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.
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Moving Beyond Asking Questions
Dana Murphy comes to a lesson about asking questions in a curriculum resource and realizes it is not what her students need. She has designed a lesson to make asking questions more meaningful and useful for her students.
Literacy Tool Kits
Inspired by tool kits with math manipulatives, Jen Court created literacy tool kits with the help of her first-grade students. These tool kits grow and change across the year and according to student needs, and they help students “touch their thinking” and become more independent readers and writers.
Building Independence in Problem Solving
Mallory Messenger shares the intentional moves needed to help students build independence in problem solving.
Rural Communities
Julie Cox explores the differences in her experiences of teaching in the city of Louisville and teaching in a rural community. All teens have similar universal experiences, yet Julie outlines some considerations for rural students.
Exploring Rural Literature—A Middle-Grade Booklist
Leigh Anne Eck was named the Indiana Rural Teacher of the Year and shares the way she rethought her library through the lens of reflecting her students’ rural identity or revealing rural stereotypes. This middle-grade booklist is an excellent place for us all to begin expanding our classroom libraries.
Rural Matters: Revealing Perceptions and Celebrating Roots
Gretchen Schroeder addresses the negative and positive perceptions of rural people with her high school students through readings, discussions, and analytical writing. Download a guide for Critical Rural Perspective Analysis to use with your students.
Good Work, Writer
Becca Burk asserts that every child can become a writer when given materials, opportunity, and authentic glimpses into what it means to be a writer. Most importantly, though, children need adults who believe they are writers.
Assessment in Classroom Book Clubs
In this third installment about classroom book clubs, Leigh Anne Eck shares options for robust assessment as well as answers to some frequently asked questions.
Letting Informational Mentors Lead the Way
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share a practical process for using an informational mentor text to support students as readers and writers. Download a note sheet to support students in noticing text structure.
One-Page Reading Response: A Simple Approach to Complex Assessment
Christy Rush-Levine uses one-page reading responses as a simple culminating activity to provide closure for book clubs. However, the data they offer about readers is far from simple.
Identifying Story Elements
Dana Murphy shares a whole-class conversation about identifying the climax of the plot. She reminds us that defining story elements is not always clear-cut.
Implementing Classroom Book Clubs (Part Two)
In this second installment about book clubs, Leigh Anne Eck shares procedures for book club meetings, as well as discusses the importance of standards and instruction. Download a discussion guide.
Getting Started with Classroom Book Clubs (Part 1)
In the first installment of a three-part series, Leigh Anne Eck clearly lays out how to get started with book clubs. Included is an editable planning bookmark to give students more ownership of their reading schedules.
Less Is More: Using Novels in Verse in the Classroom
Gretchen Schroeder explains the reason why she believes requiring high school students to read novels in verse during independent reading time is worthwhile for their reading identity and developing more sophisticated understandings of literary analysis.
Read Aloud Magic
Jen Court reminds us of the power of reading aloud to students and pushes us to remember the importance of planning to use books to engage students and hone teaching points.
Our Brains on Happiness
Molly James shares the compelling research about the happiness advantage by Shawn Achor and two practical practices to make it a reality in her kindergarten classroom.
Understanding the Beautiful World of Being Multilingual Through the Lens of Brilliance and Complexity
Stella Villalba leads educators through a process to discover the brilliance and complexity of multilingual learners. Rather than searching for a list of strategies, Stella encourages us to linger with our questions and discover multilingual learners’ beauty.
Anthologies to Diversify Middle School Reading Instruction
Christy Rush-Levine offers a booklist of anthologies to diversify middle school reading instruction. In this robust list, everyone will find a new addition to use as a whole-class text.
Building Empathy Through Gratitude
Becca Burk noticed a sense of entitlement and discontentment in her students, so she turned to research to discover how to change students’ attitudes. She discovered gratitude can develop empathy, and the Thankful Thursday award was born. This changed attitudes while building literacy skills.
Picture Books to Help Navigate Difficult Emotions (Booklist)
Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills share a meaningful book list to help navigate emotions that come from difficult experiences such as the death of a loved one, moving homes, or an unexpected diagnosis.
Using Mathematics to Connect Home and School
Mandy Robek shares procedures for participation in Family Math. Family Math is a lens into the learning during the week and promotes math literacy at home.
Infusing Poetic Techniques in Our Writing
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills show how to infuse poetic techniques into writing other genres.
Listening and Learning: Using Conferring to Better Understand What Students Are Thinking
Jodie Bailey shares the importance of conferring with students during math to reinforce what students are doing well and differentiate instruction.
Conferring Notebook Details
Bitsy Parks opens her conferring notebook and shares powerful ways to use conferring notes to differentiate instruction for students in reading and writing.
What Should I Teach in a Writing Conference?
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills guide us in determining what to teach in a writing conference. Included is a template to use for conference notes.
Still Thinking: An Opportunity to Pause and Think Deeply
Jodie Bailey provides a structure to give students more time to think through ideas and problems. By using this practice, students gain ownership for their learning.
How Many? Counting Opportunities in Picture Books
Bitsy Parks shares the importance of counting and a booklist of picture books that lend themselves to counting opportunities.
The Power of an Anchor Chart in a Digital World
Dana Murphy reminds us of the power of an anchor chart in a digital world.
Getting to Know Digital Learners: How Playing with Technology Helps Facilitate Our Identities as Learners
As teachers we do many things to get to know our students as readers and writers and mathematicians. Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills lead us to consider how to get to know our students as digital learners.
Spoiler Alert: You Can Start Big to Go Small (Macbeth in One Class Period)
Gretchen Schroeder confesses her fast-paced approach to sharing Macbeth with her high school students. Starting with the big picture of the story and then drilling down into specific scenes for skill practice not only accomplished the goals for the unit, but also freed up more time and space for other curriculum needs.
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