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
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.
Habits That Maximize Time
Stella Villalba writes about the importance early in the year of building habits with students that maximize time for English language learners.
A Booklist for Memorial Day
Sarah Klim’s latest booklist includes titles for honoring those who serve on Memorial Day.
Nonfiction Book Blitz
Justin Stygles finds a nonfiction book blitz is the perfect unit for closing out the school year.
Final Literacy Contracts: Student-Generated Themes
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller close out the year with their final literacy contracts. It’s time for students to take ownership of their learning, so they select the themes.
Capturing the Elementary Years with Photo Essays
Justin Stygles helps his sixth graders prepare to move to middle school with a photo essay assignment in the last weeks of school.
A Case of the Perennial Annuals
Suzy Kaback remembers saying goodbye to her first group of students as a young teacher.
The Habit of Budding
This new poem and reflection from Shirl McPhillips that delights in wordplay and emergent greenery in the spring.
Ending Reading Workshop by Planning for September
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find that a little effort at the end of the school year pays big dividends when launching workshops in the fall.
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