Teaching Reading
Our contributors lead reading workshops in classrooms with creative flair. Over the past 12 years, we've filled our site with loads of suggestions, tools, and tips for using engaging books throughout the curriculum to hook kids on reading. Here is where you will find many stories of successful and not-so-successful workshop days, and what we learned from them. We bring these stories to life through hundreds of video examples.
Latest Content
Stuck at Level E
Shari Frost assists a teacher who is instructing a child stuck at level E, and in the process reveals some of the issues in treating all levels equally.
Leveled Text Dilemma
"We don't have enough leveled texts!" is the cry from teachers. Heather Fisher helps them move beyond the school book room to more creative online resources to meet students' needs, and move beyond narrow definitions of text suitability.
The Scarlet Level
Stephanie Affinito tells everyone at a staff meeting to write their weights and ages on sticky notes so that she can post the numbers for the group to view. When teachers balk at the request, she has the perfect opening to discuss why focusing on levels in classrooms is a bad idea.
Conferring in First Grade: Reading Illustrations
Katrina Edwards helps a first grader use pictures to help her make sense of confusing text.
Environment Small Group: Habitat
Katherine Sokolowski leads a small group of fifth graders who have chosen similar topics for their projects in an environmental unit.
My Five Objectives for the Start of the School Year
Gretchen Schroeder winnows many competing demands at the start of the year down to five clear objectives in her high school classroom.
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.
#bookaday in Middle School
Jillian Heise rises to the challenge of reading a new picture book to her seventh and eighth graders each day all year long.
Building a Next-Read Stack
Katherine Sokolowski helps fifth grader Abby build her next-read stack of books.
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.
The Basics of Teaching Internet Search Skills to Children
Bill Bass provides a range of search options for students, and encourages teachers to promote different tools in different contexts.
Literary Analysis: Counterclaims
Christy Rush-Levine shares how to present counterclaims, as well as a video example of a small group exploring counterclaims.
First-Grade Minilesson: Reading Like Writers
Bitsy Parks teaches her first graders early in the year how to read like writers, highlighting examples from favorite mentor texts.
Using If I Stay to Model Literary Analysis
Christy Rush-Levine uses the mentor text If I Stay to model literary analysis, building on her middle school students’ interest in the recent movie.
Reading Ambassadors
Cathy Mere finds that a Reading Ambassadors program pays big dividends in building confident and conversant young readers.
Hosting Reading and Writing Events
Gigi McAllister explains why you have to be a bit choosy about reading and writing events since there are so many possibilities. Here are some she values in her fourth-grade classroom.
Building Excitement for Book Awards
Bitsy Parks finds building excitement for book awards works in tandem with generating enthusiasm for reading in her first-grade classroom.
Exploring Goals in Fiction
Gigi McAllister meets briefly with a group of fourth graders who are all exploring theme in picture books.
Research Through Picture Books
Katherine Sokolowski explains how picture books can be a potent tool for teaching intermediate students research skills.
The Power of Picture Book Conversations
Katie DiCesare uses conversations around picture books to build communication, community, and reading skills in her first-grade classroom. Late in the school year she reflects with students about why these conversations are so powerful.
“Old Age Sticks”: Choral Reading and Reflection
Christy Rush-Levine leads her eighth graders in a choral reading and analysis of the E. E. Cummings poem "Old Age Sticks." This is the second video in a two-part series.
Good Questions for Group Discussions
Gigi McAllister helps a group of fourth graders evaluate questions for fostering good group discussions.
Literacy Routines for Applying See-Think-Wonder
Shari Frost finds that the See-Think-Wonder activity is great to use as a “bell-ringer,” as well as throughout the day to promote deeper thinking and engagement.
Read-Aloud Gone Awry
Jennifer Schwanke shares her experience of having read-aloud go awry in a middle school classroom.
Increasing Read Alouds in the Primary Grades
Bitsy Parks describes her process over the years in increasing both the quality and quantity of read alouds in her first-grade classroom.
Fact or Fiction? Introducing the Task
Christy Rush-Levine has her middle school students complete a fun and sophisticated reading activity using Muse magazine to sort through what might be fact or fiction. The piece includes a video excerpt from the group discussion.
Fact or Fiction? Discussion
Christy Rush-Levine has her middle school students complete a fun and sophisticated reading activity using Muse magazine to sort through what might be fact or fiction. In this second installment of the video series, students discuss the articles they have read.
Rhyming Words and English Language Learners
Stella Villalba explains why focusing on rhyming words is crucial for young English language learners.
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.
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