Latest Content
January 31, 2025: Meaning Matters

This week’s newsletter is about making meaning with our learning.

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.

January 24, 2025: Ways to Show Learning

This week’s newsletter is about assessing student learning.

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. 

January 17, 2025: More Engaged Students

This week’s newsletter is about engagement.

December 20, 2024: Graphic Novels and Novels in Verse

This week’s newsletter is about graphic novels and novels in verse.

December 13, 2024: Literacy in All Subjects

This week’s newsletter is about literacy in all subjects..

December 6, 2024: Gratitude

This week’s newsletter is about the importance of gratitude.

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.

November 22, 2024: Vulnerability

This week’s newsletter is about fostering strong connections.

November 15, 2024: Supporting Learners

This week’s newsletter is about supporting learners.

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.

November 8, 2024: Growing Writers

This week’s newsletter is about growing writers.

November 1, 2024: A Community of Secondary Readers

This week’s newsletter is about nourishing a community of secondary readers.

October 25, 2024: Talking Politics?

This week’s newsletter is about talking politics with students.

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.

October 18, 2024: Learning to Collaborate

This week’s newsletter is about helping students learn to share ideas.

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.

Choice Literacy Membership


Articles

Get full access to all Choice Literacy article content

Videos

Get full access to all Choice Literacy video content

Courses

Access Choice Literacy course curriculum and training


Membership Options

Loading...