Article Content Type: Article
Results
Teaching Reading Skills with Wordless Picture Books
Reading visual elements of texts is not easy for me. I am not a visual person. I cannot see the undertones in paint colors. I buy most of my outfits...
If We Could Meet Again
If we could meet again as strangers, I would ask for more. Give me something sacred to see I would say, something bold to bless. Trick me into a patch ...
Our Daily Question: Building a Community Through the Data We Collect
As a mother and a teacher, I discovered that choice and authentic experiences are priceless, yet challenging gifts for children going about their days living and learning. Choice and authentic...
Writing Like a Scientist: Launching a Scientist’s Notebook
When I transitioned from 18 years as a primary teacher to a 4th grade classroom, I started thinking about how I could use the same successful strategies for launching writing...
Biographies Off the Beaten Path
We had a set of biographies in our elementary school library when I was a child. I can still remember exactly where they were on the shelves. I read several...
Unlucky Lists: Raising Non-Writers and Non-Artists
In my work as a literacy educator at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, I often walk by a poster at the elevators that makes me pause and think: "Unlucky Arithmetic:...
Planning to Teach with Mentor Texts: Two Examples
Much has been written in recent years about how teachers should find a couple of good mentor texts that they love and just use them repeatedly, for a variety of...
Challenging Advanced Young Readers: Harder Texts Aren’t Always the Answer
As we work with primary-grade teachers during reading workshop, many of them ask us how to challenge the advanced readers in their classrooms. These young students learn to read quickly...
Books for Strategy Studies
I love finding new texts for the classroom. When I read new-to-me books, I often imagine the faces of young learners from past classes reading with me. A time-tested favorite...
Great Books to Share When Studying the Ecosystem (BOOKLIST)
This year, the district I work for purchased new science textbooks. A committee looked at the state standards, matched those with our district's target statements, and tried to make a...
Character Study in Grades 3-6
When I think about my own reading and the favorite books that I remember from different eras of my life, it is the characters that I remember. I remember Betsy,...
Making a Difference: Examples from Children’s Literature (BOOKLIST)
Last year, my nine-year-old daughter Ana decided that she did not want gifts at her birthday party. She had heard about other kids who had used their birthday party as...
Mentor Texts for Word Choice (BOOKLIST)
Choosing words in writing is a key to effectively communicating ideas. We talk about word choice all year long in my classroom, no matter which grade I teach. I have...
Choosing New Books for Comprehension Strategy Studies with Young Children
The books I have chosen for reading comprehension have been amazing journeys that we've taken as a class. I thought I would use the books just to help to learn...
When Do I Launch the Writer’s Notebook?
It's the end of summer, and where I'm from -- down South -- teachers are scrambling. Scrambling for last minute trips to the beach. Scrambling to clean out the closets...
A Coach’s Perspective: No More Flying Pig Prompts
Leslie's Story It was spring when I met with Leslie*. She had invited me to her classroom to try out some problem solving with her students. She was in her...
Out of the Closet and into the Classroom: Bookroom Management Tips for Literacy Coaches
Literacy coaches seldom have neutral feelings about their school's literacy closet or bookroom. They either love it or hate it. They love it at the beginning of the school year...
Using Mentor Texts in Study Groups: Play and Practice
What we have to do is be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions. Walter Pater I often find myself in information overload, with so many new...
“What I Know Now” Workshop Activity
In my work with literacy specialists in our school district, I am always searching for discussion frameworks that will support reflective conversation. The group, made up of 16 individuals, usually...
Books That Invite Conversations About Perspective (BOOKLIST)
I have recently found several books that invite conversations on perspective - books that for some reason or another, help you look at something from someone else's point of view....
Literacy Learning on Presidents Day (BOOKLIST)
As someone who is fairly new to the role of librarian, I have been thinking about the holidays that we celebrate throughout the year and the books available to celebrate...
