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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
Reading Passports
Justin Stygles develops reading passports as an alternative to traditional reading logs with his fifth- and sixth-grade students.
Reorganizing the Classroom Library
Katherine Sokolowski looks at challenges from the previous year for ideas on reorganizing the classroom library.
Inviting Book Tub Titles: Nonfiction Library Redesign
Andrea Smith discovers the value of more creative nonfiction book tub titles after listening to ideas from her students.
Books for Studying Illustration with First Graders
Katie DiCesare has suggestions for books to support an illustration unit early in the year.
Understanding Study: Noticing Pictures
Katie DiCesare’s favorite beginning unit with first graders focuses on illustration.
Summer’s a Gypsy
Shirl McPhillips captures the fleeting joy of summer in a new poem.
Reader Response in the Digital Age
Franki Sibberson has suggestions for moving to more digital response options with students.
Digital Boards for Formative Assessment
Katharine Hale has moved much of her reading response to digital boards, which are also a useful tool for formative assessment.
Books for Brain Breaks
Mandy Robek compiles a list of her favorite books for brain breaks with young learners.
Community Board: Invitations to Independence
Students transition between home and school with the Community Board in Andrea Smith’s classroom. It’s a lively bulletin board that is updated and discussed daily in her fourth-grade classroom.
Helping Allison Redesign Her Classroom Nonfiction Library
Andrea Smith shares her best advice for library design that celebrates nonfiction as much as fiction.
A Strong Foundation: Books and Media for Launching Literacy Workshops
Help students transition back to school with minilessons that give children a strong sense of the purpose of literacy workshops.
Effective Organization
Ruth Ayres has tips for organizing desks, tables, chairs, and materials to support literacy learning.
Getting to Know You: Brown Bag Objects
Maria Caplin uses a getting-to-know-you activity in the first days of school to jumpstart research reading and writing with her fifth-grade students.
Shoebox Autobiographies
Susan Dee uses shoebox autobiographies to build community and relationships with students early in the fall.
Curriculum Night? No Sweat
Curriculum night? No sweat says Tony Keefer. Only kidding — there is a lot of sweat involved, but Tony’s humorous account of how he has changed his curriculum night presentation will get you thinking about new ways of connecting with families.
The Case Against Management Systems
Katherine Sokolowski advises teachers to ditch the search for the perfect management system, and instead focus on building relationships early in the school year.
Effective Student Writing Groups
Ruth Ayres has advice for effective peer feedback in writing workshops.
Giving Audio Feedback to Student Writing
If you find yourself buried in student work that needs a response, you’ll enjoy suggestions from Bill Bass for using a nifty new online tool.
First Shared Text: Fishing for Many Meanings with Adolescents
Christy Rush-Levine introduces her middle school students to the complexity of reading on the first day of school.
“I Used To, and Now I”: An Early Year Minilesson
Franki Sibberson finds an “I Used to and Now I” format helps her third-grade students understand how technology is changing reading habits.
Launching a Sort
Launching a sort with primary students early in the year begins not with words, but with leaves for Max Brand.
Six-Word Memoirs
Gigi McAllister finds the ever-popular six-word memoirs are a wonderful way to build community and help students get to know each other.
Launching Writing Workshop: Mentor Texts
Mandy Robek shares her favorite texts for building understanding early in the year of writing workshop with young writers. These books are ideal for launching discussions about how writers find ideas.
Candy Memoirs
Gretchen Schroeder ditches the long discussion of rules and procedures with her high school students, and instead gives writing workshop a sweet start.
Launching Reading Workshop: Mentor Texts
Mandy Robek shares her favorite texts to use early in the year with young students to introduce them to everything from places to read to how to handle books.
The First Days of Reading and Writing Workshops
Katherine Sokolowski explains how she spends her time during the first days of literacy workshops in her fifth-grade classroom.
Using Summer Reading as Bookends for the School Year
Karen Terlecky has advice for using summer reading for launching and closing the school year to build community and enduring connections with students.
30 Books in 30 Days
Justin Stygles uses the 30 Books in 30 Days project to introduce his sixth graders to a wide variety of authors and genres.
Tutoring Ruth: Designing an Assessment
Max Brand continues his new tutoring series. In this installment, he designs a creative intake assessment for Ruth, a first grader who struggles with following directions.
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