Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
September 20, 2019 Leave It
Everything I know I learned from dogs. Nora Roberts I always...
Building Reading Skills Book to Book: Conferring with Bridget
Christy Rush-Levine confers with eighth grader Bridget, coaxing her to compare and contrast the reading experience and plot twists in books.
Boosting the Confidence of Writers
The first time I sat down with Aaron, I asked him about his writing identity. “How would you describe yourself as a writer?” I asked. His eyes narrowed a bit....
Owl Research: Getting Organized
Andrea Smith meets with fourth-grade boys about their owl research.
The Power of Video Replay
The team huddles around as the coach calls attention to the iPad in his hands. Players watch intently as the clip of the winning goal is played . . ....
Book Club Tools
I am a big fan of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbooks. I love the unique flavors in his recipes and the way he incorporates so many vegetables into each dish. On the...
September 13, 2019 Lingering a Little
The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments...
Moving from Interactive Read Alouds to Book Clubs
The first time I met with my neighborhood book club, I was nervous. I wondered, Should I bring notes? Will my ideas be “literary” enough to share with the group?...
September 6, 2019 Evoking Book Memories
The past beats inside me like a second heart. John Banville In Writing Alone and with Others, Pat Schneider shares how she often launches a first writing group with...
Do Students Need to Love the Books We Read Aloud?
I had a lot of trouble deciding on the last read aloud of the year for my class of fifth graders. Nothing felt like the right match. Finally, I decided...
Introducing Social Studies Concepts with Picture Books
“Are you going to read to us today?” Anise asked when she walked into my classroom and saw a picture book on my desk. “I am, Anise.” “So, are we...
Read Aloud in Middle School
My first 20 years of teaching were spent in elementary school. Over that time period, from a few years at lower elementary to 16 at fourth and fifth grade, one...
Grand Conversations and Read Aloud
“Wait a minute. Is there a turtle in this book or not? Are you saying that the turtle shell is a way to describe the preacher’s feelings? I completely missed...
August 30, 2019 Farm Share
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. Masanobu Fukuoka...
August 23, 2019 Blank Canvas
I appreciate history, but you have to bring your own experience into your rooms. Istvan Francer My cousin was in the process of moving into her new home. She...
Reading and Thinking Aloud in Middle School
I was walking around my classroom as my eighth-grade students were taking turns reading parts of a secondary-source historical piece on the aftereffects of the French and Indian War. I...
First-Grade Read Alouds During Transitions
This brief video is an excerpt from read aloud in a first-grade classroom during morning snack break. You'll notice that Bitsy Parks uses a projector so students can eat at...
Jane Goodall Inquiry: Introducing Expectations
At the start of the school year I like to ease my students into the type of learning we will do throughout the year. In seventh grade we share text,...
Back-Channel Conversations During Read Alouds
While I was planning a read aloud, a colleague asked me, “What will students be doing while you read aloud?” I paused, hesitant to blurt out my initial response: listening....
Interactive Read Aloud and the Whole-Class Notebook
There are moments during read aloud that feel almost magical: when students lean in as the plot twists and turns, or when they snicker as they understand the author’s play...
Charting Mentor Texts
Using mentor texts is one of our favorite things to do with our students in writing workshop, because it pushes them to try things in their writing they wouldn’t have...
