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Cap’n George: Mentors Who Matter
Cap'n George sits on the porch rocking his stories back and forth like a first child up all night trying to grasp this new air that's been slapped into him,...
Ecstatic: When Words Shape Thinking
Tonight I'm happy. Maybe even ecstatic . . . I'm trying, as best as I can, to get my struggling, intermediate grade readers ready for state examinations without taking too...
Our Living Minute: Integrating Nonfiction Study into Morning Meetings
Last summer, Samantha Bennett's text That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think helped me reconsider my work as a classroom teacher striving each day...
How Do We Talk with Parents About What It Means to Be Challenged in Reading?
When we meet with the parents of young advanced readers, we begin by using data to show just how much their student knows as a reader. We want the parents...
Countdown: Keeping Children at the Center of My Plans for the New Year
I did a crazy thing the other day: I started a countdown to school on iGoogle. For those of you who want to know: 23 days, 12 hours, 10 minutes,...
Lessons from Family Writer’s Workshop
While all of our professional instincts told us that hosting writer's workshop with our own children was not the best plan. . . we decided to do it anyway. For...
Great Nonfiction for Elementary Students
When I scan the nonfiction shelves of our school library, I notice the quality of nonfiction books for children is so much better than it was years ago. Looking at...
Expanding the Ways We Preview Books
Our 5th graders are moving to middle school. As incoming 6th graders, they are given a summer reading assignment by our district. As I was looking at the four books...
Days Ease
I am not there where grass doesn't grow with clover and sting my toes with dew, where the thrush doesn't thrill the midday air and rustle thyme. I am here...
Word Storms: Integrating Nonfiction, Word Study, and Technology
It's a busy Tuesday morning and my classroom is buzzing with the conversations of children. I settle in a chair beside Hirokai, a beginning English language learner, who is still...
A Three-legged Dog and a Show About Nothing
I've been in a real slump - a writing slump. It seems like it's been ages since I've opened up my writer's notebook, picked up a pen, and let loose...
5th Grade Grandfather
I have a student that I see daily for reading intervention, Lanie. She is in third grade and has been retained, so technically she is a fourth grader. Her vocabulary...
My Colleague Refuses to Collaborate with Us (LITERACY COACH CONFIDENTIAL)
A literacy coach writes to us with the question: How do you work with a teacher who refuses to be a collaborative part of a team? She does her own...
A Coach’s Perspective: Is Sarcasm in Style This Season?
"What surprises you when you hear me read your lesson aloud?" I asked Courtney* in our debrief. "Well, I guess, it sounds like I'm rude to the students. . .at...
Bilingual (English/Spanish) Books that Celebrate Language, Family and Culture
By late summer, I am looking forward to so many things -- meeting students and their families, getting a sense of how they will come together and form a new...
Twitter Me This: Using Cell Phones to Build Literacy Skills and a Reading Community
On any given day teachers can be seen lecturing in classrooms across the country. At the same time on any given day students can be seen, with arms outstretched, trying...
Making the Case for Literacy Coaches
It's that time of year. School districts are examining their budgets for the upcoming school year. Due to the troubled economy, many of them are finding that they are not...
Picture Books for Shared Reading
Last week I was reading Shari Frost's article, Whatever Happened To Mrs. Wishy Washy? when I began to think about the Big Books that have been loved in my room over the...
Sarcasm Is a Useful Teaching Tool — NOT
Imagine you have tickets to see an award-winning show and you are going with your hilarious friend that makes every outing memorable. All day you've been looking forward to leaving...
Thinking About 5th Grade Read Alouds
It's that time of year again -- the time when I sit down at my diningroom table, surrounding myself with books I have read recently and some old favorites. And...
A Sponge is a Summary
When I'm working with a concept that I know may be difficult to grasp, I like to hook kids' attention with a metaphor or an analogy. While doing the dishes,...
