Latest Content
Preserving Student Writing as a Curator

Once students are producing quality writing, there is a new challenge: what to do with it all? Heather Rader works with a teacher to design a system to meet her needs.

A Drive Through Assessment of My Writing

While considering some driving habits she's developed, Aimee Buckner shares what she's learned from the experts about writing and what it means to her practice.

Georgia Heard on the Common Core (PODCAST)

In this podcast, Georgia Heard talks about the possibilities for the Common Core when teachers bring their own passion, heart and poetry to the discussions.

When You Hate the Book

Abandoning a text isn't always an option (in school or life). Clare Landrigan considers her own experience as a reader and applies those lessons to the classroom.

Making Kids Aware of Their Thinking

If we stopped every time a child was thinking, wondering or connecting to our read aloud, we’d lose the continuity of the writing. Jennifer McDonough teaches students gestures to give her feedback about when and how kids are thinking.

Making the Reading-Writing Connection with Genre Studies: The “Must Have” Lesson

No stranger to genre studies, Aimee Buckner has both advice and book basket ideas to get must-haves in your hands.

Learning from Master Teachers: It’s the Process, Not the Content (Part I)

Have you ever wondered why lessons you attempt to imitate from master teachers you’ve seen on videos often go poorly? Franki Sibberson asked herself this question after trying a minilesson she viewed from Debbie Miller.  She discovered it’s what comes before the lesson that matters more than what’s in the lesson.

Writing Better First Drafts

Aimee Buckner uses her love of baking to make the point that creating better first drafts is key to stronger writing and more enjoyment in the revising phase.

Fact of the Day

Do you have fact hunters in your room? Andrea Smith legitimizes and celebrates these collectors and brings a new level of nonfiction awareness to her classroom.

Communicating with the Y Chromosome

Heather Rader finds herself coaching a male teacher who is part of a male teaching team, and gets a lesson herself in gender communication patterns.

Mentor Texts for a Writing Study in Graphica

Graphica readers often want to become graphica writers. Franki Sibberson weeds through the books and leaves us with the "good stuff" for mentor texts.

Common Core Conversations: Reading in the Disciplines

Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader look at reading across the disciplines within the Common Core.

Katherine Casey on Sharing Blunders with Colleagues (PODCAST)

Katherine Casey explains why she shares her teaching blunders (on video, no less) with colleagues, and what she has learned from the process.

Invocation at the End of Summer

Shirl McPhillips reminds us of the power of an invocation–a call for support. Not only is this a beautiful poem, but it is a model for students writing their own invocation.

Skype an Author with Kate Messner (PODCAST)

In this podcast, Kate Messner points out the cost and kid benefits for skyping with an author.

Pitching My Lesson Plans for a Day of Peace and Poetry

Seizing an unexpected learning opportunity may be the best way to remember why you became a teacher in the first place. Karen Terlecky celebrates one of these serendipitous moments.

The Superpower of Reflecting

Are you more of a Pollyanna or Eeyore reflector? Heather Rader takes you inside the questions that help us reflect even more deeply on our instructional practices.

Improving Poetry’s Rap

Katie Baydo-Reed finds the web has great resources for her middle school students when it comes to sparking more interest in poetry.

Current and Cocoa: Mixing Social Studies and Literacy

Current and Cocoa is a fun routine for integrating social studies, literacy, and conversation in classrooms. Heather Rader describes how the weekly activity builds community and fosters awareness of news events.

Conferring with Parents (ROUND-UP)

There is always a new tweak to consider with conferences involving families. Choice Literacy Contributors have both the head and heart in mind with these tips.

Trying to Coach Without the Budget in Mind

Melanie Quinn makes a somewhat surprising discovery in the midst of the budget cutting season.  The best way to justify her literacy coaching position is to do less – but do everything extraordinarily well.

Wild Facts

Wild Facts is a terrific example of how Andrea Smith's intermediate students naturally connect web resources with content learning.

Sorting Students for Flexible Groups Across Classrooms

Jennifer Jones explains how one team of second-grade teachers formed guided reading groups across classrooms to marshal resources and expand their collaboration.

Learning from Master Teachers: Final Lessons in the Cycle (Part II)

Franki Sibberson presents two more minilessons from her cycle on teaching students how to respond to reading.

Not That Into Me

If you're a literacy coach, those teachers who don't want to work with you can make you feel like the wallflower at the prom or the last kid picked for the basketball team.  Heather Rader has positive, proactive suggestions for making the best of an awkward situation.

Updating Reading Interviews: Technology and Changing Habits

Reading Interviews are a staple in many literacy programs – a terrific tool for learning more about the history and habits of students. Franki Sibberson explains how she has updated her reading interview to include questions about digital resources and tools.

5 Easy Steps to Becoming Active in the Blog Community

If you are beginning to involve yourself more in online networks, you might enjoy these suggestions from Mary Lee Hahn and Franki Sibberson.

The Amazing School Librarian: An Interview with John Schumacher (PODCAST)

Franki Sibberson interviews extraordinary school librarian and blogger  John Schumacher in an inspiring podcast that will get you thinking in new ways about school librarians and their role in your learning community.

Lady With the Yellow Umbrella


In this poem, Shirl McPhillips writes about "learning better how to live" while finding peace and purpose in the midst of adversity.

Books Struggling Readers Can and Will Want to Read: Building the Classroom Library

Sammy is an avid reader in the classroom, but his teacher Cathy Mere notices he “accidentally” is always leaving the backpack with his intervention books behind.  The challenge for classroom teachers is stocking books with titles that will interest Sammy, but still provide enough challenge and support to move him forward as a reader.

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