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Growing Toward Independence

Cathy Mere shares what to look for and what to try next with young learners who are easily distracted and struggling to concentrate during independent reading.

The Big Fresh January 23, 2016 No Balance

Time for what matters is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Kindergarten Reading Conference: Building Confidence

Mandy Robek finds that kindergartner Mikey is lost in knowing how to use his time well during reading workshop. Her conference moves him from deflated to inspired.

Time for What Matters

Gretchen Schroeder has only 42 minutes with her high school students each day. She explains how she establishes priorities.

Building Stamina in Middle School Writers

Carly Ullmer finds herself wasting a lot of time because of interruptions during student conferences, so she makes building stamina in her middle school students a priority.

The Big Fresh January 16, 2016 Must Be Present to Win

We look at the writing process (and processes) in this week’s Big Fresh.

The Big Fresh January 9, 2016 Secret Messages

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

“Giving Ourselves Hard Problems”: Rethinking Math Workshop

Mary Lee Hahn rethinks her math workshop structure to more closely align with the choice and problem solving in her reading and writing workshops.

The Intersection of Social Studies and Language Arts

Melanie Meehan writes about how teachers in her state are dealing with the time-crunch issue in social studies instruction by naturally integrating more social studies into the language arts program.

Extended Inquiry with Article of the Week

Gretchen Schroeder finds the article of the week activity is an excellent vehicle for learning about content literacy gaps in student background knowledge and how to fill them.

Risk and All

Tom Romano meets with Kacie, a student writing about an experience that shames her. He ponders the importance of facing the darkest parts of our experiences when we write. This is an exclusive excerpt from Tom's new book, Write What Matters.

The Big Fresh December 19, 2015 Unexpected

English language learners are the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Debating How to Begin Stories

Melanie Meehan shares a minilesson using student writing as a model for experimenting with leads.

Conferring Over “Finished” Writing

Ruth Ayres challenges Grant to add paragraphs to his “finished” piece.

Exploring the Writing Process

Dana Murphy considers the differences between authentic writing processes and what we teach in schools.

Modifications for English Language Learners

Stella Villalba shares some modifications that can help English language learners demonstrate skills and knowledge.

Knowing Ami: Silent Communication with an English Language Learner

Katie DiCesare finds patience and observation are the keys to helping a first-grade English language learner who is in the silent period.

Owl Research Brainstorming: Partner Work

Andrea Smith’s fourth graders are working on an Owl Research project that integrates reading, writing, talking, listening, and content literacy.

Understanding Character Traits: Part 3

 Jason DiCarlo completes his lesson on character traits in third grade. This is the final installment in a three-part series.

The Big Fresh December 12, 2015 Easy

We explore mentor texts in this week’s Big Fresh.

Teaching Inference Through Picture Books

Katherine Sokolowski explains why picture books are useful for teaching inference to intermediate students, and shares some of her favorites.

Getting Mentor Texts in Students’ Hands

Jillian Heise discovers that her students need more access to the mentor texts she reads aloud, so she develops strategies to get them to students.

Understanding Character Traits: Part 2

Jason DiCarlo continues his third-grade reading workshop lesson on character traits with a mentor text. This is the second video in a three-part series.

Mentor Texts and Memoir Writing

Gretchen Schroeder finds one mentor text has many uses as her high school students explore memoir writing.

What I Learned About Teaching Writing from My Trainer

Jodi Mahoney applies principles from one process to another in comparing writing and working out with a trainer.

The Big Fresh December 5, 2015 Just-Right Tech

We consider useful tech resources for literacy in this week’s Big Fresh.

Jumping into Just-Right Apps

We spend a lot of time in elementary classrooms matching students to “just-right” books. Katrina Edwards uses similar principles to help her first-grade students pick just-right apps. The essay includes a downloadable chart of appropriate literacy apps for young learners.

Tech Anchor Charts

A daunting task for teachers is to help students learn to use new tech tools, as well as understand community standards for each one. Katherine Sokolowski finds tech anchor charts are a great way to provide ongoing support to students as they navigate new software and apps.

Student Writing, Filters, and Social Media

Ruth Ayres explains why filtering is one of the most important concepts writers need to understand in this social media age, and she shares a simple lesson and chart for teaching students how filtering works.

Understanding Character Traits Lesson

Jason DiCarlo leads a lesson in third grade on character traits. This is the first video in a three-part series.

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