Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Dandelions, Chinese, and Patience with Our Youngest Learners
Seven dandelions plucked with short stems sit in a line on the arm of the bench. By this, I know that a very young child has been here recently. Only...
Two Lessons for Teaching Theme
I want students to know how to find theme in any fiction they are reading, and to be aware of the critical devices authors use to tell their story and...
Illustrations in Kindergarten: Conferring with Dalton
Ruth Ayres confers with kindergartner Dalton about illustrating his writing.
Finding a Writing Buddy
We begin our introduction to the revision process of our genre study with a question, “What might you want to read in another writer’s personal narrative?” The hands pop up....
Partner Reading Conference in First Grade
Katie DiCesare confers with Jack and Praneel about their partner reading.
Learning from Kidwatching
It took Sierra a few weeks to decide to talk in Keri Archer’s kindergarten class. Her father startled Keri the first time she met him: his face was steel gray,...
The Big Fresh October 26, 2013 PD Overload
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. Michael Altshule Glazed eyes. Hands being rubbed over eyes and foreheads. Lips formed into frowns or...
Strong Girls Book Group
Franki Sibberson shares a range of books that include compelling female characters with a group of fourth-grade girls. Here is a list of the books mentioned by Franki in...
Choice, Content, and Format: Understanding How Boys Write
During a Skype visit last spring, author Gae Polisner asked my class how many of them loved reading. Hands shot to the sky; all of my 24 students raised their...
She Wants to Be Katniss for Halloween: Courageous Girls in Books
Fifth-grader Kennedy has never dressed up as a girl for Halloween -- at least not since she was three years old. As soon as she was old enough to state...
Pumpkin Time: Provocations and Stories with Preschoolers
During these early weeks of preschool, beyond learning classroom routines and rules, managing behaviors, and teaching new ways to interact, I’m working on developing some foundational skills and attitudes. Fostering...
The Big Fresh October 19, 2013 Tending the Garden
Great projects, like great careers and relationships that last, are gardens. They are tended, they shift, they grow. They endure over time, gaining a personality and reflecting their environment. When...
Exploring Explanatory Moves Writers Use
There is a difference, subtle though it may be, between informational and explanatory writing. Let’s take a deeper look at the moves writers use to explain beyond merely explaining how...
Research Book Clubs for Struggling Readers
This past fall one of our fabulous learning support teachers and I were sitting on the carpet after school trying to think of a way to get a student we...
Group Conference in First Grade
Katie DiCesare meets with Anna and Brendan to help them learn from each other and prepare to share their rereading strategies with the whole class.
The Big Fresh October 12, 2013 Winning Deal
You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. John C. Maxwell I'm down...
Your Opinion Matters—Really
Sometimes I get sick of filling out surveys. Everyone wants feedback—the online store where I just shopped, my children’s school, the doctor’s office. The problem for me is that I...
Mentor Texts for “Versus” Stories
What is it that young writers find so appealing about versus stories? Last year my first-grade class loved versus stories. They went on a versus writing streak in writing workshop...
On the Same Team: Better Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences used to intimidate me as a young teacher. I was worried that I wouldn’t get my message across, remember to share everything I wanted, or know how to...
Holding Thinking Minilesson with Second Graders
Deb Gaby uses an analogy of animal tracks to introduce the concept of "holding thinking" in reading journals to second graders.
Building Stamina and Book Choice Skills
Franki Sibberson continues her discussion with a group of fourth graders who often abandon books.
