Latest Content
Personal Narratives and Memoir: Conferring with Bode

Ruth Ayres confers with Bode about the difference between personal narratives and memoirs, and the value of mining the writing journal for topics.

Rethinking Writing Notebooks

What makes writing notebooks authentic? Katherine Sokolowski ponders the question.

Teacher as Mentor Writer

Tony Keefer takes the leap and commits to sharing more of his writing process with students.

The Big Fresh September 6, 2014 Clark Walking

Reading logs are the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Jumping Off the Buzz Wagon: The Value of Reading Logs

Are you ready to ditch your reading logs? Not so fast. Franki Sibberson explains why she still uses them in her third-grade classroom.

Reader Response: Keeping It Real

Cathy Mere finds many authentic ways for her first graders to share reading insights.

Fluency and Comprehension Conference

Aimee Buckner confers with fourth grader Amanda about her reading comprehension and fluency, encouraging her to use a sticky note to track thinking around a focus question.

Reading Passports

Justin Stygles develops reading passports as an alternative to traditional reading logs with his fifth- and sixth-grade students.

The Big Fresh August 30, 2014 The Other Space

Classroom libraries are the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Inviting Book Tub Titles: Nonfiction Library Redesign

Andrea Smith discovers the value of more creative nonfiction book tub titles after listening to ideas from her students.

Books for Studying Illustration with First Graders

Katie DiCesare has suggestions for books to support an illustration unit early in the year.

Reorganizing the Classroom Library

Katherine Sokolowski looks at challenges from the previous year for ideas on reorganizing the classroom library.

Summer’s a Gypsy

Shirl McPhillips captures the fleeting joy of summer in a new poem.

The Big Fresh August 23, 2014 Pure Enjoyment PD

We look at reader response in this week’s Big Fresh.

Conferring About Illustrations

Ruth Ayres encourages a young writer to emulate a favorite illustrator.

Understanding Study: Noticing Pictures

Katie DiCesare’s favorite beginning unit with first graders focuses on illustration.

Reader Response in the Digital Age

Franki Sibberson has suggestions for moving to more digital response options with students.

Digital Boards for Formative Assessment

Katharine Hale has moved much of her reading response to digital boards, which are also a useful tool for formative assessment.
 

The Big Fresh August 16, 2014 Hot

We consider a variety of transitions in this week’s Big Fresh.

Books for Brain Breaks

Mandy Robek compiles a list of her favorite books for brain breaks with young learners.

Quick Transitions in Second Grade

Sean Moore demonstrates two different quick kinesthetic movements to help his second-grade students focus and transition between whole-class instruction segments.

Community Board: Invitations to Independence

Students transition between home and school with the Community Board in Andrea Smith’s classroom. It’s a lively bulletin board that is updated and discussed daily in her fourth-grade classroom.

Independence in Writing Workshop

Beth Lawson uses an LCD, whiteboard, and magnetic clips in a clever way during the transition from minilessons to independent writing in writing workshop. Students tag whether they will be working on drafts or conferring with peers as Beth completes her status of the class on the board.

The Big Fresh August 9, 2014 Home

Classroom design is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Helping Allison Redesign Her Classroom Nonfiction Library

Andrea Smith shares her best advice for library design that celebrates nonfiction as much as fiction.

A Classroom for Elementary English Language Learners

Stella Villalba gives a tour of her classroom library and publishing corner designed to support the grades 1-5 English language learners she works with daily.

A Strong Foundation: Books and Media for Launching Literacy Workshops

Help students transition back to school with minilessons that give children a strong sense of the purpose of literacy workshops.

Effective Organization

 Ruth Ayres has tips for organizing desks, tables, chairs, and materials to support literacy learning.

Getting to Know You: Brown Bag Objects

Maria Caplin uses a getting-to-know-you activity in the first days of school to jumpstart research reading and writing with her fifth-grade students.

The Big Fresh August 2, 2014 Night Magic

We look at building relationships early in the year in this week’s Big Fresh.

Choice Literacy Membership


Articles

Get full access to all Choice Literacy article content

Videos

Get full access to all Choice Literacy video content

Courses

Access Choice Literacy course curriculum and training


Membership Options

Loading...