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March Literacy Contracts: Nonfiction Curiosities
This month’s literacy contract for middle school students focuses on nonfiction texts and growing independence in the classroom.
Sentence Combining in Workshops
Heather Rader has strategies for using sentence combining in literacy workshops.
The Power of Mystery Series for Teens and Tweens
Ruth Shagoury shares her top picks of mystery series for teens and tweens.
A Tool Worth Exploring: Sentence Combining
Heather Rader begins a new series on sentence combining, an alternative to traditional drill and kill grammar instruction.
Deeper Writing: The Story Behind the Selfie
Gretchen Taylor taps into a cultural phenomenon with her seventh-grade writers to help them deepen their writing and reflection.
Explanatory Grammar Moves: Getting Verbal with It
Jeff Anderson concludes his series on explanatory grammar moves by exploring participles, included in the Common Core eighth-grade standard covering the use of verbals.
Middle School Design: Cozy Reading Spaces
Katie Doherty has design tips for creating cozy reading spaces in middle school classrooms where there is no space or budget for a whole-class rug area.
Making Classics Relevant for Middle School Students
Jennifer Schwanke helps middle school students make connections between classics and their current reading.
Liberty and Dystopia: February Literacy Contracts
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus their February Literacy Contracts on dystopias.
Streamlining Research Check-ins
Gretchen Taylor finds streamlining research check-ins in her middle school classroom is easy to do when she uses a simple online tool to eliminate a mountain of paper.
Keep Going
Ruth Ayres has advice for moving forward, staying positive, and focusing on what’s important.
Journeys and Quests: January Literacy Contracts
Middle school teachers Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus on journeys and quests as the theme of their January Literacy Contracts in the latest installment of their year-long series.
Tell Me More
Gretchen Taylor finds the three little words “tell me more” provide breakthroughs in helping her middle school students respond to reading.
Middle School Design: Reading Gutters
Katie Doherty explains how reading gutters, an inexpensive design feature, dress up her middle school classroom and build community at the same time.
Explanatory Grammar Moves: Right-Branching Sentences
Jeff Anderson continues his Explanatory Grammar Series with a feature on the power of right-branching sentences.
Spelling Cycles: An Alternative to Weekly Spelling Lists
Max Brand developed Spelling Cycles as an alternative to weekly spelling tests. He explains how they work with an example from a third-grade class.
Exploring Winter with Short Texts
Middle school teachers Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus on winter in short texts as the theme of their December Literacy Contracts in the latest installment of their year-long series.
Powerful Conferences
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
November Contract: Family and Memoir
The November installment of Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller’s yearlong literacy contract series has a theme of family and memoir.
She Wants to Be Katniss for Halloween: Courageous Girls in Books
Shari Frost celebrates a tomboy who finally finds a female character she wants to emulate with a booklist highlighting courageous girls.
Exploring Explanatory Moves Writers Use
Jeff Anderson explores the difference between informational and explanatory writing, and what that might mean for teaching craft moves to students.
October Literacy Contracts: Fear and Conflict
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller continue their monthly series on using literacy contracts in middle school. The October literacy contracts have a theme of fear and conflict.
Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet
Julie Johnson provides helpful tips and a letter for parents to help keep students safe on the Internet.
Emphasizing Empathy: September Literacy Contracts
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller are Emphasizing Empathy in their September literacy contracts for middle school students.
How to Eat an Elephant One Bit(e) at a Time: Reading Complex Texts
Maggie Beattie Roberts and Kate Roberts present a step-by-step process for close reading in the middle and high school grades involving multiple passes through the same text.
Literacy Contracts: Introduction
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.
The Cure for Value-Added Grief? Teacher Research
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.
Using Pinterest for Professional Development
Franki Sibberson finds Pinterest is a useful tool for professional development.
Helping Students Evaluate Online Video for Research
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.
First Read Alouds (ROUND-UP)
Choice Literacy contributors share their picks for the first read aloud of the year.
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