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Integrating Vocabulary and Retelling Strategies into Read-Aloud

Stella Villalba scaffolds the language development of her first- and second-grade English language learners during read-aloud by highlighting vocabulary and providing a tool to assist with a partner retelling activity.

Vocabulary and iPhones: A Four-Step Process for Independent Student Word Learning

Bryce Bennett develops a four-step process to help high school students use their smartphones to master difficult vocabulary while reading.

The Big Fresh February 16, 2013 Small Things

Connecting movement, music, and literacy is the topic of this week’s Big Fresh.

Linking Movement, Minds, and Literacy in Kindergarten

Max Brand explains how movement activities in classrooms with young learners can be so much more than a brain break or “getting the wiggles out”: movement can forge potent connections between mind, body, and story. The essay includes two video examples.

Student-Selected Vocabulary in Middle School

Katie Doherty shares many ways to make vocabulary learning fun in middle school, beginning with students working together to select words to study each week.

The Big Fresh February 9, 2013 Add Ons

This week’s Big Fresh is all about conferring.

Curating the Classroom and School Library

As classroom budgets get tighter, teachers rely more and more on school libraries for books. Erin Ocon describes how she has changed the way she matches books and readers in her middle school classroom, depending more on school library resources and helping her middle school students navigate them.

Conferring to Build Stamina in First Grade

Katie DiCesare works with first grader JJ to help him meld decoding and comprehension skills.

Backing Up and the Bossy E

In this conference with second grader TJ from Sean Moore’s classroom, the strategies of backing up and rereading as well as attending to the “bossy e” are discussed.

From “Show Me the Lessons” to Sustainable Planning (Part 4 of the Opinion/Argument Writing Series)

This is the final installment in Heather Rader's series on argument and opinion writing in the intermediate grades.

Movement with First Graders

Katie DiCesare leads her first-grade students through movements and a song, and explains in the debrief why movement activities are valuable for young learners.

The Power of Read-Aloud Notebooks

Karen Terlecky shares the process of launching and sustaining read-aloud notebooks with fifth graders.

Peer Conferring: The Release Phase

Amanda Adrian concludes her series on peer conferring, analyzing the value of students working on their own after instruction and practice.

Looking for the Open Door

Midyear is a wonderful time for taking conferences to the next level, now that you know your students well and they trust you.  Beth Lawson gently challenges a young writer in her fourth-grade classroom to reach his full potential.

Fantasy Reading in Eighth Grade

Katie Baydo-Reed confers with an eighth-grade student who is reading The Hobbit.

Helping Richard Revise

Karen Terlecky coaxes Richard to cut extraneous material from his writing by highlighting the strengths of his writing first in this video from her fifth grade classroom.

The Big Fresh February 2, 2013 Big Lists

We explore graphic novels and comics in this week’s Big Fresh.

My Name Is Not Julie

Ellie Gilbert is deeply moved when her high school student connects to a text in a startling way. It’s one of those magic moments that keeps teachers coming back to classrooms, but is nearly impossible to share with others.

Comic Books and Mini Caped Crusaders for the Youngest Readers (Home is Where the Books Are Series)

Meghan Rose gives a mom’s perspective on comics for young children in this booklist. This is from our new series, Home is Where the Books Are, on literacy in the home from birth to age 5.

Lists, Facts, and Reports: Conferring with Anna

Franki Sibberson confers with fourth grader Anna to help her connect report writing with her love of animal lists.

Touchy Topics for Opinion/Argumentative Writing

When students take a stand in writing, they will almost inevitably bring up touchy topics. Heather Rader considers the challenge in part 3 of her opinion/argumentative writing series.

A Graphic Novels Unit in 5th Grade

Katherine Sokolowski designs a graphic novels unit for her fifth graders, and is surprised by how much the genre delights them.

Understanding Adolescent Readers: A Podcast with Penny Kittle

In this podcast, Penny Kittle chats with Franki Sibberson about how to inspire a passion for reading in adolescents. A full transcript is available below the player.

The Big Fresh January 26, 2013 The Stick Game

Peer response is the focus of this week’s Big Fresh.

Building Peer Conferring Skills in the Primary Grades

Ann Marie Corgill questions whether her second graders are ready for peer response. She finds that with some guidance and construction of anchor charts together, the answer is a resounding yes.

Classroom Jobs Build Community

Keri Archer describes her process of creating a jobs list for her kindergartners, as well as how she has adapted the tasks based on the evolving class community.

Lifting the Quality of Peer Response

Tony Keefer discovers that his fourth-grade students need focused instruction and support to strengthen their peer conferring skills. Tony shares tips and two video examples from his classroom.

Whole Class Writing Share: Teaching Response Skills in 1st Grade

Katie DiCesare’s first graders respond to their classmates’ writing, using questions they developed together over time.

Thank You For Arguing

In the second installment of our teaching argument/opinion writing series, Heather Rader uses a continuum dialogue and modeled writing with intermediate students.

The Big Fresh January 19, 2013 Shoulds

We explore digital reading and writing resources in this week’s Big Fresh.

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