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Integrating Short Videos into Minilessons
Our classroom was quiet and dark. The students who had started our minilesson by being spread out and relaxed had pulled closer to the screen and were leaning in. I...
I Should Have Stopped at the Staples
As a fourth-year literacy coach, I like to think that I have lots of experience under my belt to share with new teachers and can be more of an "expert"...
Writer-ish
Thinking ishly allowed his ideas to flow freely. Peter Reynolds in Ish In my new position as a literacy coach, I no longer have a classroom of students. Although...
How to Notice: Mining Children’s Books for Craft Minilessons
The library is a favorite place of mine, where books are everywhere. A gold mine of minilessons waits to be found. I love to dig into the words, carefully searching...
Reading Math: Starting with Visuals
Students must identify themselves as mathematicians, take on the responsibility of learning to do the work of a mathematician, and make meaning of their world through mathematics. Kassia Omohundro...
Shallow Books? Learning from a Reading Celebration
I remember my first children’s literature class as an undergraduate majoring in elementary education. I had always been a reader, but hadn’t really thought much about children’s books since I’d...
Reading Workshop in Kindergarten: When and How to Launch
We are often asked when kindergarten students should begin reading workshop or independent reading. Is there a time of year that is best? Is there a certain reading level that...
Teaching Is Like . . .
Early in the year as I prepared to meet with different groups of educators, I recognized that I needed a quick but meaningful way to build relationships. It was also...
An Ideal Professional Bookshelf: The Important Book for Teachers
This year, our literacy teacher support group is doing a lot of book talk—about favorite books, memories of reading, and current reading obsessions—to help ground us in our classroom practice....
Letter to Franki Sibberson’s Students
What do we tell students about adults observing them in classrooms? I wrote this letter to Franki Sibberson's third graders after I visited, when Franki and I both realized the...
Grading in Literacy Workshops
Last year I heard Kelly Gallagher speak at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention. Many of his remarks stuck with me, but the one that I have...
Learning to Observe: Inviting a Parent to a Tutoring Session
But—more than anything—I liked him because he treated me as a companion and conversationalist in my own right. —Donna Tartt, in The Goldfinch Persistent parents, pushy parents, perpetually pestering parents....
Multicultural Series Books
There were about 20 emails in my inbox that morning in March. They all had the same subject line: “Where are the people of color in children’s books?” The emails...
Character Traits and Vocabulary Development
In my fourth-grade classroom, we spend a great deal of time analyzing characters. Recently, it has become apparent to me that students lack the vocabulary necessary to discuss a character’s...
Finding Craft Minilessons in the Children’s Books You Love
I remember when I first learned about writing workshop. The philosophy of allowing children to grow in their writing by choosing their own topics, creating text with an inner purpose,...
Eight Picture Books That Show (vs. Tell) How to Be Mindful
Charlotte’s Web is arguably the most read, and perhaps the most beloved, chapter book in elementary classrooms. Of late, we’ve been learning and thinking about the value of mindfulness, and...
Slow Thinkers
“Let’s go around and introduce ourselves,” says the facilitator in a recent class I attended. This is a common occurrence at workshops and conferences. When my turn comes, I will...
Supporting Introverts in Literacy Workshops
I value opportunities to share my thinking with colleagues in support of work and/or learning. Writing response groups, committees committed to a specific task, collegial conversations in a class, and...
Making Space: Entering Lessons Mindfully
If you enter a physical space, such as your home, with your right foot (literally), the act of pausing, deliberating, focusing—even if just for a few seconds—helps you focus on...
Failure to Thrive: Rethinking Assessment Binders
"Let's put together a binder for teachers that holds all the important assessment things they need. Let's make them color coded by grade level. And let's give them to every...
Literacy Day
My suburban Ohio city is lucky enough to have excellent snow-removal crews, so my district leaders are typically able to avoid canceling school for inclement weather. Not so this year....
