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Punctuation Study with Third Graders

Mandy Robek finds a punctuation unit study with her third graders is a fun alternative to yet another genre study. Her essay includes booklists of children's literature and professional texts.

Engaged by the World: Maps, Globes, Reading, and Writing with Young Children

Kelly Petrin and Ruth Shagoury connect globes and children's literature with a map theme to inspire young children to write more and include visual representations in their drafts.  While the examples are from a Head Start classroom, the booklist and activities are appropriate for any K-2 students.

Twitter Me This: Using Cell Phones to Build Literacy Skills and a Reading Community

Lisa Koch found herself a bit irritated as her high school students would discreetly send text messages as she tried to teach them literary terms.  Her solution?  Tweet tweet!  You can read here about her successful summer experiment of tweeting literary terms and staying in touch with students over summer reading assignments.

Unlucky Lists: Raising Non-Writers and Non-Artists

These lists created by S. Rebecca Leigh are a fun way to size up the messages we send students about reading, writing, and drawing, and how these may influence lifelong literacy habits.

Where Am I?: The Power of Wordless Photo Books for Preschoolers

Melissa Kolb shares the power of wordless photo books with preschoolers, explaining how they work in her classroom and demonstrating with a video.

Dear Mrs. T: Moving Students from Summaries to Rich Response

Karen Terlecky shares how student letter writing about books has evolved over the years.  The secret? Karen uses student letters from previous years as mentor texts for moving her 5th graders from summaries to more sophisticated responses.

Making a Difference: Examples from Children’s Literature (BOOKLIST)

Spring is a time in many schools for volunteer work and community service projects. This booklist will inspire your students.

Challenging Advanced Young Readers: Harder Texts Aren’t Always the Answer

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan discuss the concept of “challenge” in considering what texts are the best fit for advanced young readers who might be able to decode any text but don’t yet have the experiences needed to tackle sophisticated concepts.

From Page to Screen: My Top Ten Film Adaptations of Children’s Books

Shari Frost is inspired to create a list of her favorite children’s book to film adaptations.

Great Nonfiction for Elementary Students

As the quality of nonfiction for students has grown, so have our expectations for using these books with students.  Franki Sibberson's presents texts that can help students move beyond "skimming and scanning," and into more in-depth reading.

Choosing New Books for Comprehension Strategy Studies with Young Children

Ruth Shagoury and Andie Cunningham share a wealth of books appropriate for comprehension study with young children. The booklist is especially useful for work with English language learners.

Biographies Off the Beaten Path

Here are some quirky biographies that will inspire and delight your students.

Using Summer Reading to Expand the Whole School Reading Community

What big messages do we give to students with summer reading assignments? Franki Sibberson considers this question and shares the template she sends home with children of all ages.

Books That Invite Conversations About Perspective (BOOKLIST)

Students need to understand perspective (or point of view) if they want to comprehend what motivates a character.  In this booklist, Franki Sibberson highlights some terrific children's literature for helping students grasp the concept of perspective.

Character Study in Grades 3-6

A character study unit is a terrific choice early in the school year, since it taps into students' reading histories and favorites from years past. Franki Sibberson has suggestions of books and questions for use in read-alouds.

Mentor Texts for Urban Students

What texts work best for students with urban backgrounds? Shari Frost has suggestions for teachers.

How Do We Talk with Parents About What It Means to Be Challenged in Reading?

Discussions with parents of precocious young readers can be tricky. Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have some tips for these conferences.

Out of the Closet and into the Classroom: Bookroom Management Tips for Literacy Coaches

Is your system for sharing books from a school bookroom or literacy closet working well? Shari Frost provides 10 practical tips for getting the best use out of shared literacy resources.

Planning to Teach with Mentor Texts: Two Examples

Once you’ve found a text you love, how do you plan lessons from it?   Karen Terlecky takes teachers through the process of selecting and designing instruction with two favorite texts.

The Book Lovers Quilt Project

Katie Doherty and Ruth Shagoury present  a fun way to launch (or close) the year with middle schoolers and discover the best-loved books of students from previous years.  This project can be adapted for any age level.

The Reading Skills We Use When Searching the Internet

Browsing and previewing skills change when the medium is the Internet. Franki Sibberson has advice for working with tech-savvy young readers.

Books for Strategy Studies

Andie Cunningham has some thoughtful recommendations for books to use in strategy studies.

Fairy Tales for Middle Grade Readers (BOOKLIST)

This booklist is on fairytales, and there are a range of reading levels and styles to support readers of different ability levels.

Using Poetry to Promote Reading Fluency

Aimee Buckner shares how to use a mentor text to build fluency through poetry.

Making Book Logs Purposeful for Students

Is the use of reading logs getting a little stale in your classroom? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan have suggestions for assessing and refreshing the activity.

Aligning Curriculum with Struggling Readers in Mind

This is a terrific article for a team considering struggling learners to read together and discuss.  Franki Sibberson asks some critical questions, including how many transitions and different adults some children work with each day in the name of getting all the support they need.

Hallmarks of Reading Workshop

Karen Szymusiak works with her staff to develop "Hallmarks of Reading Workshop," which is a succinct and concrete list of expectations for time, components, and organization of workshops. The list would be an excellent jumping off point for discussion in a staff meeting of bottom-line standards and allocation of time for literacy activities.

The Luxury of Extra Reading Time Over the Holidays

Franki Sibberson finds the days before holiday break are the perfect time for talking through with students how to make pleasure reading choices. Her feature includes a template to help students organize and think through their preferences.

Rethinking Reading at Home

What’s the value of reading at home? Mandy Robek ponders the home/school connection. Download a copy of a rubric to assess the home reading log.

Overcoming Tears and Fears: Developing Criteria for Flexible Groups

Katie DiCesare comforts a student in tears at the end of the day, and realizes part of the problem may be that she moved the child into a guided writing group too quickly.

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