Article Content Type: Article
Results
Getting Books into Students’ Hands for Summer Reading
When we read the Richard Allington and Ann McGill article "Why Summers Matter in the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap," two important points about summer reading stood out to us: Summer reading loss...
Reading Through Spring
Most school districts have a spring vacation. Here in the Northeast our vacation is in late April. After a long, cold, and snow-filled winter, people are eager to get outside...
End-of-Year Literacy Interviews
When we turn the corner into the warm days of spring and early summer, teachers’ thoughts turn to that final countdown. We wonder if we’ll have time for all that...
Determining Importance: Demonstration Small-Group Lesson in Third Grade
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with third graders on determining importance. The video includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher.
Coaching Minute: Celebrations
Ruth Ayres talks about the importance of celebrations for coaches, teachers, and students in this brief video.
Puppies and Babies and Kittens, Oh My! Support for Maternity Leaves
Spring is in the air, and at my school, teachers are having babies and taking leave. If you’re the coach, that means you have teachers to support before they leave...
April Literacy Contracts: Discovery
Since April is National Poetry Month, we have incorporated novels in verse and poetry anthologies for our reading focus, and students will be creating their own poetry reflection books. Poetry...
Welcome Visits
Finding the right entry in professional development can be tricky. We never want to waste teachers’ time by not gauging the focus or pace of our sessions. We want our...
Planning Classroom Visits: Organizing Purposefully
For instructional coaches and principals, opportunities to visit classrooms and observe learning and teaching are critical. As a principal, I knew I needed a plan so I could make the...
Phrasal Verbs and English Language Learners
Most of us don’t think about phrasal verbs all that often. Yet, to a student with limited English proficiency, phrasal verbs can be bewildering and can lead to misunderstanding when...
Working with Emergent Bilingual Children (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Heather Rader chats with Ruth Shagoury about working with emergent bilingual chidren and their families. Ruth is the co-author (with Andie Cunningham) of Starting with Comprehension. She...
Remembering to Slow Down at the End of the School Year
Life moves quickly for all of us. But as I listen to my students share all of the activities they are involved in every day I realize that it is...
Nonfiction and English Language Learners
The Common Core is a part of our teaching lives now. The amount of nonfiction reading our English language learners will be doing nudges all of us to be not...
Creating Video with Students: Tools and Tips
During my many years in the English classroom, I often tried to capture my students’ interest and help to depict their interpretation of the literature and topics we covered by...
Celebrating Screen-Free Week (BOOKLIST)
At our school, we have attempted for the last several years to get children and families talking about screen time during Screen-Free Week. Screen-Free Week is scheduled for May 5-11...
Connecting Class Social Media in Eight Simple Steps
I have always wanted to have a great class blog, one that parents check daily so they can see all the cool things that we are doing in class. This...
Getting Started with Blogging in Fifth Grade
We’ve all heard that kids today have no fear when it comes to technology. I have found that to be true for some children. However, many of my students seem...
The Writing Process Revisited
Melanie is one of those super-organized teachers. Her classroom has labeled, color-coded book bins arranged in alphabetical order on the bookshelves (fiction: red, informational: blue, poetry: yellow). Her students all...
A Booklist for Earth Day
On April 22, people everywhere try to do their part to make the world a cleaner, greener place. We can use literature to impart lessons to our students about protecting...
Finding Meaning and Joy in Teaching: A Podcast with Meenoo Rami
Franki Sibberson talks about finding meaning and joy in teaching with Meenoo Rami, the author of Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching.
Brave Noah
It was January when I began working in Noah’s first-grade classroom. His black hoodie was pulled over his head and down low. His eyelashes grazed it each time he blinked....
