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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
Why I Don’t Like Erasers
Melanie Meehan explains why erasers can be problematic in writing workshops, beyond just eliminating the ability of teachers to see the progression of revisions in a young writer's work.
Story Maps for Reflection in the Midst of Drafting
Jennifer Allen finds the use of a story map opens up revision possibilities for a young writer stuck in a drafting rut.
Student (and Teacher) Risk-Taking
Carly Ullmer ponders what it means to take risks in her middle school classroom as she and her students experiment with different response options.
Creating a Culture of Book Love
Tara Smith shares some of her favorite online resources for keeping up with new books, as well as organizing tips for classroom libraries.
Using Paired Texts with Beginning Readers
Shari Frost explains how teachers can use paired texts to help young readers build their skills, starting with books they already know and love.
Recess of the Mind
Scott Jones explains how thinking outside the normal time frame for writing instruction helped him reach boy writers.
No More Strong Girls?
Are there ways for girls in literature to be heroic without fighting? Shari Frost asks herself this question in compiling her latest booklist.
Branding Blogs (Part 3)
Andrea Smith concludes her series on the power of branded student blogs in her fourth-grade classroom.
Branding Blogs (Part 2)
Andrea Smith continues her series on the power of "branding" for improving student blogs. In this installment, students examine mentor blogs and bloggers.
Parent in a Foreign Land
Jennifer Schwanke shares some of the unique struggles parents of English language learners have in making their children's needs known, and how we can help them.
Environment and English Language Learners
Stella Villalba finds English language learners struggle less when teachers understand what adaptations are needed in the classroom environment.
The Craft of Blogging
Franki Sibberson uses a micro-progression of her own draft of a blog post to help her third graders improve their blogging skills.
The Importance of Audience
Julie Johnson demonstrates how teachers can help students think through issues of audience during writing workshops.
Branding Blogs (Part 1)
Andrea Smith finds "branding" is a way to improve student blogs. She shares her process of presenting the concept to students in the first installment of a three-part series.
Top 10 Conferring Tips
Ruth Ayres gives her best advice for honing your conferring skills with this succinct list of tips for better conferences.
Student-Led Conferences from Many Perspectives
Jennifer Schwanke and Franki Sibberson share four perspectives on student-led conferences — teacher, principal, student, and parent.
Random Poetry
Gretchen Schroeder finds creative ways to pique interest in poetry in her high school classroom.
Not Just in April: Poetry All Year Long
Tara Smith finds that the 20 minutes she spends on poetry reading, analysis, and response in her sixth-grade classroom each week pay dividends all year long.
Poetry Through Song
Jennifer Schwanke finds song lyrics are one way for students to see the power of poems.
The Importance of Their Words
Melanie Meehan shares strategies and prompts for helping easily distracted young learners focus in conferences.
Bad Days in Workshops
Franki Sibberson realizes there are some bad days in literacy workshops that hold no great life lessons for teachers and students, and that is okay.
Playful Texts for Beginning Readers
Shari Frost uses playful texts to increase interest and stamina in emergent readers. She shares many of her favorites in this booklist.
An Identity of Success
Mary Lee Hahn is a bit flummoxed when a parent asks about her management system at an open house. The experience sparks reflection on what makes a classroom community gel.
Loving Books or Reading?
Justin Stygles wonders why a love of books doesn't necessarily translate into a love of reading for his fifth and sixth graders.
Bridging the Gap Between Intervention and the Classroom
Kate Mills and Tara Barnett share strategies for building bridges between intervention and classroom instruction.
Toward More Meaningful Extension Activities
Shari Frost challenges assignments in reading workshop that kill a love of wordplay and vocabulary development.
Teaching Punctuation with Poetry
Melanie Meehan discovers that the spare form of poetry is especially useful for teaching conventions.
An Unconventional Scavenger Hunt: Finding Errors
Jennifer Schwanke finds that a scavenger hunt for errors to add to a bulletin board is a great way to build editing skills and a writing community all year long in her seventh-grade classroom.
Beyond the Comfort Zone: Books for Our Times
Christy Rush-Levine explains why she stocks some books in her middle school classroom library that can provoke concerns from families, and how she deals with conflicts.
Replicating or Deepening?
Jennifer Schwanke finds teachers can get territorial about texts, “claiming” them for their grade level. She explores when it is appropriate to repeat the use of a text in subsequent grades.
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