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Nonfiction Books with More Than One Entry Point
My third graders love facts and information. Often their nonfiction reading lives consist of books that share lots of facts and isolated information about topics they love. I want to...
Nonfiction Scrapbooks
This year, my sixth graders will be expanding on an idea we began last year. We’re going old school with scrapbooking! We will be scrapbooking with short text, such as...
Because It’s the Right Thing to Do
As a school that focuses on positive behavior, we used to have a token jar that was prominently displayed in the front hall. As classes passed, they could see how...
See Their Stories, Not Their Misbehaviors
Picture a glass jar filled with your favorite pens. Imagine every color of pen inside the jar. Red and turquoise, ocean blue and fuchsia, sunshine yellow and neon orange. There...
Grouping Strategies for Guided Reading
“My guided reading fantasy is that my whole class falls into nice, neat groups of four to six kids at the same reading level,” sighed Brianne as we looked over...
Embracing Meaning Making in Guided Reading Groups
I believe readers get the best feedback and support when I meet with them individually, where I can listen and then we can confer. Working with more than one student...
Implementing New Mandated Initiatives
An emotionally positive learning environment encourages learning by mitigating the big learning inhibitors: fear, ego, defenses, complacency, and arrogance. Edward Hess With a new school year come new initiatives...
Study Groups That Nourish the Soul
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung Steven Wozniak was part of a...
A Fiction Writing Field Trip
Every year in writing workshop, my students beg to write fiction. They are well versed in narratives, memoirs, and informational texts. I know I have to teach these units; the...
Beyond Explicit Instruction: What Do Struggling Readers Need?
Struggling readers need precisely what good readers receive—lots of high-success reading experiences. Richard Allington I’m not a fan of the words struggling reader. But in using them here, I...
Like Teacher, Like Student: Finding Emotional Support in Schools
I walk back to my kindergarten classroom and noticed my entire shirt is damp. Gabe’s panic attack before physical education class ignited many other students’ anxieties, and as we waited...
My Journey with Marcos: Autism and English Language Learners
Ms. Villalba: “So Marcos, I’m wondering why the boy decided to run away instead of staying to help. What are you thinking?” Marcos: “Mmm . . . Ms. Villalba, I’m...
Using Reading Notebook Covers for Reflection and Goal Setting
When you walk into grade 3-6 classrooms during writing workshop, the covers of writing notebooks are often filled with photos, images, and quotes that remind young writers of stories in...
Taking Breaks
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. Jim Rohn When we lead professional development sessions, we often let participants know that we have an...
Transitioning from Teaching Children to Adults
This past year, I stopped working as a middle school teacher to stay home with my new baby. I wanted to stay involved in education, so I worked part-time with...
What I Wish I’d Known As a New Coach
As I begin my fourth year in my position as our district’s writing and social studies coordinator, I realize my work alongside teachers has changed in subtle and profound ways....
Launching Meetings with Video
Nothing brings people together more than shared experiences. Jimmy Fallon There is nothing like that awkward silence that inevitably surfaces at the start of meetings or professional development sessions....
Picture It: Reorganizing a Professional Book Library
We recently began organizing and preparing for the upcoming school year. This is a picture of our professional text library, reorganized with purpose and efficiency in mind. What was...
Getting Started with Digital Portfolios
A student portfolio is a collection of student work that is compiled for the following reasons: to create a snapshot of a student’s learning over the year, to evaluate the...
Data That Matters
On the first day of my internship with Nancie Atwell at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine, I sat eagerly with my spiral-bound notebook, poised to record...
Launching Student Data Binders
Student data binders are an invaluable tool. I do not know how I ever taught without them. The purpose of data binders is to drive student performance, to teach students...
