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Walk Arounds: Gathering Data to Test Assumptions
As an instructional leader I am subjected to tattling. You are probably assuming I mean tattling on the part of children, but you'd be surprised. I am referring to teachers...
Closing Out the Year Round-Up (PART 1)
The end of the school year is such a precious and busy time. This year we asked Choice Literacy contributors to share some of their favorite ideas and activities for...
What Matters Most: A Conversation with Samantha Bennett (PODCAST)
Samantha Bennett is the author of That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think, and works with teachers and literacy leaders across the country to...
It May Be a Mess, But It’s Our Mess: Creating a Student-Organized Classroom Library
It may be a mess, but it's our mess . . . This is my thought as I look around my first grade classroom. Children are spread out in groups...
Books with Overlooked Potential for Launching the School Year (and Ideas for Using Them with Students)
Editor's Note: Teachers often have cherished favorite books for launching the school year, and it's no wonder. We know how students will respond based on our experiences in previous years, and...
The Power of Linking Words and Perceptions
The school year is underway, and all across the country teachers have undoubtedly already identified the children in their classrooms who are going to give them a run for their...
Rethinking Mentor Texts
I know. That title kind of makes your heart skip a beat, doesn't it? Imagine how I felt when I read it in a National Council of Teachers of English...
Sharon Taberski on Book Choice (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Sharon Taberski talks with Franki Sibberson about how she selects books for instruction, as well as how she assists students as they make choices for independent reading....
Coaching Reluctant Writers
I'm not sure I've ever met a reluctant writer. Oh, she may look reluctant or he may sound reluctant, but they rarely are. Take, for example, Eduardo. Eduardo slunk into...
From Hearing to Listening
Being an active listener is hard for some of us. It would be great if we were all genetically programmed to not plan what we are going to say as...
Using Animated Short Films to Teach Inference
My students and I have just finished reading "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, a staple short story in the literary canon of the high school English curriculum. The story...
Virtual Book Clubs for Teachers
My first encounter with a virtual book club was about three years ago. My regular, run-of-the-mill, face-to-face book club was on a field trip. We were taking a tour of...
Books for Launching the School Year (and Ideas for Using Them with Students)
Editor's Note: Teachers often have cherished favorite books for launching the school year, and it's no wonder. We know how students will respond based on our experiences in previous years, and...
Aimee Buckner on Nonfiction in Student Notebooks (PODCAST)
Aimee Buckner chats with Franki Sibberson about her new work on integrating nonfiction into reading and writing notebooks with students. Aimee's latest book is Notebook Connections: Strategies for the Reader's Notebook....
Getting the Most Out of Visiting a Colleague’s Classroom (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan chat with Franki Sibberson about how teachers can get the most out of observing a colleague's classroom. A full transcript is below...
A Bad Case of the Never-Ending Januaries
A Choice Literacy member wrote to us this week: I am noticing that we have hit a point in the year where teachers are stressed, snow days are maxed, and...
Prewriting is a Party!
"Does anyone here like parties?" The fourth grade classroom where I'm demonstrating a lesson is a forest of tall standing arms.Everybody likes parties. "That's what I thought. So I'm getting...
One Book/Four Hands: Mentoring Younger Readers Using Picture Books
"Every night before I went to sleep, my mother would read one or two picture books to me. I used to beg her to continue reading, but she always made...
Lester Laminack on Reading Like a Writer (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Franki Sibberson chats with Lester Laminack about how he reads as a writer, and what teachers might do to develop this skill in their students. Lester is...
Big Ideas: Balancing Plans with Authentic Response
The expression "from the mouths of babes" never holds more true than when you are teaching kindergartners! Last fall, a group of kindergarten students taught me a lesson that is...
Kathy Collins on Literacy Homework (PODCAST)
Kathy Collins shares her latest thinking on literacy homework assignments with Franki Sibberson. Kathy's latest book is Reading for Real: Teach Students to Read with Power, Intention, and Joy in K-3...
