additional suggestions.

Flexible Grouping: When, How, and Why

Max Brand explains how daily student grouping can be both planned and spontaneous.

Minilessons to Start Conversations with Students About Books

In leadership positions, the first conversations with students about who you are and what you believe can set the tone for the year. Franki Sibberson has helpful advice for talking with readers — big and small.

Hooked on Series: Great Series Books for Transitional Readers

Finding the right series for a transitional reader is a gift. Franki Sibberson shares her favorite finds.

The “All About Us” Board: Linking Literacy and Community Building All Year Long

Suzy Kaback has terrific tips for an ever-evolving “All About Us” bulletin board to use from the first day of school to the last.

Comprehending Graphic Novels: A Primer for Teachers

Mary Lee Hahn provides a quick primer for teachers new to graphic novels, as well as suggestions for using these novels to teach comprehension.

Digging Deep: The Power of Rereading

Max Brand considers how rereading helps students understand and enjoy texts.

Common Core Conversations: Increasing Argumentative Writing

Teachers continue to puzzle over and sort through the terminology in the Common Core related to opinion and persuasive writing. Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader consider terms and teaching strategies.

Whole Class Interviews: Building Community in Writing Workshop (TEMPLATE)

Interviews early in the year are a potent tool for building a class community.

Word Study is More Than Spelling

Franki Sibberson works to expand her views of spelling and word work, redefining routines in her grades 3 and 4 classroom.

A Strategy Lesson for “Drive-Thru” Readers

Who is a “drive-thru” reader? One who zips through the start of a book and discards it before finishing, moving  ever more quickly through random books.  Aimee Buckner has some minilesson suggestions for dealing with those students who can’t or won’t finish any books they start.

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