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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
What Can Charlie Do?: The Value of Response Journals in Preschool Classrooms
Kelly Petrin shares the power of response journals with preschoolers.
Summer Reading Round-Up (Part 1)
Our contributors share what's in their reading stack this summer.
Independent Reading By the Numbers Is NOT Text Complexity
How do you guide students to select books for independent summer reading? Aimee Buckner challenges teachers who are requiring middle students to pick books based solely on Lexile scores.
Football Field Writing
Katherine Sokolowski adapts an idea from Jim Burke to get her fifth graders outdoors and envisioning their growth over the summer.
Death in Books: Finding Our Way After Loss
Books can help children deal with the toughest challenges in life. In a new booklist, Andie Cunningham shares her top picks for stories about characters grappling with the death of a loved one.
Grouping Struggling Students for Word Study: A Case Study
Shari Frost considers the “go-to” instructional strategy for struggling readers, word study, and explores how to make it work well in a case study of a third-grade group.
Using Shared Writing to Build Argument Skills
Shari Frost explains the power of shared writing in intermediate classrooms, especially for struggling learners.
Madness, the Spring Slump, and High School Readers
Are your adolescent readers present in body but not necessarily in spirit by springtime? We've featured the "book madness" bracket activity in the past for elementary students. Gretchen Schroeder finds the ranking, competition, and passionate discussion about favorite books is just what her high school students need to get their heads back in the reading game.
Our Favorite Online Reading and Writing Tools Round-Up (Part 2)
Choice Literacy contributors share favorite online tools. This is the second installment in a two-part series.
Subheading Literacy: Nothing “Sub” About It
Heather Rader discovers subheadings are a neglected but useful tool for teaching students about key topics in their writing.
They Can Sing and Define It, But Can They Use It?
Melissa Styger rethinks the way she teaches reading strategies, emphasizing putting them to use over defining them.
Our Favorite Online Reading and Writing Tools Round-Up (Part 1)
Choice Literacy contributors share their favorite online reading and writing tools. This is the first installment in a two-part series.
Do You Have Any Questions? Conferring with Families
We've all experienced that moment in a parent conference. You finish your spiel, which includes assessment data, charts, and an anecdote or two about the child. And when you're finished, the parent asks, "But how is my child doing?" Melissa Kolb explores the reasons why there can be a mismatch between our sense of useful information in parent conferences and a parent's expectations.
Cooking Up Interest in Words with Fifth Graders
Maria Caplin continues her series on sparking vocabulary learning, this time highlighting fun activities.
Slice of Life: Challenging Student Writers
Katherine Sokolowski brings the popular web “slice of life” challenge to her fifth-grade classroom.
Keeping Track of Questions
Andie Cunningham observes a third-grade teacher as she systematically improves the quality and depth of student questioning over time.
Three Ways to Build Purpose in a Preschool Reading Workshop
Melissa Kolb finds her three- and four-year-old students are ready for more focus during reading time.
Shared Reading in the Intermediate Grades
Shari Frost explains why shared reading is valuable for older students, with examples of the practice in the intermediate grades.
Symbiosis: Choice and Structure in Writing Workshops
Ruth Ayres and Heather Rader draw on their work as literacy coaches and teachers to explore the complex connections between choice and structure in writing workshops.
Between the Brain and Page: Working with Gifted Student Writers
Michelle Kelly explains how gifted student writers have needs that vary greatly. "Carolyn the Voice," "Alan the Verbose," and "Bailey the Perfectionist" are all gifted writers who need different workshop structures and guidance to do their best work.
Assessing Learning During Student-Led Book Clubs
When middle school students have choice and independence in book clubs they lead themselves, how do you assess their learning and thinking? Katie Doherty provides a variety of question prompts she uses with groups to spark reflection on learning.
10 Principles for Planning Reading Minilessons
Franki Sibberson shares 10 principles for minilesson planning. This is an excerpt from her new book, The Joy of Planning.
Understanding the Middle East Through Children’s Literature (BOOKLIST)
Sheiks, harems, and terrorists — the stereotypes of the middle east from popular culture may not be realistic, but they sure are pervasive. Ruth Shagoury and Andie Cunningham find authentic alternative views to present to children in their new booklist.
Research IS the Project (Primary Research Series)
Heather Rader blurs the line between research and presentation in the final installment of the primary research series.
Embracing the Growth Mindset with Audiobooks
Jennifer Vincent explains how recorded texts were a potent tool for reaching a struggling fourth-grade reader.
Audioboo, QR Codes, and Authentic Reading Response
Katherine Sokolowski uses audio recordings and other tech resources to build her fifth-grade reading community.
Tips for Effective Family Communication from “The Mouse”
Jennifer Vincent details strategies and shares survey templates she uses in reaching out to families.
KLWL: Ordering Research (Primary Research Series Part 3)
Heather Rader looks at the importance of frontloading information for young learners in the third installment of the primary research series.
Family Literacy Night
Family Literacy Nights have become popular in many schools. Principal Jennifer Schwanke describes the format for a successful event, including a sample program and tips.
A Literary Taste of Home (Home is Where the Books Are Series)
Meghan Rose may live in Los Angeles, but the home of her heart will always be New England. In this booklist, she shares her favorite picture books about everything from the Red Sox to Maine blueberries to give her children a sense of where she grew up.
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