Content Category: Choice Literacy
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Considerations for AI in the Classroom
When I first heard of ChatGPT, we were already into the second semester of the school year, when my capacity for learning about a new technology is admittedly very low....
Leveraging AI in Elementary Literacy
The often overused quote of Edward Bulwer-Lytton—“The pen is mightier than the sword”—is often used to describe the awesome power of the written word and its destructive possibilities. I have...
Writing Will Help
“It was a hard recess,” the recess duty teacher said to me. Although it wasn't what I wanted to hear, it also wasn’t a surprise. There is a point in...
September 1, 2023: Nuances of Teaching Readers
Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. —George Bernard Shaw Think Again I'm slowly reading Adam Grant's new book Think Again: The...
Partnering Phonics and Poetry
I'm wondering, like I've wondered many times before, how I can fit in more time for phonics instruction for the beginning readers I teach. I know my students need more...
Practical Advice for Dealing with Messy Handwriting
Do struggles with handwriting matter? They do when a student can't even decipher his own words. Katherine Sokolowski confers with fifth grader Sauvi to help him find solutions to the...
My Teaching Toolbox (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this article, I introduced you to Mason and Isaac. You might remember they were each struggling in their own way with identifying the important events in...
Small Shifts That Make a Big Difference
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. ― attributed to Maya Angelou I noticed something interesting about Sophia’s eyes. I had...
My Teaching Toolbox (Part 1)
It was clear to me that Mason was struggling to pull out the important events from the biography we were reading in our intervention group. It was a fascinating story...
Does Gender Impact Reader Engagement?
Throughout my teaching career, I have thought a lot about gender when making text selections. For instance, when deciding on a text for a whole class to read, I want...
August 25, 2023: New Ways of Thinking
Human connections are deeply nurtured in the field of shared story. —Jean Houston Cool Kids Snapchat Thread "Mom, if you were to look at Snapchat, it would be a lot...
Holding Space for Counter-Narratives That Honor Communities
Rudine Sims Bishop changed our views of children’s literature when she explained that books can be mirrors of our own lives, windows into somebody else’s life, and sliding glass doors...
Considering Positionality and Developing New Sight Lines
Your identity, your thoughts, and your experiences influence the way that you relate to a text. This is your positionality as a reader, and it’s important to consider your positionality...
August 18, 2023: Shared Experiences
A walk in nature walks the soul back home. —Mary Davis Happiness Is Contagious Andy (my husband) and I are becoming hikers. Rarely does a week go by without us...
Partnering with Families on Reading
Back-to-school night in my district is a scheduling house of cards. Families try to follow their child’s complete “A Day” school schedule in roughly one hour, often dividing and conquering...
August 11, 2023: Nourishing Writers
Artists are people who have learned to live in doubt and do the work anyway. —Julia Cameron Overcoming Doubt After hearing about the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit from one...
Let’s Write Together: The Importance of Class Books
Years ago my classroom was filled with first-grade students. Children with smiles of missing teeth had pencil boxes filled with crayons and pencils, and a few lucky ones even had...
August 4, 2023: Getting Ready for a New Year
I absolutely LOVE Choice Literacy! Of all the internet resources I use, this is the premier website for educators who focus their efforts on literacy. —Michelle, Classic Classroom Member The...
How Long Does This Have to Be?
I once had a student named Wyatt who, whenever he was asked to write something in my class, never failed to ask, "How long does this have to be?" And...
Everyone Wants to Write?
One week, I was home with my family fighting COVID. I missed five straight days of school, and my kindergartners had four different people in charge of them in five...
Putting Together the Pieces of a Classroom (Classroom Organization)
My dad helped me move classrooms on a hot July day. A veteran class mover, he made me clean out my desk and declutter instead of rolling it as-is down...
