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
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.
Character Through Literature Early in the Year
Katherine Sokolowski finds that the beginning of the year is the best time to build community with a unit on character and morals through literature.
Planning for Instruction: Sea Glass
Karen Terlecky uses sea glass as a metaphor for the assessments she completes to launch the year, and data analysis all year long.
The Rapid Reader: Tutoring Esther
Max works with Esther, a third grader who takes pride in being a rapid reader and rarely pauses to make sense of the text.
Giving Up Television
Gretchen Taylor finds giving up television enables her to reconsider many habitual behaviors.
Many Possibilities for Student Podcasting
Katherine Sokolowski shares how she has integrated podcasting into her 5th grade classroom.
Animal Backpacks and Literacy Joy
Kelly Petrin finds animal backpacks are a wonderful tool for building literacy skills in young learners, as well as the home/school connection.
Kindergarten Moments Count: Morning Message
Keri Archer writes about the importance of morning message for kindergartners.
Before and After Pictures: Documenting Progress
Shari Frost finds before and after “snapshots” are a wonderful way to celebrate learning and get closure at the end of the school year.
Odd Habits
Mary Lee Hahn surveys Choice Literacy contributors about Odd Habits as they share truths and lies about their writing routines. This is a fun icebreaker for summer or fall orientation get-togethers.
Personal Listening Devices in Workshops
Justin Stygles finds that a ban on personal listening devices may not be the best option for students who are easily distracted. He explains how he designed a policy that allows students to listen to music of their choice during literacy workshops.
The Information Board: Celebrating Nonfiction Every Day
Andrea Smith builds interest in nonfiction in her fourth-grade classroom community through her constantly changing Information Board.
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