Content Category: Choice Literacy
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Getting to Know Multilingual Learners at the Start of the Year
As you get ready for the school year, you'll hear this classic and fundamental advice: Get to know your students. What does this mean when it comes to meeting and...
Conferring in First Grade
This nine-minute video from Katie DiCesare's first-grade classroom demonstrates a range of conferring in the midst of writing workshop -- from quick on the fly conferences, to small group brainstorming...
The Email Mirror and Literacy Coaching
Last year while attending a mentor symposium, my thinking about coaching was challenged. As experienced instructional coaches, we were asked to rate ourselves on a number of attributes. When I...
Save the Picture Books!
I got the bad news from my friend, Pam Pifer. I opened an email from her and it contained this article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html. The reporters note a dramatic...
Social Justice Picture Books
Many wonderful new resources exist to introduce issues of social justice to even very young children. There are a wealth of picture books that can help us educate students, their...
Purposeful First Grade Reading Share Sessions
Katie DiCesare prompts her 1st grade students during the reading share time at the end of workshop to make connections between the strategies they use during independent reading time and...
Drawing to Words: Conferring with Luis
In this four-minute video, Andie Cunningham confers with Luis during writing workshop. Luis is a six-year-old English language learner whose passion is drawing.
Read Alouds for the Last Days of School
Last month we surveyed readers of our weekly newsletter The Big Freshrequesting suggestions for literacy activities for the final days of school. Hundreds of teachers wrote back. This week we...
Quick Take: Awkward Beginnings with English Language Learners
In this short video, Ruth Shagoury gives two pieces of advice to teachers who feel awkward while trying to communicate with young English language learners.
Book Matchmaker: Teaching Inferring to Intermediate Students
Kathy is a literacy coach in a grades 3-5 school. She is looking for new books to use to teach inferring to students. Readers often have experience with...
Ann Marie Corgill on Launching Writer’s Workshop (PODCAST)
Ann Marie Corgill, the author of Of Primary Importance, talks with Franki Sibberson about the launch of writer's workshop early in the year, and how her thinking has changed about instruction...
Favorite Spaces (Part 1)
Look at your learning space with 21st-century eyes: Does it work for what we know about learning today or just for what we knew about learning in the past? The...
Quick and Thorough: Literacy Coach Conferring Notes
For most classroom teachers, it takes years to perfect a system for conferring during reading and writing workshops. In my role as a literacy coach I have supported many teachers...
Launching the Newbery Club
The students arrived at 8:00 in the morning for the first Newbery Club meeting, and it was exciting to see them carrying their books. We took a quick inventory of...
Books to Celebrate Earth Day
As we think about celebrating Earth Day in our schools in April, we can expand the things that we can teach children by the books that we share. There are...
Book Matchmaker: Texts to Inspire Our Youngest Readers and Writers
I recently received this request from Danielle DeRome, a first-grade teacher, asking for book recommendations: One of the hardest times for some students (and me!) is when they are...
Literacy Keepsakes to Carry Home at the End of the School Year
Last month we surveyed readers of our weekly newsletter The Big Fresh requesting suggestions for literacy activities for the final days of school. Hundreds of teachers wrote back. This week we...
Make it Personal
I'll admit it; one of my favorite movies is You've Got Mail. I've watched it dozens of times because I'm enchanted with the children's bookstore in the film, the "Little...
A Congenial Parent Night
Parent Night . . . most classroom teachers schedule a meeting during the first few weeks of school. The task sounds straightforward -- welcome parents, introduce yourself, and explain all the...
Mary Lee Hahn – Read Alouds to Build Community Early in the Year (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Franki Sibberson chats with Mary Lee Hahn (author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud) about the best read alouds for building community at the start of the year. A full...
Favorite Spaces (Part 2)
Look at your learning space with 21st-century eyes: Does it work for what we know about learning today or just for what we knew about learning in the past? The...
