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
End-of-the-Year Reflection
Melanie Meehan shares a series of thoughtful questions to help students reflect on their process as writers, and what they need as they move into the summer and new classrooms.
Amazing Race
Gretchen Schroeder uses the format of the Amazing Race television show to help her high school students master materials for final exams and get moving throughout the school for a fun break.
Trying on Books for Reading Groups
Gigi McAllister finds taking time to have students browse texts before forming book clubs makes all the difference in the quality of the discussions.
Getting Teens Out of Reading Ruts: The Sampler
Carly Ullmer describes the activity she’s developed for getting her middle school readers out of reading ruts by sampling different authors and genres.
Graphic Novels for Beginning Readers
If you are looking to increase the quantity and quality of graphic novels for your learners in your classroom library, Shari Frost has a new booklist to get you started.
Gradual Release of the Library
Bitsy Parks explains how she designs her first-grade classroom library for “gradual release” throughout the school year in a way that allows students to build book-browsing skills.
Purposeful Partners
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills find the young learners in their classroom have mastered the art of turning and talking only with close friends. They provide practical suggestions for expanding the circle of peer response.
Hot Glue Guns
Mary Lee Hahn considers the use of Hot Glue Guns in her classroom, and moves from exasperation to appreciating the learning happening when we think kids are just messing around with peers and the tools we've given them.
Culturally Responsive Texts
Katrina Edwards is horrified when a student response reveals cultural gaps in her first-grade classroom library. She researches possibilities for expanding the diversity of texts, and shares an annotated bibliography to download linking different cultures and curricular possibilities.
Adjusting the Classroom Library for Student Needs
Mandy Robek realizes her classroom library isn’t working for her second graders, in part because many of the books are still too difficult for students early in the year. She explains her process of sorting and stowing books for later use.
Choosing and Refining Student Goals
Katie DiCesare shares the process of having her first graders choose their literacy goals, and her role in helping them refine goals through observation and conferring.
A Place to Belong
Andrea Smith reflects on preparing to say goodbye to students and her teaching partner of many years. If you have a favorite colleague who is retiring, you may want to get a hankie ready before you read this one.
Revising Weekly Reflections
Katherine Sokolowski revises the weekly reflection form her fifth graders use to ensure everyone is tracking goals, progress, and expectations.
Alternatives to Daily Editing as a “Bell-Ringer” Activity
The “daily edit” is a common routine in many classrooms. Shari Frost explains why this may not be an effective way to teach conventions, and offers some alternatives.
An Individualized Conventions Checklist
Melanie Meehan finds that a flexible conventions checklist that students develop according to their own needs is the best way to ensure conventions are taught in the context of authentic student work.
Deep Reading of Picture Books in Middle School
Christy Rush-Levine shows the power of using picture books with young adolescents to model close reading and deepen comprehension of sophisticated texts.
The Beauty of Imitation
Jennifer Schwanke explains how concerns about plagiarism can get in the way of recognizing the value of mimicking the styles of other writers to find our own.
Temporary Strategies
Clare Landrigan confers with a student and discovers that a tool designed to help the reader is actually hindering her learning. The experience causes her to reflect on the need for flexibility when matching strategy scaffolds to young readers.
Supporting Talk Around Writer’s Craft
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills help young writers move away from seeing editing as “adding more details,” and toward developing more specific language for the revision process.
May’s Menu
Maria Caplin gives her students a range of options for closing out a year of literacy learning in style.
Strategies for Elaboration in Opinion Writing
Melanie Meehan works with fifth graders who are struggling to elaborate on themes in their opinion writing.
Weaving in Poetry
Gigi McAllister shares suggestions for infusing poetry throughout classrooms and the literacy curriculum all year long.
The Case for the Sonnet
Gretchen Schroeder makes a case for teaching the sonnet to teenagers in the age of texts and Twitter.
Message from Old Crow
The end of winter is upon us! Shirl McPhillips celebrates with a poem about an old crow and reflections on revising poems over time.
Character Traits Through Word Sorts
Melanie Swider finds word sorts are a great way to help intermediate students master new vocabulary for describing character traits.
Building Word Learning Routines
Cathy Mere shares tried-and-true strategies for word learning with struggling young learners.
Vocabulary Instruction: Where to Start?
Gretchen Schroeder looks for new ways to help high school students learn words.
Holding a Dictionary
Jennifer Schwanke finds dictionaries (the real, not virtual, variety) are still a potent tool for teaching new vocabulary to children.
Learning Vocabulary in Context with English Language Learners
Stella Villalba explores why it is so important to teach vocabulary to English language learners in context.
Tests of Time
This vivid new poem from Shirley McPhillips, explores the disconnect between exams and life.
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