Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Connection Points: The Sambusa Was the Key
Filsan walked in carrying a pillow of paper towels, the school kind—you know, the light brown color, the scratchy texture that doesn’t actually absorb anything. The smile on her face,...
Building Community Around Food and Poetry
The chef James Beard is quoted as saying, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” We must all eat food to live, but food is much more than just...
Conferring in Kindergarten: Drawing to Learn
Hayley Whitaker confers with a kindergartner and helps him make meaning through drawings.
Gratitude Week
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. —William Arthur Ward “I’m going to write to Mrs. Fox. I had her in kindergarten.”...
The Hermit Crab Essay: Finding a Shell to Share a Vulnerable Story
When I was in fifth grade, I went to a Girl Scout overnight at a science center. As we were leaving, they gave every girl a hermit crab in a...
Conferring on Inferring in Second Grade
Linda Karamatic works with a student who is reading the Stink series as he tries out a new tool for documenting inferences as he reads.
Use Math Practices to Deepen Friendships
I found the perfect book for my kindergarten students in the recently published Friends Beyond Measure: A Story Told with Infographics by Lalena Fisher. Fisher presents math as a vehicle...
Fake It ‘Til You Make It
I’m seven months into being a first-time foster parent to five incredible siblings. The journey is like nothing I can describe most of the time; my husband and I would...
Going Deeper with Math Curricular Materials
My child is bored. How are you challenging my child? My child already knows how to do that. Many times these comments from families come from a place of wanting...
Setting the Room for Collaboration
Gretchen Schroeder offers advice on how to arrange a high school classroom for collaboration and connection.
Setting Middle School Readers Up for Success
In my class, students do a good deal of reading outside of their literacy hour in a block of time called “independent reading.” While I still encourage students to read...
Searching for Patterns with First Graders
In my coaching role this school year, I have had the opportunity to be in a few different first-grade rooms. When teachers express a desire to keep all of their...
Criteria for Success
At our end-of-the-day middle school collaboration meeting, teachers often share their experiences with students or classes. One lament that came up often at the beginning of the year was about...
Using Fiction Writing to Change Attitudes About Writing
I began my writing blog in 2011 and was absolutely terrified to share my writing with the world. Slowly, I became more comfortable. I joined weekly challenges on other blogs...
Managing Independent Projects (SHORTS)
If you had been able to walk around our classroom last Friday, you might have paused to see Sophie sketching a picture in a comic strip panel. As you glanced...
Building a Professional Library from Scratch (SHORTS)
Almost everything about Emily's new coaching position was perfect. The school was one of those charming, old, traditional brick buildings with lots of character: high ceilings, hardwood floors, wide corridors,...
Photo Booth and Young Readers
How many times had I seen that Photo Booth icon on my laptop but not really given it much thought? How many times did I think of Photo Booth as...
Jose the Late Bloomer
Jose was a first grader, the youngest English language learner in my class. I can still remember his messy hair and quiet yawns. He seemed to like school, but it...
Reading Nonfiction: A Paper Anchor Chart
Tammy Mulligan explains her thinking behind using multiple versions of an anchor chart to help students remember and personalize a process for reading nonfiction texts.
Using Me Boxes to Promote Identity, Academics, and Play
The importance of including more play has been on Kate’s mind in her first-grade classroom for the past few years. It's a newer concept to her. It just wasn’t a...
Play Is Powerful: Sharing Student Learning with Families
Sitting on the sidelines at a soccer practice, I overheard some parents discussing their children’s new teachers. One of them was the mother of a child in my class. My...
