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Book Matchmaker: Wordless Picture Books

Brad Smedley, an elementary principal, is looking for wordless picture books to share with his preschool classes.

Rumor Has It

Lisa Koch says we should get our students to start some rumors — about characters, that is.

Astrigs, Asterisks, and Letting Students Lead

In this video from Linda Karamatic’s second-grade classroom, Charlie shares his punctuation “find” of asterisks with his classmates. He is reading the book Miss Child Has Gone Wild by Dan Gutman.

Sticky Little Invention (The Post-It Essay)

Jill Ostrow describes how the "post-it essay" is an ingenious way to get richer responses to displays of learning. Jill is working with teachers, but this is another writing activity that can be adapted for use with teens or tweens.

Essay Writing: Thesis Statements and Supporting Details Minilesson

Beth Lawson works with her 4th graders to develop essays with strong thesis statements and supporting details, using a folder organization system to highlight different thesis statements for each child. This is the first video in a series.

Common Core Conversations: Text Complexity

Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader find ways into understanding text complexity with students and teachers.

I Can’t Quite Put My Finger On It

Have you ever had a teacher enthusiastically embrace a new “magic bullet” instructional program that includes scripted or rote elements that concern you? Melanie Quinn considers this sticky situation instructional coaches sometimes find themselves in, and comes up with some starting points for conversations with colleagues.

Essay Writing: Teacher Modeling

Beth Lawson works with her fourth graders to develop essays with strong thesis statements and supporting details, using a folder organization system to highlight different thesis statements for each child. This is the second video in a series.

Conferring with Tweens: Boys and Series Books

In this conference from a 6th grade classroom, Katie Doherty confers with a boy who is reading a book from a series she is unfamiliar with – watch how she engages the child to learn about the series and refocus the discussion on skills and goals.

Noticing Words in Second Grade

In this brief video from Linda Karamatic’s 2nd grade classroom, students share words they are noticing, and Linda talks about making revisions to the wall displays of words in the classroom. She also mentions the word “wretched” which the class discussed the previous day, and how the word might be used naturally in conversations.

Book Matchmaker: Picture Book Biographies

Franki Sibberson shares some of her favorite picture book biographies in the latest installment of Book Matchmaker.

Same Old Love Song — A Cento

Shirl McPhillips creates a cento – a collection of lines written by other poets compiled into a new poem. It turns out poets were sampling other creative works centuries before rappers made the practice so popular today.

Listen In: Writing in Math

Heather Rader confers with 2nd grader Maya about her math writing as Linda Karamatic listens in.

Conferring About Thesis Statements

In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson talks about supporting details for thesis statements. This is part of the video series from Beth’s room on essay writing.

Write Today

Ruth Ayres describes her own experiences as an author, blogger, and teacher. She shows how possible and essential writing is for even the busiest educators.

Poetry that Celebrates Summertime and the Outdoors

Franki Sibberson combines verse and nature in this booklist on taking poetry outdoors.

11/11/11: We Are One Celebration with Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Hundreds of people gathered at Millennium Park in Chicago for a joyful and silly celebration of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s “We Are One” flash mob.

Conferring About Chunking Words in Second Grade

Sean Moore confers with a 2nd grader who is learning the strategy of chunking words in reading. Notice how Sean focuses the student, refers to previous conferences, and previews an upcoming whole-class reading.

If You Like Junie B. Jones, You Might Like . . .

What young learner doesn’t love Junie B. Jones? Franki Sibberson shares great texts to recommend for readers who adore Junie and might be looking for similar characters and plots.

What’s On Your Summer Pleasure Reading List? (Round-Up)

We asked some of our favorite teacher authors what's on their nightstands and in their book bags for summer reading.

Stuck on a Thesis: Conferring

In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson works with a student who has chosen a challenging essay topic and is struggling to develop his thesis.

Preschool Centers

Centers can be an effective teaching and learning strategy in preschools. In this video, Melissa Kolb shares her rationale for using centers in her Head Start classroom with video examples of centers.

Preschool Thank You Writing Center

Teachers Melissa Kolb and Andie Cunningham help preschoolers use the thank you writing center in this quick two-minute video.

Learning to Write Engaging Nonfiction: A Middle School Partner Writing Study

Ann Marie Corgill takes a big risk and pairs her middle-school students randomly for a nonfiction writing project, and finds the risk pays off.

Book Matchmaker: Intermediate Read-Alouds

Franki Sibberson shares some of her favorite read-alouds for the intermediate grades.

Sticky Notes to Determine Importance

In this conference from Beth Lawson’s third-grade classroom, the focus is on the skill of determining importance in texts. Beth helps Sephina integrate sticky notes into her strategic reading of the book The Blues Singers.

Beyond Harry Potter: Tapping Student Interest in Fantasy

Franki Sibberson taps into the fantasy craze among students with this booklist.

Conferring About Rereading Strategies

In this conference with a fourth grader, Aimee Buckner guides a child to think more deeply and critically about a book being read to the whole class, Goblins in the Castle.

Reading Conferences in 5th Grade

Karen Terlecky confers with her 5th graders during reading workshop.

Book Matchmaker: Graphic Novels for a 6th Grader

Franki Sibberson has graphic novel suggestions for 6th grade girls.

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