Library
Choice Literacy Articles & Videos
The Choice Literacy library contains over 3,000 articles and 900 videos from 150+ contributors. Classic Classroom and Literacy Leadership subscribers have access to the entire library. Content is updated continuously, with five to six new features published each week.
Latest Content
Explaining a Workshop Model to Parents
Jennifer Schwanke explains why parent-teacher conferences can be bewildering for families, and offers advice for better ways to explain a literacy workshop model to them.
The Big Fresh May 6, 2017 Mentors Who Matter
We look at classroom talk in this week’s Big Fresh.
Mentor Texts and Important Reminders
Melanie Meehan shares four important tips for using mentor texts effectively with students of any age.
Using If I Stay to Model Literary Analysis
Christy Rush-Levine uses the mentor text If I Stay to model literary analysis, building on her middle school students’ interest in the recent movie.
First-Grade Minilesson: Reading Like Writers
Bitsy Parks teaches her first graders early in the year how to read like writers, highlighting examples from favorite mentor texts.
Building Relationships with Authors
Katie DiCesare is helping her students move from mentor texts to seeing authors as mentors through their websites and other digital resources.
The Big Fresh April 29, 2017 Teacher Voice
We look at classroom talk in this week’s Big Fresh.
Lunchtime Talk Practice
Katrina Edwards preps her students for lunchtime chats with classmates to foster more social and conversation skills.
Supporting Student Agency with Questioning Strategies
Katrina Simkins-Moore explains why becoming more intentional in questioning during reading conferences can help build student independence, as well as consistency among the teaching community.
Small Solutions for Big Problems with Classroom Discussions
Gretchen Schroeder shares some conversation fixes for when talk goes awry in her high school classroom.
The Big Fresh April 22, 2017 The Final Push
We look at literacy special events in this week’s Big Fresh.
Reading Ambassadors
Cathy Mere finds that a Reading Ambassadors program pays big dividends in building confident and conversant young readers.
Hosting Reading and Writing Events
Gigi McAllister explains why you have to be a bit choosy about reading and writing events since there are so many possibilities. Here are some she values in her fourth-grade classroom.
Building Excitement for Book Awards
Bitsy Parks finds building excitement for book awards works in tandem with generating enthusiasm for reading in her first-grade classroom.
The Ocean Research Project: From Launch to Celebration in 10 Days
Ten days from the launch of student research projects to a celebration with families? Katherine Sokolowski shares how a tight time frame that concludes with an evening event can bring energy and high student interest to the research process.
Planning a Family Literacy Night
Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost work with a group of reading specialists to plan a family literacy night. This video is cross-posted at Lead Literacy.
Author Visit: Small as an Elephant
Jennifer Richard Jacobson answers questions from a fourth-grade class that has just finished a read-aloud of her book Small as an Elephant.
The Big Fresh April 15, 2017 Teachers Writing
We look at the value of teachers writing in this week’s Big Fresh.
Minilesson: Writing a Mentor Text
In this week’s video, Gigi McAllister models writing in front of her fourth-grade class. She takes advice from students as she develops the characters in her story.
Get in the Pool: Teachers Who Write
Ruth Ayres shares how she was always someone who wrote—until she became a teacher. Getting back into writing was all about motivating her reluctant students.
Teachers Who Write
Melanie Meehan explains why your own writing, however imperfect it is, might enhance your teaching tremendously.
The Riskiest Writing
Mary Lee Hahn tackles the riskiest writing of all — in front of students and improvised with no advance drafting or planning.
The Big Fresh April 8, 2017 Form, Distance, and Speed
We look at teaching with picture books in this week’s Big Fresh.
Exploring Goals in Fiction
Gigi McAllister meets briefly with a group of fourth graders who are all exploring theme in picture books.
The Power of Picture Book Conversations
Katie DiCesare uses conversations around picture books to build communication, community, and reading skills in her first-grade classroom. Late in the school year she reflects with students about why these conversations are so powerful.
Research Through Picture Books
Katherine Sokolowski explains how picture books can be a potent tool for teaching intermediate students research skills.
First-Grade Conferring: A Two-Word Picture Book
Bitsy Parks shows how even the simplest picture book can lead to powerful conferring. In this example, a first-grade English language learner is reading a picture book that uses only two words in the text.
The Big Fresh April 1, 2017 Joy, Angst, and Poetry
We consider what should come first in the school day and workshops in this week’s Big Fresh.
News from the Interior
Shirl McPhillips shares a new poem, as well as some practical tips on moving from random observations to vivid details to poetry.
“Old Age Sticks”: Choral Reading and Reflection
Christy Rush-Levine leads her eighth graders in a choral reading and analysis of the E. E. Cummings poem "Old Age Sticks." This is the second video in a two-part series.
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