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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
Planning a Read Aloud Sequence to Launch the School Year
Tony Keefer shares the three essential questions that guide his process of selecting first read alouds.
Fireflies and Background Knowledge
Karen Terlecky writes about the importance of building understanding before more complex read alouds.
A Summer Reading Camp for Middle School Students
Katherine Sokolowski has tips for a "book club" summer reading camp for middle school students.
Are You Excited About Next Year?
Kelly Petrin finds a bare classroom at the end of the year leads her to improvise with stuffed animals and literacy with her preschool students. The mix of play and reading is so successful that it changes her planning for the fall.
Using Instagram to Sell Summer Reading Options
Tony Keefer taps into the Instagram craze among his students, and finds it is an ingenious tool for encouraging summer reading while kids are on vacation.
Grateful Journals
Beth Lawson began her own gratitude journal as a troubled teen, and finds that the daily routine of Grateful Journals is a powerful tool for reflection and building community in the intermediate grades.
Teacher Resume
Even if you have no plans to apply for a new job anytime soon, creating a resume can be a wonderful catalyst for defining who you are and what you value. It’s also a great document to share with parents and new students. Amanda Adrian explains its creative uses.
SPREAD: Teaching and a Balanced Life
Are you spread too thin? Kelly Petrin uses the acronym SPREAD to remind herself regularly of what she needs to lead a balanced and joyful professional and personal life.
Word Nerds
What words are worthy of study? Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader explore that question with colleagues.
Books and Organization of the Classroom Library (Classroom Design Series Part 4)
Ann Marie Corgill’s classroom design series concludes with ideas for organizing classroom libraries and a self-reflection tool for thinking through your classroom design.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Early Reader Chapter Books for Boys
Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury finish their summer fun for early readers series with a booklist for boys interested in chapter books.
Reflecting All Year Long
Katherine Sokolowski finds the impulse for reflection is strong at the start of summer, but reflection works best when it’s built into routines all year long.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Comics and Graphic Novels for Early Readers
Early readers love comic books and graphic novels. Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury give their top picks in their latest summer fun for early readers booklist.
Values and Design (Classroom Design Series Part 2)
Ann Marie Corgill continues her design series, considering the connection between classroom design and values.
Literacy in the Music Room: A Sequence of Lessons
Jennifer Schwanke describes the work of a music teacher who integrates literacy learning into her curriculum.
Recommendations for Summer Reading Fun: Classic Books for Early Readers
Meghan Rose and Ruth Shagoury have written a series of booklists for early readers, perfect for sharing with parents looking for suggestions. The first installment tackles the classic books many of us cherish from our own childhood days.
Starting with Why (Classroom Design Series Part 1)
Ann Marie Corgill's classroom design series takes you through her process of redesigning a classroom. In the first installment, Ann Marie explains how her designs have become less cutesy and more student-centered over time.
The Cure for Senioritis? Poetry!
There may be a group of students somewhere less eager to learn than a class of high school seniors during the last weeks of school, but that group would be as tough to find as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. Gretchen Schroeder discovers a surprising cure for senioritis —modern poetry.
Staying Connected with Students All Summer Long
Cathy Mere explains how she uses technology to stay in touch with students and families over the summer.
Summer Reading Round-Up (Part 2)
Here is the second installment of our round-up of summer reading choices by contributors.
13 Ways to Raise Students Who Hate Research
Chris Lehman has tongue-in-cheek suggestions for helping students learn to hate the research process.
Launching a Fiction Writing Unit with Fifth Graders
Katherine Sokolowski finds late in the year is the perfect time for launching a fiction writing unit with her fifth graders.
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.
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