And all the world is glad with May.
—John Burroughs
Join the Discussion
Hello friends,
I can hardly believe it is May! This is a whirlwind month for many of us, and it goes by in a flash. I am excited about the content we are sharing as we roll into the summer months.
This week we continue our theme of deepening discussions. Don’t miss the beautiful article by Melissa Quimby about treasured life lessons we can help students discover in books. Tara Barnett and Kate Mills pressed my thinking about learning progressions and generously shared a downloadable learning progression about theme. I am itching to try out their ideas in a middle school classroom.
Our Leaders Lounge is full of ways to strengthen conversations and connections with a school community. In Gigi McAllister‘s thoughtful article you will find mini (but mighty) ideas to communicate information in timely ways. We are featuring another PD2Go because we know literacy leaders want to deliver top-notch professional learning sessions even when they are pressed for time.
Finally, Christy Rush-Levine‘s new course is ah-mazing. Jump in the Pool: Playing Around with Readers’ Notebooks is an invitation to all of us to respond to text in thoughtful and imaginative ways. Christy cracks open her own notebook to guide us in creating deep responses to text. By sharing over 20 of her own mentor entries, as well as inspiring texts, Christy adds a splash to reading response that no one can resist.
The best way to encourage students to deepen their discussions of text is to experience it for ourselves. Won’t you consider joining the Choice Literacy Book Club as we read When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed? Check out Gwen Blumberg’s book talk and then pick up a copy of the book.
This week we offer the second of two installments about ways to deepen discussions in our classrooms—plus more, as always.
Shine on!
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Gwen Blumberg is a literacy leader for a K-8 district in Greater Boston. She’s a lifelong, avid reader who loves to share books with kids and listen to the stories they write and tell. She believes book and topic choice are essential ingredients for students to develop authentic reading and writing lives. Gwen shares her passion for children’s literature by writing for the collaborative Teachers|Books|Readers blog. You can also find her sharing about all things literacy on Twitter and Instagram @gwenblumberg.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills use a know-and-wonder activity to encourage curiosity and independence as their seventh graders begin a new text. This article was first published in 2018.
The Choice Literacy Book Club is reading When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. Join us in the most low-pressure book club ever! Just click here.
Sean Musselman offers insights into sparking teacher learning through picture books, professional journals, and conversation.
Jump in the Pool: Playing Around with Readers’ Notebooks with Christy Rush-Levine is a new Process Play course that guides us to teach students how to create thoughtful and meaningful responses to text. This course is included with the Literacy Leadership and Literacy Team memberships and available to purchase for others.
It isn’t a secret that writing meaningful responses to text is important. The question is how to empower students to engage in creating substantive responses and deep analysis of text. Christy Rush-Levine cracks open her own notebook to guide us in creating thoughtful responses to text. By sharing over 20 of her own mentor entries, as well as inspiring texts, Christy adds a splash to reading response that no one can resist.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share how to create and use learning progressions to support students in deepening their understanding of theme.
Don’t forget our downloads! Download a copy of the theme progression at the end of Tara and Kate’s article.
Melissa Quimby leads her students in rich thinking about life lessons and encourages them to treasure the wisdom from books.
In this encore video, instructional coach Lora Bieghler facilitates a Socratic-style discussion among third graders.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
In this third installment of a three-part series, Gigi McAllister gives tips to help maintain consistent communication and connections with teachers in a way that respects their time when sharing information.
In this encore video, literacy coach Pam Hahlen discusses the value and format of monthly “literacy chats” for teachers.
Dave Stachowiak offers 11 ways to facilitate great conversations.
Have you accessed our PD2Go resources? If you plan professional learning, then PD2Go is just the jump start you need to make planning for a session a breeze. We do the legwork of connecting timely content and organizing the agenda for you to quickly pull together everything you need to lead a professional learning session.
In this PD2Go Gigi McAllister helps a group of fourth graders evaluate questions for fostering good group discussions.
Quote It:
Communication, the human connection, is the key to personal and career success.
—Paul J. Meyer
That’s all for this week!
