Content Category: Choice Literacy
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Night Terrors: Let the Coaching Begin!
It's mid-July and I received an email from Jessica, one of our newly hired 4th grade teachers. I can sense her energy through the cable line. Jess has just finished...
Anchor Books for Modeling Writer’s Craft in Workshops
My students often come in excited about continuing their fiction writing. When given the choice, it becomes clear that many intermediate students will use their free choice writing time to...
Opinion Exchange: A Workshop Activity for Study Groups
What do new teachers need to keep them going that difficult first year? In our first session with new teachers in October, our room was filled with the stories of...
Using Foam Boards in Writer’s Workshop
Foam boards are an inspiration that came from my friend Ann Marie Corgill. She shared this idea with me when she was working at the Manhattan New School in New...
Writing Conference Principles
When we were first learning to confer with students of all ages, we devoured books written by Nancie Atwell, Donald Graves, and Lucy Calkins. Each of these teachers had their...
Planning a New Teachers’ Professional Development Program
It's the beginning of July and I am already sketching out plans for the first day of Charting the Course, the monthly professional development group for new teachers in our school....
Playing with Word Work: Inviting Students to See Playful Language in Books (BOOKLIST)
In a recent discussion about a Time for Kids article, my fifth-grade students brought up the fact that many common sayings in books and magazines don't make sense to them. In this...
The Curricular Support Menu: A Collaborative Tool for Assisting Colleagues
We work as curricular support teachers in the Dublin, Ohio school district. We share a classroom, and each of us spends half the day supporting our colleagues throughout the building....
Planning for K-3 Author Studies (eGUIDE)
"Planning for K-3 Author Studies" is an eGuide designed for use by teachers working alone or with partners. The guide includes grids for monthly and year-long plans, suggested authors and...
Noticing Words to Expand Vocabulary: Conferring with Mariah
In this conference with six-year-old Mariah, Joan Moser of "The Sisters" has chosen to focus on expanding vocabulary. Joan uses the charts in the classroom linked to read-alouds to anchor...
Understanding the “Silent Period” with English Language Learners
If you have a new English language learner in your class who is not speaking, don't worry. According to language researcher Stephen Krashen, most new learners of English will go...
Let’s Get Rid of “The Teacher Shrine”: Organizing Meeting Areas, Walls, and Materials
In this brief classroom tour, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser ("The Sisters") talk about problems with teacher desks, present how they separate and define different curricular learning areas.
Tips from the Pros on Starting Your Own Writer’s Notebook or Teaching Journal
Your writer's notebook gives you a safe place to ask: What really matters? What haunts me? What in my life, in this world, do I never want to forget? Your...
Reflective Observation: Helping Teachers Observe, Analyze, and Guide (TEMPLATE)
Our new teacher support group includes monthly observations of peers, with time scheduled following the observations for group discussion and analysis of what everyone saw. I wanted to develop some...
Designing Comprehension Constructors: Helping Adolescent Learners Develop Reading Strategies (E-GUIDE)
Comprehension instruction has value and lasting impact when teachers know how to design lessons, activities, and materials that match the needs of their students. Prefab worksheets or generic activities and...
Whole-Class Vocabulary Lesson, Grades K-2
In this five-minute video, Joan Moser of "The Sisters" teaches a whole-class vocabulary lesson. The focus is on helping students notice interesting words, and make connections between daily read-alouds and...
Chapter Book Read Alouds in the Primary Classroom
"It will never work," said Leela, a veteran kindergarten teacher with 25 years of experience. "They love the pictures. They all get up on their knees to see the pictures...
Webbing to Learn: A Writing Strategy to Chart Thinking with Young Learners
Teachers and teacher educators used to think that a web structure was too advanced for our youngest school learners, and reserved this work for more academically experienced students. A couple...
Literacy Coach Confidential: Some Study Group Participants Aren’t Reading the Book
A couple teachers who participate in our book discussion group don't seem to be reading the book - at all. It makes for awkward moments in the conversation, like last...
Up Gross and Personal: Dealing with Dicey Topics in Writing Workshops
Teachers have a high tolerance for the disgusting. We scrub down the mysterious puddle on the rug after a literature discussion, we endure the dead mouse passed around during recess,...
My Son Clark Kent
The day my son Alec was born I read him Jules Feiffer's Bark, George in the hospital. It was a gift from my cousin, who taught me the importance of daily reading...
