Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
First-Grade Humor: Conferring with Jude
Katie DiCesare confers with first grader Jude about the humor in his underpants "hero" writing.
Top 10 Intermediate Books for Boys
Two years ago I stood side by side with a student, glancing over the shelves of books in my classroom. Matt was, by his own definition, a nonreader. He knew...
The Big Fresh September 13, 2014 Extra or Unexpected?
Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us. Boris Pasternak...
Getting Traction When There Is Nothing to Write About
I am at a writing retreat and I’m stuck. I have nothing to write about, nothing of value to commit to the page, no good ideas. I am on the...
Personal Narratives and Memoir: Conferring with Bode
Ruth Ayres confers with Bode about the difference between personal narratives and memoirs, and the value of mining the writing journal for topics.
Rethinking Writing Notebooks
When I first began teaching writing workshop, I was told that my students needed to keep a writer's notebook. I was good at following directions, so I had students keep...
Teacher as Mentor Writer
For many years I have felt content and fulfilled with the reading workshop my students and I build each year. I am confident about my ability to plan for and...
The Big Fresh September 6, 2014 Clark Walking
We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. Stacia Tauscher My son is...
Jumping Off the Buzz Wagon: The Value of Reading Logs
During a recent workshop I was leading, a teacher came up to me shocked that I had shared a student reading log in one of my slides. She sounded confused...
Reader Response: Keeping It Real
The music starts in our first-grade classroom and kids begin to sign out of their computers, put books away, and select the ones they want to share. Everyone begins to...
Fluency and Comprehension Conference
In this brief conference, Aimee Buckner confers with Amanda about her fluency and comprehension.
Reading Passports
Has the traditional reading log run its course in your classroom? I have found that by the intermediate grades, the typical nightly reading log no longer has a useful purpose...
The Big Fresh August 30, 2014 The Other Space
Gardens are a form of autobiography. Sydney Eddison I could open a farmers' market this year. My garden is overflowing with fresh vegetables and flowers. My family has even...
Inviting Book Tub Titles: Nonfiction Library Redesign
The Dewey Decimal System is an organizer’s dream for placing an expanding supply of informational texts into a library, a way to help readers find what they need with the...
Books for Studying Illustration with First Graders
After many weeks of helping students get acquainted with the routines in writing workshop, I am excited to begin our first study. With such young writers, the notion of study...
Reorganizing the Classroom Library
When entering my classroom, you immediately notice one thing: books. The classroom library now houses more than 3,000 titles. In more than 14 years of teaching, I have amassed quite...
Summer’s a Gypsy
She takes the hand of Juno and walks through a thin wash of rain into light. Her toes loosen the quickening earth. She stops to weave the lush strands...
The Big Fresh August 23, 2014 Pure Enjoyment PD
There are many true statements about complex topics that are too long to fit on a Powerpoint slide. Edward Tufte This is the season when literacy leaders are...
Conferring About Illustrations
Ruth Ayres confers with a third grader who is preparing to add illustrations to her story. The mentor text she uses is The Pain and the Great One.
Understanding Study: Noticing Pictures
On a warm afternoon in late September, it was time to begin our first unit in writing workshop. I was a little nervous that my first graders might not be...
Reader Response in the Digital Age
I recently finished the book We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It is an amazing young adult novel with an ending that begs to be discussed. I knew I couldn’t...
