Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Digital Handouts: An Alternative to More Paper and Meetings
"I want to contribute, I would just rather do something different than a presentation," Jane shared with me after one of her district meetings on English language learners (ELLs). She...
Making Connections as a Reader and a Scientist
My son recently attended a science fair at a local university as a requirement for the seventh grade. He did an experiment of his own design called "Where the Wild...
Seven Minutes of Listening
Four-year-old Isabele pulled out the large alphabet puzzle, a big 2' by 3' wooden one that so many preschool and primary classrooms have. With her right hand holding the letter...
A Community of Parents: Connecting via Email
Teachers take great care in establishing a "sense of community" among their students at the beginning of each school year. Within a strong community, high expectations are established, children feel...
Quick Take: Katie Doherty on Middle School Reading Workshop Choices
In this two-minute Quick Take video, Katie Doherty explains the choices students have in her sixth-grade reading workshop.
Preschool Morning Message
This five-minute video from Melissa Kolb's preschool classroom shows the value of morning message for teaching literacy skills. Melissa explains the skills children develop during this brief whole-class lesson and...
Calendaring a Literacy Coach
My husband and I married when we were sophomores in college transferring to the University of Washington. He was pursuing architecture and I was in education. We arrived in our...
The Nuts and Bolts of the Family Inquiry Project
In the Family Inquiry Project, we all found that 21st Century learning encompasses so much more than the increased use of technology. Our students expect to be an integral part...
Coaching Codes
When I was teaching English in South Korea, I attended a parent night in the community to promote our school. At the conclusion of the program, I stood up to...
Science Writing: Small Groups
In this second video in a three-part series, Jennifer Morgan leads her grades 3 and 4 students as they work together in small groups on a science and writing task....
Using Comics in Literacy Workshops
Franki Sibberson works with her 3rd and 4th graders to use comics in the literacy workshop.
Assessment Conferences: Listening to and Learning from Our Students
As we work with teachers on conferring during reading workshops, we often rely on Lucy Calkin's instructional model for one-on-one conferences: research, decide and teach. Recently in our coaching, we...
Revising Titles Minilesson
In this minilesson from Franki Sibberson's grades 3 and 4 classroom, Franki takes students through the process of selecting and revising titles. She uses the poem "Confessions of a Reader"...
Book Matchmaker: Texts to Build Stamina
 Recently Gail Boushey asked me to recommend some books to use with students who are working on building stamina in their reading. Building stamina, or even understanding...
Similes, Metaphors, Homophones and Synonyms: Children’s Books to Teach the Language of Words
When I hear the word "analogy" or "metaphor" I immediately think of multiple choice questions and #2 pencils. I was introduced to these ideas as they related to test taking,...
Building the Reading Community Among Teachers
The starting point for teaching reading is always our own lives as readers—tuning in to our processes as proficient readers, and then tapping that knowledge to help the children in...
Language Patterns: Reflecting with Transcripts and Wordle
When a colleague shared the word cloud generator at www.wordle.net with me, I was intrigued. I pasted quotes, poems, lyrics and bios into the generator, and found an entirely new way of...
Characters I Know Too Well
I knew I would never forget that feeling that washed over me as I read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. As I sped through the gripping text, I asked myself again...
Daily Tidbits: Professional Development in Small Bites
With so many modes of communicating these days intended to make staying in touch easier, sometimes it becomes a burden and a challenge to keep up with them all. I...
Digging Deeper with Rereading
In this video from Katie DiCesare's first-grade classroom, Katie uses the strategy of rereading to help students look more closely at words—in this case, words that rhyme.
Supporting Successful First-Year Coaches
It's Friday, a little after noon, and Cristina Charney, Heather Sisson, Becky Lee and I are tucked around the small circle table with our lunches in my office. We are...
