In this week's video, Gigi McAllister meets with two fourth graders who are reading the book Paper Things, talking about how using an audiobook can support comprehension.
Andrea Smith concludes her series on the power of branded student blogs in her fourth-grade classroom.
Ruth Ayres confers with fourth grader Nicole and reinforces advice from her mom about capitalizing proper nouns, as well as the importance of applying what you know about conventions in first drafts.
Andrea Smith uses a reading conference with fourth grader Zoe to preview a book.
Kate Mills and Tara Barnett share strategies for building bridges between intervention and classroom instruction.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills give three principles they use to help avoid the “charts as wallpaper” syndrome in their fourth-grade classroom.
Ruth Ayres shares some of her favorite mentors and mentor texts for developing good writing processes and habits.
Andrea Smith shares a sequence of lessons she uses to introduce the classroom library to her fourth-grade students.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills describe how they set up their meeting area with the right supplies to build community and student independence.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills describe the principles they use to design a student-centered classroom.
Gigi McAllister finds taking time to have students browse texts before forming book clubs makes all the difference in the quality of the discussions.
Andrea Smith reflects on preparing to say goodbye to students and her teaching partner of many years. If you have a favorite colleague who is retiring, you may want to get a hankie ready before you read this one.
Melanie Meehan finds that a flexible conventions checklist that students develop according to their own needs is the best way to ensure conventions are taught in the context of authentic student work.
Melanie Meehan works with fifth graders who are struggling to elaborate on themes in their opinion writing.
Gigi McAllister shares suggestions for infusing poetry throughout classrooms and the literacy curriculum all year long.
Andrea Smith’s fourth graders are working on an Owl Research project that integrates reading, writing, talking, listening, and content literacy.
There may be few literacy homework assignments more despised by families than the dreaded reading log. Gigi McAllister proposes some alternatives, and explains how she keeps families in the loop on reading progress.
Gigi McAllister reorganizes her classroom library checkout system, and finds that a little upfront investment in time pays big dividends all year long.
Beth Lawson confers with Michael, a fourth-grade writer who struggles with focus and basic conventions.
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan are using reading notebook covers in ingenious ways.
Megan Skogstad shares advice launching digital portfolios.
Are you required to use a reading or writing program that goes against your beliefs about teaching and learning? Gigi McAllister has suggestions for holding onto your beliefs and sanity.
Megan Skogstad shares lots of practical advice for creating and sustaining student data binders.
Melanie Swider enhances read alouds and the entire reading workshop with creative uses for reading notebooks.
In this video from a fourth-grade classroom, Gi Reed reads aloud Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Gi continually checks in with her students, making sure they are visualizing, noticing new vocabulary, and making connections to earlier incidents in the texts—all without breaking the flow of the story.
Andrea Smith helps a group of boys take notes during an owl research project.
Gigi McAllister uses picture books to strengthen her fourth-grade classroom community.
Tony Keefer demonstrates how he makes his read-alouds interactive, and explains why he selected Percy Jackson to use with this group of fourth graders.
Melanie Meehan finds a notebooks tour is a terrific minilesson for helping students expand the ways they use notebooks.
Aimee Buckner confers with Sarah about sketching in her notebook.
Get full access to all Choice Literacy article content
Get full access to all Choice Literacy video content
Access Choice Literacy course curriculum and training