Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Writers Make Plans
Before I began writing this piece, I collected what I needed—my laptop, a comfy seat, and a hot cup of tea. I opened my digital sticky note of topic ideas...
December 13, 2019 Norwich
There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about. Margaret J. Wheatley In the book Norwich: One Tiny Vermont Town’s Secret to Happiness...
December 6, 2019 Just Say Yes
Say yes and you'll figure it out afterwards. ...
Community Timeline Project
In seventh-grade language arts we are constantly looking for ways to bring the community to our students. With our schedule, that is often difficult. One way we manage to accomplish...
Reading and Writing for the 100th Day of School
“I don’t believe this!” I mumbled to myself as I left the classroom. I was leaving after a meeting with Allie, who was completing a teaching internship, and her cooperating...
November 22, 2019 Cue the Habit
We become what we repeatedly do. Sean Covey Everyone knows when it is time to write in Emily Buttermore’s kindergarten classroom. The overhead lights are off and lamps are on....
Teaching Theme Before the Holidays
Around the holidays last year, we came across several articles about the political incorrectness of the movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other holiday classics of our childhood. We were...
A Quick How-to Writing Unit in First Grade
I love squeezing in a how-to writing unit when I feel like my students need something a little different from our regular book-making writing. Instead of using how-to books as...
Comparing Authors Minilesson
Jen Court helps second graders compare favorite author styles in this minilesson.
Scaffolding Instruction in an Author Study
I bet you can name the author of the following passage: A band that's so good should have someone to hear it, But it's going so fast that it's hard...
Magic Connections: Young Adult Literature in a Social Studies Class
When my students come into my room at the beginning of the year and all of the introductions are done, school supplies for the year are discussed, and general rules...
November 15, 2019 In Praise of Clutter
I like working among creative clutter. It gives me a sense of activity and achievement. Fennel Hudson There is something about the idea of the clean slate, the bare...
When Learning Gets Tricky, Go Back to the Pigs
I am in a third-grade classroom, the students gather on the rug, and I say, "I heard you have been learning how to think about the texts you are reading....
Writing Endings Minilesson in Fifth Grade
A classic anchor text for many teachers is Charlotte's Web. In this week's video, Dana Murphy seamlessly integrates a brief excerpt from it into a writing minilesson on endings in...
Mentor Text Craft Guides
As a writer, I explore and examine mentor texts all the time for inspiration and understanding about how to improve my own craft. Most of my writing friends do the...
November 8, 2019 The Gift of Noticing
I was away from home and realized I needed a photo of my garden for an upcoming blog post. I texted my neighbor who loves photography for help, and within...
The Freewrite Pause
Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in. Sebastian Vettel In the past, I would deliver a minilesson about a historical event to my seventh-grade social...
November 1, 2019 Romancing the Em Dash
I always notice em dashes and when I see one, I think, “You knew what you were doing and I respect that. You could have reached for a hyphen and...
October 25, 2019 Candy Bombs
There’s nothing as cozy as a piece of candy and a book. Betty MacDonald “This is my corner,” Kim Kabrich, an interventionist, said as she showed me her office....
Reinforcing Workshop Norms
In this quick video, Dana Murphy shows how she leads her fifth graders with a kinesthetic reminder of workshop norms before beginning independent work.
Fifth-Grade Small Group: Paragraphs
Dana Murphy meets with a group of fifth graders to help students develop paragraphing skills, using a peer's mentor text.
