Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Mastering Conventions
“You’re not stepping into the ball,” Kurt said as he hit another tennis ball my way. A hundred other directions marched through my brain as I concentrated on moving my...
Text Set Resources
I’ll always remember Jonas. Most of us have had students like him. Jonas was a fourth-grade absentminded-professor kind of student. Given a topic, he’d go off to find information, and...
October 18, 2019 Offers and Offerings
I have found among its other benefits that giving liberates the soul of the giver. ...
Helping Students Understand What Works for Them
While playing tennis with my youngest daughter and my husband, I was surprised by how much Cecily liked Garth’s constant stream of suggestions, pointers, and coaching. “He’s always right,” Cecily...
Whole-Class Reflection in Middle School
Ever since my first day in the teaching profession, my students have taught me how to be a better teacher. This may come from my own learning as a child:...
October 11, 2019 Instagram vs. Google Selves
Don’t trust what people tell you; trust what they do. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz I just read the fascinating book Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can...
Teaching Conventions in Small Groups
“Do you pinky promise?” I asked Josie. “I do,” she solemnly agreed. We linked pinkies and looked each other in the eye. I smiled. Josie had just agreed to edit...
Conferring to Connect: First-Grade Reading
Bitsy Parks confers with first grader Ella about a book series, and then listens to Ella read. She closes the conference by encouraging Ella to make more personal connections to...
Building Reading Identities Across the Year
It was November, and a new intervention cycle was beginning. “What kind of reader are you, Giselle?” Kate asked the student who was new to one of her third-grade intervention...
Text Sets: Reading Beyond Just Facts
In this world of online searching, skimming, and scanning, I want my students to experience the power of digging deeper into a subject. I want them all to read beyond...
Finding Time for Writing Shares
“I never seem to get to the share,” a teacher said to me in a recent conversation. We talked more, and it became clear to me that part of the...
Writing Share Circle in Fifth Grade
Here are some excerpts from a writing share circle in Dana Murphy's fifth-grade classroom. Each student shares a one- to two-sentence excerpt from the writing they completed during the day's...
Circle Share
It had been an intense day of finishing the rough drafts of our memoirs. My students were really putting themselves on the page, and I had been moved nearly to...
Creating a Realistic Fiction Stack
Katherine Sokolowski confers with a fifth grader who is looking for book recommendations. She creates a stack of realistic fiction books based on the student's interests.
Textual Lineage
A text that becomes a part of the student long after he reads it and leads him to think and act differently as a result of the text becomes part...
October 4, 2019 50 Pages
Have you ever noticed that life consists mostly of interruptions, with occasional spells of rush work in between? ...
Big Table Writing
Max Brand uses the "big table" in his kindergarten classroom as a communal spot for writing. You can see how he interrupts students naturally to make quick suggestions, and allows...
Minimizing Interruptions During Workshops
I have two young children at home, so believe me, I am accustomed to interruptions. I am used to the call of “Moooommmm!” right when I sit down to fold...
Field Notes: Preserving Minilesson Time
In a first-grade classroom at Haverhill Elementary, the sweet smell of efficiency wraps around me as I observe literacy stations. The minilesson is finished, and kids are settling into their...
September 27, 2019 Two Wolves
Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. Suzy Kassem In Craft a Life You Love, Amy Tangerine tells the Cherokee legend of the two wolves: A grandfather tells...
Raising Student Voices: Mentor Texts
I’ve never really gotten over watching A Muslim and Jewish Girl’s Bold Poetry Slam on YouTube. Amina Iro and Hannah Halpern share their poem about the way the world sees...
