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Podcast

Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts on Close Reading (PODCAST)

Franki Sibberson chats with Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts about close reading in this 30-minute podcast. Chris and Kate are the authors of Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons for Analyzing Texts — and Life from Heinemann.

Video

Owl Research: Whole Class Explanation of Marking Up Text

Andrea Smith

Students are given a nonfiction text to mark up during a close reading with a partner in this video from Andrea Smith’s fourth-grade classroom.

Newsletter

The Big Fresh August 31, 2013 Chasing Joy

Brenda Power

Setting goals for students and adults is the topic of this week's Big Fresh.

Video

Conferring in 4th Grade: The Dilemma of Multiple Novels

Melissa Styger

Melissa Styger confers with a fourth-grade student who is reading two novels simultaneously, and shares her criteria for determining when it’s appropriate for students to read multiple texts.

Article

Mentor Texts for Writing Endings

Katie DiCesare

One goal of many primary teachers is to help students finish their drafts with an ending other than “The End” (or “they lived happily ever after”). Katie DiCesare shows her first graders many alternative examples, and she begins early in the year.

Article

Literacy Contracts: Introduction

Megan Ginther Holly Mueller

Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller present Reading Contracts, a system for middle and high school teachers that involves students contracting to complete specific texts and tasks each month.

Article

The Cure for Value-Added Grief? Teacher Research

Gretchen Taylor

Gretchen Taylor goes through the stages of "value-added grief" when her sixth-grade team receives disappointing test scores from the state. Teacher research helps her find joy again in her classroom, as well as some useful strategies for helping a group of struggling readers.

Article

Using Pinterest for Professional Development

Franki Sibberson

Franki Sibberson finds Pinterest is a useful tool for professional development.

Article

Helping Students Evaluate Online Video for Research

Bill Bass

Even if your district is blocking web video now, it's not going anywhere. As time goes on, schools will rely more and more on video available from the Internet for research and learning. Bill Bass has practical advice for helping middle and high school students assess everything from suspect sources to appalling comments on the Wild Wild Web.

Newsletter

The Big Fresh August 24, 2013 Texting About Reading

Brenda Power

Using tech resources to build a classroom reading and writing community is the topic of this week’s Big Fresh.

Newsletter

The Big Fresh August 17, 2013 Pausing Time

Brenda Power

We consider book and wall displays in this week’s Big Fresh.

Article

Using Technology to Connect Young Readers and Writers

Julie Johnson

Julie Johnson reflects on how technology is changing her own reading community, and builds on this knowledge to connect readers and writers in her classroom with others through the Internet.

Video

Fourth Grade Writing Workshop Minilesson on Focusing

Franki Sibberson

Franki Sibberson shares some tips and strategies with her fourth graders from the web for focusing and organizing their writing.

Article

The Minimalist: Essential Texts for Kindergarten Teaching

Max Brand

Max Brand develops a "Swiss army knife" booklist of texts that he can't live without when teaching young learners.

Podcast

Global Read Aloud with Pernille Ripp (PODCAST)

Franki Sibberson chats with Pernille Ripp about the Global Read Aloud initiative.

Article

Laundry Line Luxuries

Suzy Kaback

Suzy Kaback writes about the pleasures of slowing down and being inefficient sometimes in teaching and relationships.

Article

Reimagining Reading Notebooks

Katherine Sokolowski

When premade reading notebooks no longer fit into her reading budget, Katherine Sokolowski comes up with a unique design starting with generic notebooks, and in the process figures out what’s most important to include.

Video

Building from Strengths: Conferring with Mia

Sean Moore

Sean Moore confers with second grader Mia, gently encouraging her to work from her strengths by writing about what she knows well.

Newsletter

The Big Fresh August 10, 2013 Awkward Is Good

Brenda Power

Planning and prioritizing assessments early in the year is the topic of this week’s Big Fresh.

Video

Notebooks, Goals, and Writing About Characters in First Grade

Katie DiCesare

Katie DiCesare confers with a group of first graders about their writing notebooks, goals, and drafts about the characters they are studying during reading workshop.

Article

In Defense of Dictation

Leslie Woodhouse

Leslie Woodhouse finds dictation is a critical tool for understanding young writers and their sense of story.

Article

What Data Will You Be Collecting?

Tony Keefer

Tony Keefer explains why attitudinal survey data is important to collect early in the year, and shares different reading surveys he uses with students to understand their needs in the first six weeks of school.

Article

Rethinking the Assessment Binder

Franki Sibberson

Franki Sibberson’s dilemma? How to file every evaluation so it is organized and accessible (since she never knows when someone might ask for it), while still finding a way to keep the assessments she needs every day at her fingertips.

Newsletter

The Big Fresh August 3, 2013 What We Teach

Brenda Power

Routines for independence is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Article

“My Ideal Bookshelf”: Books that Educate Us

Ellie Gilbert

Ellie Gilbert shares an activity that is a terrific way to get to know your new students. Although Ellie works with high school students, this activity can be adapted for the younger grades.

Article

Routines to Build Independence Early in the School Year

Katie DiCesare

Katie DiCesare explores how to develop routines early in the year, and includes advice to give to parents to build the home/school connection around expectations for independence.