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
Reflections on Our Year of Read Alouds (BOOKLIST)
Read aloud is a key time in reading workshop with my grades 3 and 4 students. We all sit in a circle on the floor, coming together as a community...
Looking for Evidence: Seven Questions
Teachers are continually refining our thinking and assessments as we work with children, documenting and assessing reading and writing skills. For the past few months, I met with a dedicated...
Student Independence and Ownership in the Library
When I think about my long-term goals as a K-5 school librarian, I have to think about the skills that I want my students to have when they leave fifth...
Getting the Most Out of Picture Books
If you haven't enjoyed a picture book by Mo Willems, you should! Mo happens to be a favorite in our room for a number of reasons. I think the pictures...
Supporting Readers During Workshops: The First Few Weeks
Today was my second grader's first soccer game of the season. This fall he begins his first full season. Before this year, he had had a couple anxious years trying...
What My Son’s Reading Difficulties Taught Me About Teaching Struggling Readers
My eight-year-old son struggled while learning to read. The process of understanding how to figure out unfamiliar words on the page was painful. I felt that I had done everything...
Novels in Verse (BOOKLIST)
This year several of my students got hooked on novels in verse. A novel in verse is a short novel that is told in a series of poems or verses....
Models, Coaches, Shepherds, or Rock Stars? Our Reading Roles in the First Few Weeks of School
I was inspired by Katie DiCesare's article, "Supporting Readers During Workshops: The First Few Weeks." Katie discusses young readers and the varied levels of confidence and experiences primary students initially bring to...
Wide Open Spaces: Learning from “Not-Just-Right” Books
Every mother can relate to this maternal wisdom: The car is a perfect place for insightful conversations with your child. When my seven year old waits to share exciting news,...
Short Units, Big Messages
Some years ago, I moved from a 5th grade classroom to an intermediate multiage classroom with grades 3 and 4 students. I realized quickly that my writing workshop would be...
Staying True to Our Beliefs When Working With Struggling Readers and Writers in Grades 3-6
Recently I was reading an article called Four Ways to Work Against Yourself When Conferring with Struggling Writers (Language Arts, Volume 80, No. 4, March 2003). The quote that haunted...
Fitness Boot Camp Helps Me Understand Struggling Readers
I was an 80s aerobics junkie. In high school, I woke up at 6 a.m. to exercise with a TV program. In college, I was in the front and center...
Beyond Matt Christopher (BOOKLIST)
Thank goodness for Matt Christopher! I can't imagine how many boys are avid readers because of his books. Every year, I have readers, mostly boys, who become obsessed with reading...
Middle School Readers at Mid-Year (SURVEY TEMPLATE)
As a reading teacher, the first thing I do at the start of each school year is try to find out as much as I can about the relationship my...
Teaching Themes Through Keywords
I have a friend who is a whiz at online dating. It turns out you can go to these various websites and put in a 'keyword' and out pops Romeo!...
Picture Books About Books: Young Learners and Reading Identity
In the first few weeks of school, I am attempting to understand a whole new class as individual readers (yikes!). I am trying to discover where, when, why, and what...
Nonfiction Books for Independent Reading: Moving Beyond Content Connections (BOOKLIST)
What we often forget when considering the importance of nonfiction reading is the pleasure, the art, the wonder of it. We do not want to develop students who read nonfiction...
Strong Girls (BOOKLIST)
I have become more committed to finding good books for boys over the last few years. So much has been written about the crisis in boys and literacy that I...
An Assessment Notebook That Works for Me
I have been looking for the perfect assessment organization system since I started teaching over 20 years ago. I remember my excitement when I heard about others who were using...
Running and Reading Logs
In this first video in a two-part series, Clare Landrigan meets with a group of fourth graders to talk about reading logs and goals. In this excerpt, Clare uses the...
Organizing Book Bins: Letting Kids Help and Plan
I happily spend my days with first graders . . . I love to guide them as they discover, read, and tell stories. I am curious about kids. What does...
