Choice Lit Topic: Teaching Reading
Our contributors lead reading workshops in classrooms with creative flair. Over the past 12 years, we’ve filled our site with loads of suggestions, tools, and tips for using engaging books throughout the curriculum to hook kids on reading. Here is where you will find many stories of successful and not-so-successful workshop days, and what we learned from them. We bring these stories to life through hundreds of video examples.
Results
Building Stamina and Book Choice Skills
Franki Sibberson continues her discussion with a group of fourth graders who often abandon books.
Abandoning Books Discussion
Franki Sibberson meets with a group of her fourth-grade students who often abandon books during independent reading. The previous day the group had brainstormed reasons why they abandoned books on...
October Literacy Contracts: Fear and Conflict
October is a wonderful month for teaching and learning, with relatively few interruptions compared to other months on the calendar. By this point in the year, we’ve established routines, relationships...
Whole-Class Research Planning
Andrea Smith leads her fourth graders through brainstorming for their owl research project.
Nonfiction Reading Group in First Grade
Katie DiCesare brings together a group of her first-grade students who are reading nonfiction, helping them to expand the ways they share what they are learning with classmates.
“We Gather Together”: On Research and Weddings
There are many similarities between committing to a research project and committing to a spouse. As I worked with a team of seventh-grade teachers at Wawasee Middle School to create...
Limiting and Extending Choice in Student Research Projects
Have you read enough research projects on bears, baseball, and badminton? Over the past several years, I have learned unlimited choice in research projects does not always make students’ writing...
Keeping Kids Safe on the Internet
Keeping our kids safe is always foremost on our minds. When children are little, we teach them how to cross the street by looking both ways. We teach them not...
Kidwatching and Connections in the Early Days
Sitting down beside Daniel, I notice he has a large collection of picture books surrounding him. He has collected several books from our author stand and is comfortably seated on...
Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts on Close Reading (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts about close reading in this 30-minute podcast. Chris and Kate are the authors of Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons...
Owl Research: Whole Class Explanation of Marking Up Text
Andrea Smith explains a close reading activity her fourth-grade students will complete as part of their owl research.
Emphasizing Empathy: September Literacy Contracts
September holds a lot of promise and excitement for teachers and students, but it can also be a stressful month. We are all trying to get back into the swing...
How to Eat an Elephant One Bit(e) at a Time: Reading Complex Texts
There is a saying: “When eating an elephant take one bite at a time.” Attributed to Creighton Abrams, we have come to use this phrase to help us understand that...
Lessons from Listening to Toddlers Read (Home Is Where the Books Are Series)
It’s fascinating as a mom to have the luxury of enough time to pay attention to the different ways my kids read. It helps me understand their process, find books...
Kindergarten I-Pick Lesson
Mandy Robek presents a two-minute reminder minilesson to her kindergartners on the "I-Pick" strategy for selecting books during independent reading time.
Literacy Contracts: Introduction
As you walk into our fifth-grade classroom, Raigan and Gracie are seated shoulder to shoulder, hovering over their books and whispering to each other while pointing to specific lines and...
The Cure for Value-Added Grief? Teacher Research
Data: what a loaded word. We’re living in a data-driven society, where data is collected, analyzed, and used to make decisions about everything from identity theft prevention to hospital infection...
Conferring in 4th Grade: The Dilemma of Multiple Novels
I don't read different novels simultaneously. I can’t keep the stories straight, and when I read a book for pleasure I am not interested in reading any other book. So...
Using Technology to Connect Young Readers and Writers
We are stronger together than we are apart. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach I’ve always been one of those people who likes to talk about books with others. I’ve always read voraciously,...
The Sponge Summary Lesson: Introduction
Heather Rader teaches a fourth-grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. In this video, the students review the four rules used for nonfiction summaries and corresponding kinesthetic movements and brainstorm a list of “what’s important to know about summaries.”
Global Read Aloud with Pernille Ripp (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Pernille Ripp about Global Read Aloud, a worldwide initiative bringing children of all ages together around shared read alouds. You can visit Pernille's blog at http://www.pernilleripp.com...
