Teaching Reading
Our contributors lead reading workshops in classrooms with creative flair. Over the past 12 years, we've filled our site with loads of suggestions, tools, and tips for using engaging books throughout the curriculum to hook kids on reading. Here is where you will find many stories of successful and not-so-successful workshop days, and what we learned from them. We bring these stories to life through hundreds of video examples.
Latest Content
Teaching the Rule of Three to Writers
Aimee Buckner finds that teaching the rule of three to young writers adds variety to student texts.
Eliminating the Conga Line: Teaching Young Children About Strategic Thinking
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan manage to synthesize workspace cleanup, student independence, and a concrete analogy for strategy work in classrooms.
Hearing Carlos: Helping Young English Language Learners Develop Speaking and Listening Skills
Stella Villalba incorporates more speaking and listening activities into her primary classroom for English language learners.
Writers Inspiring Writers
Melissa Styger invites colleagues and family members into the classroom to share their writing process with students.
Rethinking Mrs. T Letters
Karen Terlecky reconsiders one of her favorite writing assignments.
Previewing a Read Aloud
Franki Sibberson previews a read aloud with her grades 3 and 4 students.
Peer Conferring: The “Try It On” Phase
Amanda Adrian continues her series on how teachers can scaffold and model peer conferring. In this installment, Amanda uses the fishbowl technique with students.
Book Matchmaker: Fairy Tales for Older Readers
Renew older students' interest in fantasy and fairy tales with these suggestions of recent titles from Franki Sibberson.
Poetry Friday in the Computer Lab
Mary Lee Hahn provides a wealth of web resources and practical suggestions for using technology for poetry instruction.
Poems Facing Art: Ekphrasis
Shirl McPhillips considers ekphrasis (poetry inspired by art) in her own poetry and reflection.
Value-Added: Moving Assessments from “Inflicted” to “Student-Owned”
Gretchen Taylor looks closely at the superficial reading responses of one student, and then uses a mid-year assessment to challenge all of her middle school readers to think, talk, and write more deeply about their reading.
Poetry All Year Long
Ann Williams shares how she builds a love of poetry in her fourth-grade classroom all year long.
Quick Sketch Practice
Linda Karamatic uses quick sketches to teach her second graders about sensory images in reading. This is the second installment in a two-part series.
Quick Sketch Sensory Images Read Aloud: Introduction
Linda Karamatic uses quick sketches to teach her second graders about sensory images in reading. This is the first installment in a two-part series.
Tracking Thinking While Reading
Melissa Styger confers with a fourth-grade student using a template to help students track thinking and comprehension.
Creating Anchor Charts with Multiple Classes
It’s a dilemma many middle school teachers face. How do you construct anchor charts with multiple groups of students, when only one chart will be hung in the room? Katherine Sokolowski explains how she ensures all classes have input and a “clean slate” in constructing charts.
Book Matchmaker: Read Aloud Versions of Old Favorites
Franki Sibberson presents some delightful versions of classic tales perfect for read alouds with youngsters.
Reading as Reward
Principal Jennifer Schwanke finds herself on a mad dash to buy a baked potato for a struggling reader, and this is the moment that crystallizes for her everything that is wrong with most reading rewards (especially those involving food).
Ten Classic Ideas That Still Work
Teachers are always on the hunt for something new, even as we cherish what works well year after year. Franki Sibberson lists the activities that have stood the test of time in her classroom.
What Anchor Charts Are Essential?
Katherine Sokolowski considers what anchor charts are essential in her fifth-grade classroom, and where they work best for posting.
Conferring, Rereading, and Comprehension
Aimee Buckner confers with Brendan, who is rereading Hoot and needs some strategies for holding his thinking.
Book Memories
Jennifer Schwanke finds connections between her childhood, teaching, and school leadership in this heartwarming essay.
From Reading to Writing Informational Texts
Aimee Buckner makes some surprising discoveries about what types of texts support writers working in nonfiction genres.
Unpacking the Kindergarten Common Core Standards
Mandy Robek shares five tips that can help teachers at any grade level develop strategies for tackling the Common Core.
Supporting Young Writers with Opinion Texts
Katie DiCesare considers how different texts at the primary level can support student understanding of standards for opinion and argumentative writing.
Chronology in Nonfiction (Common Core Booklist)
Franki Sibberson's latest Common Core booklist includes texts to help students master chronology in nonfiction.
Enlisting a Student as Coteacher
In this second video in a two-part series, Sean Moore invites second grader Isaiah to present his learning to the class.
Do They Care? Empathy Book Clubs
Do they care? That’s the question Karen Terlecky asks herself as she sets up book clubs in her fifth-grade classroom with a focus on empathy.
Conferring to Coteaching
In this first video in a two-part series, Sean Moore confers with second grader Isaiah. Sean prepares Isaiah to share what he is learning later in the writing workshop.
The Joys and Challenges of Co-Teaching
Katherine Sokolowski explores the challenges and joys of co-teaching with special education colleagues.
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