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Why Write?
I went through a period of time when I didn’t want to write. For more than five years, I’d established and maintained a daily writing habit. Then I found myself...
October Literacy Contracts: Fear and Conflict
October is a wonderful month for teaching and learning, with relatively few interruptions compared to other months on the calendar. By this point in the year, we’ve established routines, relationships...
Chris Lehman on Student Research (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Chris Lehman (author of Energize Research Reading and Writing) about how the Common Core is changing the ways teachers approach student research in their classrooms. You...
“We Gather Together”: On Research and Weddings
There are many similarities between committing to a research project and committing to a spouse. As I worked with a team of seventh-grade teachers at Wawasee Middle School to create...
Limiting and Extending Choice in Student Research Projects
Have you read enough research projects on bears, baseball, and badminton? Over the past several years, I have learned unlimited choice in research projects does not always make students’ writing...
Picture It: Pinterest for Professional Development
This fall we are trying a new way to organize how we share professional readings and videos for our professional development sessions. We are creating text sets of professional readings/videos/blog...
Days of Magic and Wonder: Generating Research Topics with First Graders
mag·ic (noun) -- Encarta Dictionary conjuring tricks -- conjuring tricks and illusions that make apparently impossible things seem to happen, usually performed as entertainment inexplicable things -- a special, mysterious,...
Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet
Keeping our kids safe is always foremost on our minds. When children are little, we teach them how to cross the street by looking both ways. We teach them not...
Finding the “Ex” Factor in Explanatory Writing
Explanatory writing isn’t as simple to define as it sounds. Recently there has been an explosion of conversation about explanatory writing and the way it feeds argument writing. Explanatory writing...
Kidwatching and Connections in the Early Days
Sitting down beside Daniel, I notice he has a large collection of picture books surrounding him. He has collected several books from our author stand and is comfortably seated on...
Assessing Students: Many Hands for a Lighter Load
Many of our informative assessments are administered individually. The benefit of these assessments is the opportunity they provide to notice which reading strategies each student uses, what the child comprehends,...
Emphasizing Empathy: September Literacy Contracts
September holds a lot of promise and excitement for teachers and students, but it can also be a stressful month. We are all trying to get back into the swing...
How to Eat an Elephant One Bit(e) at a Time: Reading Complex Texts
There is a saying: “When eating an elephant take one bite at a time.” Attributed to Creighton Abrams, we have come to use this phrase to help us understand that...
Lessons from Listening to Toddlers Read (Home Is Where the Books Are Series)
It’s fascinating as a mom to have the luxury of enough time to pay attention to the different ways my kids read. It helps me understand their process, find books...
Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts on Close Reading (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts about close reading in this 30-minute podcast. Chris and Kate are the authors of Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons...
10 Steps to a Literacy Vision
Being forward-looking—envisioning exciting possibilities and enlisting others in a shared view of the future—is the attribute that most distinguishes leaders from non-leaders. ...
Phasing in New Initiatives: Keep the Baby!
Laura, a literacy coach, came to the first coaches' meeting of the year with a glum look on her face. With just a little prodding, she told her story. The...
Mentor Texts for Writing Endings
Have you ever been completely satisfied with a book because of the power of its ending? The last few words or paragraphs the author chooses can leave me fulfilled ....
Literacy Contracts: Introduction
As you walk into our fifth-grade classroom, Raigan and Gracie are seated shoulder to shoulder, hovering over their books and whispering to each other while pointing to specific lines and...
The Cure for Value-Added Grief? Teacher Research
Data: what a loaded word. We’re living in a data-driven society, where data is collected, analyzed, and used to make decisions about everything from identity theft prevention to hospital infection...
Turning “Unfortunate” into Good Fortune
Recently I sent an email to an administrator that went to everyone in the school. It was an email regarding the strengths and needs of teachers. Although I scrutinize every...
