3rd
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Planning for a Narrative Writing Unit of Study
Franki Sibberson believes planning a unit of study should be just as much fun as planning a trip to Disney World. She explains her planning process for one of her first units of study, on narrative writing.
Reconsidering Reading Workshop Routines
Andrea Smith realizes her normal reading routine will not work within the constraints of this year’s schedule. She makes some radical changes to ensure she and her students can have enough time to find the joy in reading and building a literate community.
Sketchnoting as a Response to Reading
Dana Murphy tries sketchnoting during professional development, and soon finds herself sharing the fun technique with students. They hone their skills during read alouds and while annotating texts.
The Benefits of #bookaday
Franki Sibberson finds the investment of five to seven minutes a day for #bookaday with her third graders is truly time well spent.
Supporting Student Agency with Questioning Strategies
Katrina Simkins-Moore explains why becoming more intentional in questioning during reading conferences can help build student independence, as well as consistency among the teaching community.
Free-Range Learning with Nonfiction Part 2: Infographics and Maps
Andrea Smith shares the final installment of her series on the value of free-range learning in helping students explore nonfiction.
Free Range Learning with Nonfiction (Part 1)
Andrea Smith's students explore nonfiction through free-range roaming. She explains how she sets up expectations and resources early in the year in this first installment of a two-part series.
The Craft of Blogging
Franki Sibberson uses a micro-progression of her own draft of a blog post to help her third graders improve their blogging skills.
Bad Days in Workshops
Franki Sibberson realizes there are some bad days in literacy workshops that hold no great life lessons for teachers and students, and that is okay.
Bridging the Gap Between Intervention and the Classroom
Kate Mills and Tara Barnett share strategies for building bridges between intervention and classroom instruction.
Embracing the Books My Students Love
Franki Sibberson explains why we need to move beyond our cherished definitions of quality when working with third graders in transition and embrace the books students love.
Mentors for Process and Habits
Ruth Ayres shares some of her favorite mentors and mentor texts for developing good writing processes and habits.
Mentor Texts for Crafting Nonfiction
Melanie Meehan talks with a third-grade teacher about how she helps students focus on craft elements in nonfiction mentor texts.
Introducing the Classroom Library
Andrea Smith shares a sequence of lessons she uses to introduce the classroom library to her fourth-grade students.
Making Plans for Summer Reading
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills begin a few days before the start of break to help students develop summer reading goals and plans.
A Place to Belong
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.
An Individualized Conventions Checklist
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.
Holding a Dictionary
Jennifer Schwanke finds dictionaries (the real, not virtual, variety) are still a potent tool for teaching new vocabulary to children.
Learning Vocabulary in Context with English Language Learners
Stella Villalba explores why it is so important to teach vocabulary to English language learners in context.
Understanding Character Traits: Part 3
Jason DiCarlo completes his lesson on character traits in third grade. This is the final installment in a three-part series.
Understanding Character Traits: Part 2
Jason DiCarlo continues his third-grade reading workshop lesson on character traits with a mentor text. This is the second video in a three-part series.
Engaging a Room Full of Third Graders
Melanie Meehan works with a third-grade teacher to rouse interest from a class of compliant students who lack engagement.
Using Reading Notebook Covers for Reflection and Goal Setting
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan are using reading notebook covers in ingenious ways.
Easing into Workshops: Routines in Third Grade
This quick and silent time-lapse video shows the arrival routine in Leslie Lloyd’s third-grade classroom.
Anchoring Language
Katie DiCesare thinks about what language supports student independence early in the year and how to share this in an anchor chart with her first graders.
Time for English Language Learners
Stella Villalba finds what English language learners need more than almost anything else is patience with silence and time to formulate responses.
Choices for Paragraphs
Melanie Meehan finds third grade is a good age for helping students develop paragraphing skills.
Using Picture Books to Foster Resilience
Gigi McAllister uses picture books to strengthen her fourth-grade classroom community.
Giving Students a Notebook Tour
Melanie Meehan finds a notebooks tour is a terrific minilesson for helping students expand the ways they use notebooks.
Making Time for Individual Conferences
Franki Sibberson explains how longer conferences early in the year pay dividends all year long.
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