Articles
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
Seven Minutes of Listening
What can we learn by listening closely to children? Plenty — Andie Cunningham shares insights from seven minutes with a young English language learner.
A Community of Parents: Connecting via Email
Email is a terrific way to communicate with parents—Trish Prentice has practical tips for keeping it simple and saving time when using email.
Mary Lee Hahn – Read Alouds to Build Community Early in the Year (PODCAST)
Mary Lee Hahn shares her favorite read alouds for building community at the start of the year.
Creating a Coaching Schedule
Tammy Mulligan and Clare Ladrigan give advice on creating schedules for literacy coaches that integrate district goals and teacher interests.
34 Languages
What is the starting point for building community in a preschool classroom where almost every child speaks a different first language than their teacher? Melissa Kolb writes about how she gently guides her preschool students early in the year.
Undercover Coach: Making Time to Work with Children
If you're a literacy coach, the most important question to ask yourself may be this: How much time am I spending in classrooms? Shari Frost writes about how coaches can move beyond a quest for perfect demo lessons to a stance of co-learners with teachers.
Procedural Writing in Math
Heather Rader explains how mentor texts for math instruction need some specific attributes.
Assessment Conferences: Listening to and Learning from Our Students
Research, decide, and teach – Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan use Lucy Calkins’ wise advice in assessment conferences with children.
Getting to Know Multilingual Learners at the Start of the Year
If you’re unsure about working with multilingual learners, Stella Villalba has some reassuring advice for you.
Jennifer Allen on Working with New Teachers (PODCAST)
New teachers need thoughtful support – Jennifer Allen has suggestions on how to provide that assistance in this podcast.
Our Learning Goals: Planning at the Start of the Year
As educators, we are always learning and growing. We asked colleagues and Choice Literacy contributors to share with us the goals they set this year.
Teaching Students Retelling Strategies
Retelling is an essential skill for readers, and it’s one that is crucial for success on most state exams too. In Part 1 of a two-part series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share strategies and sample lessons.
An Uncommon Place
A mulberry tree crashes during a blizzard, creating a surprisingly lovely mental space for Shirl McPhillips to craft her poem.
Supporting Successful First-Year Coaches
Heather Rader gets the inside word from novice literacy coaches about the support they need to thrive.
Make it Personal
The connections we make with students and families are what we remember most when all is said and done. Trish Prentice has thoughts on what changes a respected teacher into a beloved teacher.
Jennifer Allen on Working with Veteran Teachers (PODCAST)
Jennifer Allen has developed some innovative support systems for veteran teachers. She shares her insights in this podcast.
Life on the Edge
"Life on the Edge" compares the energy and purpose of birds in a nest to daily life in classrooms. It's the perfect metaphor for the fast pace of our teaching lives.
Next Steps: Thinking about Retelling During Reading
Retelling is an essential skill for readers, and it’s one that is crucial for success on most state exams too. In Part 2 of a two-part series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share strategies and sample lessons in this installment.
Digital Handouts: An Alternative to More Paper and Meetings
Jill Ostrow creates a flexible and practical online tool to support teachers of English language learners.
Read Alouds for the Last Days of School
Choice Literacy readers share some of their favorite read alouds for the last days of school.
Injecting Writing into Everything: Prediction Stories
What happens between kindergarten and upper elementary grades to make students more hesitant about making predictions? Heather Rader has books and teaching suggestions for building prediction skills.
Coaching Out of Chaos: Helping New Teachers Establish Management Systems
The #1 issue for many new teachers is management. Heather Rader shares how she tactfully assisted a novice teacher who needed help.
Using Series Books to Model Comprehension and Anchor Thinking
Katie DiCesare shares some of her favorite texts for a primary study on series books. This is Part 2 in a series.
Uncovering Reading Behaviors
Teachers value the assessment of student skills and needs that come from close observation in classrooms, but may not know how to focus those observations. Ruth Shagoury documents some of those behaviors that put students on the path of becoming accomplished independent readers in a middle school classroom.
Daily Tidbits: Professional Development in Small Bites
Jennifer Jones suggests an easy way to provide bits of useful professional development to colleagues.
Literacy Keepsakes to Carry Home at the End of the School Year
Choice Literacy readers share their favorite gifts for students to make and take home at the end of the year.
Creating a Kindergarten Classroom Library
Mandy Robek finds herself overwhelmed when moving from a 3rd grade to kindergarten classroom. Her therapy? Rolling up her sleeves and designing a kindergarten classroom library.
Who Rules?: Creating a Classroom Code of Conduct with Students
Heather Rader works with a young teacher to establish a better management system.
Still Revising After 10 Years: Sorting Through Pitfalls of Study Groups
Jennifer Allen considers how her study groups have changed over the past decade as she continues to balance district demands with teacher choice.
Books and Activities from Around the World to Celebrate the Holiday Season
People around the world celebrate the holidays in different ways, and that diversity provides wonderful learning opportunities this time of year. Stella Villalba shares literary holiday projects and a booklist around the themes of “peace” and “wishes” that might help students find common ground in family traditions.
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