Library
Choice Literacy Articles & Videos
The Choice Literacy library contains over 3,000 articles and 900 videos from 150+ contributors. Classic Classroom and Literacy Leadership subscribers have access to the entire library. Content is updated continuously, with five to six new features published each week.
Latest Content
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.
Common Core Conversations: The Half ‘n’ Half Shift for Nonfiction Reading and Writing
Colleagues and coaches, Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader, explore the upcoming shifts in English Language Arts and anticipate what it will mean for leaders, teachers and most importantly, students.
Graphic Organizer for Mystery Writing
Beth Lawson talks with her 4th graders about the elements of a good mystery, and shares a graphic organizer to help them develop realistic characters and themes.
Getting Started With Twitter
Intrigue, frustration, instruction at the point of need…Franki Sibberson cycles through many common learning stages as she builds Twitter into her daily routine.
Tuesday Trades: A New Literacy Ritual in My Classroom
Tuesday Trades are a terrific way to increase peer book recommendations. Andrea Smith created this new weekly activity with her intermediate students, building on existing workshop routines.
Books, Books, Books
Parents of young children may be drawn to text tied to movies or other pop culture filler books. Trish Prentice shares a letter she sends home to families to encourage even the youngest learners to find books and authors with a little more staying power.
Great Lead Investigators
Katie Doherty turns her middle school students into lead investigators – an activity that is a terrific combination of mentor texts, group work, and connections to student writing.
Letting Go After Holding on Tight: Reflecting on the Last Days of School
Andrea Smith writes about how our instincts as parents and teachers merge to make it so hard to say goodbye at the end of the school year.
Kelly Gallagher on Readicide (PODCAST)
High school teacher and best-selling author Kelly Gallagher talks about "readicide" – what teachers and schools do to systematically kill a love of reading in students.
Acquiring Knowledge Two or Three Strategies at a Time
Amanda Adrian knows that a teachers learning new skills need accurate and timely identification of what's next as support.
Organizing a Classroom Nonfiction Library with Students
Organizing nonfiction so that kids will gobble it up is an art. Andrea Smith knows how important it is to include students in this process.
No More Excuses: Reading Workshops in Nontraditional Middle and High School Settings
Think you don’t have enough time for reader’s workshop in your classroom? Worried that you don’t have enough books to go around? Feel like you just don’t have the space for it? What if you had students, but no classroom, no books, and no set class times? Ellie Gilbert faced down all these challenges in her nontraditional high school reading workshop.
A Poetry Cafe Celebration
Stella Villalba explains how her poetry cafe program brings families together for a festive event, and helps English language learners develop reading and fluency skills at the same time. This is the first installment in a two-part series.
Born Wonders: Tapping Student Interest in Animals, Babies, and Books
Cute Alert – what’s more adorable than babies or animals? Perhaps baby animals! Andrea Smith shares an addictive web resource that will instantly hook students of any age. It’s zoo postings of newborn animals from around the world, with many literacy connections.
Spring Reading Interviews (TEMPLATE)
Kindergartners may be too young for reading interviews early in the fall, but Mandy Robek finds spring reading interviews are an excellent bridge to families and summer reading suggestions.
Ubiquitous Venns, Watch Fors, and Leverage Points: Coaching for Depth
Heather Rader examines the use of Venn diagrams as a catalyst for thinking about how to coach for more depth in classrooms.
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