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
Student-Designed Development Cards
Melanie Meehan finds that student-designed development cards are a great way to get students invested in literacy goals.
Practical Ways to Connect Students and Goals
Kate Mills and Tara Barnett provide some practical tips for connecting students and goals.
The Basics of Teaching Internet Search Skills to Children
Bill Bass provides a range of search options for students, and encourages teachers to promote different tools in different contexts.
Video Games and Literacy
Matt Renwick finds there is value in connecting video games and literacy in classrooms, once he and the teachers he works with can get past their leeriness.
The iPad Is 7
Jennifer Schwanke reflects upon how the iPad and other touchscreen devices have changed the way children interact with all texts, even traditional storybooks.
Tapping into What Students Know
Melanie Meehan shares the value of assessing what students know first, and then tapping into this knowledge in new units.
Consistent Feedback in Writing Workshop
Carly Ullmer assesses how she can give consistent and meaningful feedback to every one of her many middle school students at least once a week.
Expert Students
Christy Rush-Levine uses a quick assessment during writing workshop conferences to connect expert students with peers who might need assistance. She includes a video example of the practice.
Creating an On-Demand Writing Checklist
On-demand writing can be a stressful assessment task for students, but it does mimic the type of writing many adults face in their professional lives. Tara Barnett and Kate Mills work with students to create an on-demand writing checklist.
Assessing Instruction in the Midst
Melanie Meehan shares some ways teachers can press the pause button in the midst of teaching to assess whether they are teaching the right lesson at the right time.
Explaining a Workshop Model to Parents (Part 2)
ennifer Schwanke explains how jargon can trip up communication with parents, and lists which terms are worth defining. This is the final installment of her series on talking about literacy workshops with families.
Building Community and Family Connections
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share suggestions for connecting with parents over the summer and early in the school year, including some fun uses of technology.
Literary Analysis: Tone and Scholarly Writing
Christy Rush-Levine shares how to help student writers understand and develop a scholarly tone. The feature includes a video example of small-group instruction.
Explaining a Workshop Model to Parents
Jennifer Schwanke explains why parent-teacher conferences can be bewildering for families, and offers advice for better ways to explain a literacy workshop model to them.
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.
Literary Analysis: Counterclaims
Christy Rush-Levine shares how to present counterclaims, as well as a video example of a small group exploring counterclaims.
Mentor Texts and Important Reminders
Melanie Meehan shares four important tips for using mentor texts effectively with students of any age.
Using If I Stay to Model Literary Analysis
Christy Rush-Levine uses the mentor text If I Stay to model literary analysis, building on her middle school students’ interest in the recent movie.
Building Relationships with Authors
Katie DiCesare is helping her students move from mentor texts to seeing authors as mentors through their websites and other digital resources.
Supporting Student Agency with Questioning Strategies
Katrina Simkins-Moore explains why becoming more intentional in questioning during reading conferences can help build student independence, as well as consistency among the teaching community.
Small Solutions for Big Problems with Classroom Discussions
Gretchen Schroeder shares some conversation fixes for when talk goes awry in her high school classroom.
Reading Ambassadors
Cathy Mere finds that a Reading Ambassadors program pays big dividends in building confident and conversant young readers.
Hosting Reading and Writing Events
Gigi McAllister explains why you have to be a bit choosy about reading and writing events since there are so many possibilities. Here are some she values in her fourth-grade classroom.
The Ocean Research Project: From Launch to Celebration in 10 Days
Ten days from the launch of student research projects to a celebration with families? Katherine Sokolowski shares how a tight time frame that concludes with an evening event can bring energy and high student interest to the research process.
Building Excitement for Book Awards
Bitsy Parks finds building excitement for book awards works in tandem with generating enthusiasm for reading in her first-grade classroom.
Teachers Who Write
Melanie Meehan explains why your own writing, however imperfect it is, might enhance your teaching tremendously.
The Riskiest Writing
Mary Lee Hahn tackles the riskiest writing of all — in front of students and improvised with no advance drafting or planning.
Get in the Pool: Teachers Who Write
Ruth Ayres shares how she was always someone who wrote—until she became a teacher. Getting back into writing was all about motivating her reluctant students.
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.
Research Through Picture Books
Katherine Sokolowski explains how picture books can be a potent tool for teaching intermediate students research skills.
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