Choice Lit Topic: Literacy Coaches
A simple question – who will coach the coaches? If you’re a literacy coach, you already know there is no job more amazing or overwhelming in a school. Our Choice Literacy library includes a small sample of our resources for literacy coaches. If you work as a coach, you’ll want a subscription that includes access to our Leaders Lounge, where there are over 900 resources for coaches, including study group protocols, videos of demonstration lessons, and guides for designing coaching cycles.
Results
Professional Development Openers and Icebreakers (ROUND-UP)
Experts on presentations once said that you had 30 seconds to capture the attention of your audience. Other experts now say you have the attention of the audience in the...
Listen In: Writing in Math
"You've gotta see this" were Linda Karamatic's first words when I arrived in her second-grade classroom. On this particular day we marveled at how Maya had decided to make her...
Listen In: Knowing When You’re Done
The plan was for Hailey to decide the content of this writing conference. By the spring, she'd engaged in so many conferences that she knew how to have grand conversations...
Listen In: XBox Game Writing
Cody begins the conference with, "I have a piece that I just finished," and he's off and reading. Can this be the same student I conferred with who had no...
Exit Slips Open Doors
"It doesn't have to end here." So claims the Powerpoint slide at the end of my professional development classes in the past. With this statement, along with my contact information...
Making Assumptions
It had been a rough morning. I'd spent the last two-and-a-half hours in jaw-tightening silence, watching a novice teacher making misstep after misstep in his classroom. In my capacity as...
You’ve Got to Be Joking
Kai's class was "obnoxious" (in his words). I'm accustomed to working with high-energy kids in need of redirection, but some days even I had to admit they knocked the wind...
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 5
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
Literacy Groundings
One thing I find educators cannot talk enough about is their personal literacy histories, that fundamental grounding of how they became literate. What happened in their lives that impacted who...
Tried and True Trumps Shiny and New
My son, Mitchell, adores the idea of getting something new. "Please!" he begs, "Can we go to the toy store?" He believes there must be a toy out there that...
Listen In: Spelling Aids in the Writing Workshop
Madison showed tremendous growth during her year as a second grader. By the spring, others were able to read and understand Maddie's messages, which was a powerful incentive to write....
Common Core Standards: Spreading the Word
As a district-level literacy coach in California, I've been given the task of helping move our system toward implementation of the Common Core Standards. We are a large urban district...
Mentor Texts for Nonfiction Writing
Beth Lawson and I met for the first time in mid-August at her school. She was organizing her classroom for teaching, and we talked about some of the changes she...
The Affect of Tech on Splrs
"The spelling of English words is not fixed and invariable, nor does it depend on any other authority than general agreement. At the present day there is practically unanimous agreement...
How Do We Know Small-Group Instruction is Effective?
An interesting question to pose is: Do beliefs change behavior or does behavior change beliefs? Many people think the former: that beliefs change behavior, which is why so many new...
Can I Quote You on That?: Capturing Classroom Conversation
Sometimes inspiration for my teaching life comes from seemingly disparate experiences in my personal life. I spent a recent Saturday afternoon surrounded by a gaggle of giddy women who had...
Common Core Conversations: Using Evidence From Text
"I suggest the crime was committed in the lounge by Mr. Green with the wrench." Can you prove the suggestion false? Ah-ha, you happen to have a Clue card representing...
Supporting New Teachers and Appreciating Their Gifts
The research is clear and the statistics are grim. The most important factor which influences student achievement is the skill of the teacher, yet we lose more than 50% of...
Planning for a Demonstration Lesson Part 1
In this first installment of a video series, Clare Landrigan takes a team of grades 3-5 teachers through the steps of planning for a demonstration lesson.
Planning for a Demonstration Lesson Part 2
In this second installment of a two-part video series, Clare Landrigan takes a team of grades 3-5 teachers through the steps of selecting a book for a demonstration lesson.
Building Community Protocols
When we plan professional development sessions, voluntary courses, and literacy team meetings, we are always on the lookout for new ways to build community within the group so that everyone...
