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Family History Inquiry Project: Integrating Technology with Social Studies in First Grade
Room 14 is buzzing with excitement. Cole and Kai are sharing bicycle stories that their fathers told them. Kai's dad wanted a bike so badly when he was in first...
Now is Our Season
Now is our season on the verge, a time of endings and beginnings. The seeds of autumn have fallen away, lost in a fault of memory, yet in the dark of...
What Velcro Can Do: Science, Literacy and Coaching Connections
"You aren't going to be the science program police, are you?" Donna* said in response to my prompting about where science fit into her day with fourth graders. Our science...
Injecting Writing into . . . Everything: Ellipsis Stories
I took my husband to see Mamma Mia on our umpteenth anniversary. No, he didn't want to go, but I promised him if he wasn't having fun in twenty minutes, we could...
From Teacher to Coach: Building Community in the Early Days
It's late August and next week I start my position as Instructional Coach. I am not new to working with teachers. I spent six years in higher education working with...
Reorganizing Books in the Reading Support Classroom
You could say teaching is in my blood . . . literally. There is a long line of teachers in my family. My mom is a reading support teacher, and...
The Nuts and Bolts of the Family Inquiry Project
In the Family Inquiry Project, we all found that 21st Century learning encompasses so much more than the increased use of technology. Our students expect to be an integral part...
Coaching Codes
When I was teaching English in South Korea, I attended a parent night in the community to promote our school. At the conclusion of the program, I stood up to...
Ready-to-Go Readers’ Theater Books
Are you caught up in the "fluency frenzy"? Since the National Reading Panel's report in 2000, fluency has gotten a lot of attention. The good news is that there has...
Giving Up the Whole-Class Novel
Edie stomped into the coach's office lugging a 15-gallon Rubbermaid storage tub. She dumped the contents out onto a table. Out rolled penguin beanie babies, penguin posters, a DVD of...
What Messages Do We Give Students with Our Classroom Library Design?
In the article Room for Beliefs: Linking Classroom Design and What We Value, Debbie Miller helps us think through the ways that our room design reflects the things we value about...
When Does Level Matter? Being Efficient with Small Group Instruction
I find my flexibility as a teacher is both challenged and validated when I group students for instruction. When I think about the wide range of needs in my classroom...
I Need a Hero: Finding a Place for Comics and Graphic Novels in Our Classrooms
Grab your cape and get ready! One of the most interesting developments in recent literacy history has captured our readers - and it's causing quite a stir. In the past...
Assessment Beyond Levels: The Reading Grid
Assessment systems that work are difficult to find. I've been teaching for just over 20 years now, and I'm quite sure I've tried nearly that many systems for organizing assessment...
Teaching Revision to Struggling Writers
Revision can be a difficult process for many writers—kids and adults alike! As writers, we both know how difficult it is to come up with a topic, get our ideas...
Using Student Conferences to Build Book Choice Skills
I went through a phase last January where I just couldn't find a book that I loved. I started lots of books but didn't finish any of them. I tried...
Help! Our Grade-Level Team Meetings Are Awful! (LITERACY COACH CONFIDENTIAL)
Literacy Coach Confidential is Choice Literacy's forum for answering the toughest questions literacy coaches and teachers face as they work together. Our contributors respond to the questions anonymously, which enables them...
Assessing Professional Development: Focus on Feedback
This summer I was at the ocean with several families. A few adults and a slew of kids including my daughter Samantha were swimming out to an island. It was...
Rethinking the Study of Nonfiction in the 21st Century
I have always found that reflecting on my own literacy helps me to think about how to best meet the needs of my students. As a media specialist, much of...
Book Boxes – Voices from the Classroom
Organizing the books that your students are reading independently often presents a challenge for teachers. How can you keep track of what's in the boxes, ensure everyone is making appropriate...
Relevant Support for New Teachers
By building relations we create a source of love and personal pride and belonging that makes living in a chaotic world easier. Susan Liebermann This fall my son Ben ran...
