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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State Assessment Tests: Warm-Ups for Wandering Minds
Student distraction is a critical issue during assessments. Jennifer Jones provides a series of quick activities to help students focus before state examinations.
Team Sharing of Writing Curriculum Innovations (TEMPLATE)
Ruth Shagoury finds some of the best learning in her study groups comes when participants share the new things they are trying in their classrooms. She develops a nifty one-page notetaking form to help everyone keep track of ideas they want to test out with students.
Helping Classroom Volunteers Become Better Listeners
Helping volunteers understand the importance of listening to young learners is one of Andie Cunningham’s goals. Here she gives tips for preparing volunteers to confer with children.
An Assessment Notebook That Works for Me
After lots of trial and error, Franki Sibberson finally has a format for her assessment notebook that works well.
Cartwheels, Backward Rolls, and Literacy Coaching
Jennifer Allen observes the scaffolds her daughter's gymnastics teacher uses and gradually abandons over time. These observations make her think about how she is gradually releasing new teachers from different kinds of support as they enter their second, third, and fourth years of teaching.
Picture Books About Books: Young Learners and Reading Identity
Katie DiCesare gathers picture books to talk with her first graders about everything from reading identity to the proper care of books in the classroom library.
Helping Aaron Find His Voice as a Writer…and Mine as a Teacher
Erin Ocon tries a new strategy for dealing with a resistant student in her middle school classroom.
Fitness Boot Camp Helps Me Understand Struggling Readers
Franki Sibberson finishes 29th out of 30 participants in her fitness bootcamp mile run. In the process, she learns many lessons about herself and the needs of struggling learners in her classroom.
Discussion Quote Collection
These quotes give you something to talk about if you’re pondering speaking and listening.
Recipe for a Literary Tea
Ruth Shagoury has a recipe for you – a soothing “literary tea” with connections to favorite authors. You can start from her recipe to concoct your own author-themed tea, and we also include links to resources on the web for purchasing the loose tea ingredients.
Rethinking Writing Centers – Winter Follow-Up
Shari Frost questioned the amount of writing going on in many elementary writing centers. She decided to work with a team of literacy coaches and teachers to explore ways to increase writing in classrooms – through better use of centers, or alternative programs. In this follow-up article, Shari presents two different solutions that are working well – one involves introducing writing tools in a more systematic way in centers, and the other is an implementation of a different program entirely for independent work.
Fostering More Curricular Collaboration in Teams: The Meeting Notes Form (TEMPLATE)
Katie Doherty faces daunting challenges as a grade-level team leader in her middle school. A simple notetaking form works wonders in elevating the conversations and collaboration.
Sales Clerks and Literacy Leaders
Franki Sibberson reflects on what makes a perfect salesperson . . .and literacy coach.
Assessing Spelling in Writing Workshops Part 1: Thinking Through the Assessment
Katie DiCesare takes on the challenge of developing a one-page assessment tool to analyze the spelling needs and abilities of each of her 1st graders. This is the first in a series, as Katie takes us through the use of the tool in her workshop.
Nonfiction Books for Independent Reading: Moving Beyond Content Connections (BOOKLIST)
Franki Sibberson explains how she boosted the amount of nonfiction texts her grades 4 and 5 students were choosing for independent reading by focusing more on interest than on content connections.
Warm It Up: Lighting a Classroom for Literacy (PHOTO ESSAY)
Here are a few suggestions and quick tips for a lighting redesign from The Sisters (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey).
Beyond Matt Christopher (BOOKLIST)
Franki Sibberson finds many boys who are reluctant readers love the sports novels of Matt Christopher. So what is the logical next author or genre for these boys to keep them reading voraciously?
Watching Teachers Teach: An Observation Form for Literacy Coaches
Being genuine about feedback is essential to educators. Jan Miller Burkins finds a form and process that allows her to be both thoughtful and specific.
Open Book Clubs
Shari Frost shares the nuts and bolts of setting up open book clubs in your school. These clubs are a great way to expand the reading community, as well as connect school libraries and classrooms.
Multicultural Picture Books for Young Children
These books do double duty – building community and understanding of the sounds of language.
Letting Go and Holding On: Evaluating Our Work as Literacy Coaches
It’s hard to know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve come from. Jan Miller Burkins has developed an evaluation form for literacy coaches to give to teachers.
New Teacher Conversations: Management Stories from the Classroom
Ruth Shagoury provides a workshop model for teacher leaders looking to encourage respectful conversation with new teachers on the topics that are near and dear to them.
Quotes about Literacy Leadership and Change
Quotes to inspire teachers who lead.
Giving New Readers a Diet of More Than Leveled Books
Franki Sibberson contemplates which diet plan she’ll try this month, and that leads her to think about what a steady “diet” of leveled books does for young readers.
Chance Encounter
Jennifer Jones ventured out to lunch with some former colleagues, and came home with a new perspective on the impact of her teaching after a chance encounter with YuYang, a former student.
The Language of Coaching Part I: Word Choices
If you believe it’s challenging but “possible to be tactful without being inauthentic,” Jan Miller Burkins will guide you around the thorniness of the language of coaching.
Favorite Mentoring Quotes
If you're guiding the learning of others, you'll be inspired by these quotes.
Notetaking Series Part V: Getting Out of Notetaking Ruts
It's a quick journey from notetaking routines to notetaking ruts. This installment of the notetaking series focuses on ways to get out of the ruts that emerge naturally whenever any notetaking routine is established.
Memorable Students, Memorable Teachers: A Quick-Write Icebreaker for Teacher Workshops
This is a quick-write workshop activity that is especially suited to the more relaxed pace of summer professional development workshops, or first meetings with colleagues in the fall when everyone is refreshed and reflective.
How Study Groups Are Like Self-Cleaning Ovens
With a few key elements in place, Brenda Power and Jennifer Allen explain how study groups can almost run themselves and get everyone involved.
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