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The Big Fresh November 21, 2015 Moo

We look at stamina and student engagement in this week’s Big Fresh.

Stamina Bubbles

“Why do you always say ‘Happy reading!’ to us?” This question from a first grader leads Katrina Edwards to develop visual support tools for building stamina during reading workshops.

Engaging a Room Full of Third Graders

Melanie Meehan works with a third-grade teacher to rouse interest from a class of compliant students who lack engagement.

Ways into Personal Narratives

Katherine Sokolowski describes some Ways into Personal Narratives that use visual tools to build the home/school connection and stronger prewriting skills.

Invitations for Narrative Writing

Kim Campbell suggests activities and prompts to energize narrative writing with teens.

Conferring with Jeri in Kindergarten

Mandy Robek demonstrates the strategies of teach, prompt, and reinforce when conferring with kindergartner Jeri.

The Big Fresh November 14, 2015 Baseball and Background Knowledge

Visual literacy is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

The Big Fresh November 7, 2015 Little Notebooks

We consider ways to energize writing workshops in this week’s Big Fresh.

The Big Fresh October 31, 2015 Details

We look at refreshing and reconsidering routines in this week’s Big Fresh.

The Morning Story

Shari Frost encourages teachers to reconsider “the morning story” routine, a rote copying activity still prevalent in many primary classrooms. Shari offers some fun and practical alternatives.

Reorganizing the Classroom Library

Gigi McAllister reorganizes her classroom library checkout system, and finds that a little upfront investment in time pays big dividends all year long.

A Thesis Statement: Conferring with Connor

Ruth Ayres confers with sixth grader Connor about constructing a thesis statement.

Back to Basics: Choice

Ruth Ayres explores the boundaries of student options in writing workshops.

Moving Beyond Bed-to-Bed Stories in First Grade

Katrina Edwards moves her first graders from writing "bed-to-bed" stories early in the year with a mentor text and writing activity that promotes self-discipline and a growth mindset.

Resources for Quick-Writes

Katherine Sokolowski shares some of her favorite resources to jumpstart student interest in writing.

Using Webcomics in Classrooms

Katherine Sokolowski explains why she uses webcomics in her literacy workshops, and shares an extensive list of her favorite online sources.

Visual Reading for Writing

Carly Ulmer uses visual literacy to build writing skills with her seventh graders through two powerful minilessons.

Reading Pictures in High School

Gretchen Schroeder melds famous artwork with literacy instruction in her high school classroom.

The Big Fresh October 24, 2015 New Glasses

Close reading with tweens and teens is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Close Reading for Comparison in Fifth Grade

Katherine Sokolowski uses a fascinating picture book to build close reading skills with her fifth graders. The key is selecting a text that holds up well through multiple readings.

Literary Analysis and Authenticity in Middle School

Christy Rush-Levine finds the best way to help her middle school students learn to read closely for literary analysis is through student writing. They begin with analyzing student exemplars from the Common Core, and then move to shared texts as they hone their skills.

Close Encounters with Text: Reading Many Ways

Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris find their reading processes as adults informs the way they view close reading with students.

Beginning a Novel with Close Reading

Aimee Buckner helps a fourth-grade boy tease out emerging themes in the first pages of the novel Morning Girl.

The Big Fresh October 17, 2015 Mockingbird

We look at using videos and movies within literacy workshops in this week’s Big Fresh.

“Are We Gonna Watch the Movie?”

Gretchen Schroeder finds her high school students are always eager to see the movies related to the novels they are reading in class. Yet it rarely makes sense to show the entire film. She explains how to choose clips judiciously.

Stories from Illustrations: Conferring with Kendall

Ruth Ayres draws out the story-writing possibilities with first-grader Kendall by conferring over her illustrations.

From Strengths to Revision: Conferring with Connor

Karen Terlecky confers with fifth-grade Connor about his writing, demonstrating the routine of celebrating strengths first, and then making suggestions of new techniques to try.

Core Memories and Gotcha Moments

Jennifer Schwanke explains why pop quizzes can be damaging to students by using a pop culture reference.

Embracing Standards in Creative Ways

Christy Rush-Levine makes links between standards, video clips, and close reading.

Mid-Workshop Conversations

Stella Villalba finds mid-workshop conversations are a terrific routine to add to literacy workshops to promote growth, especially for English language learners.

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