Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Forming Groups Using a Planner
It was late October, and I was feeling great about my one-on-one reading conferences. I was listening more than I was talking, taking succinct but valuable notes, and feeling like...
Getting Started with Strategy Lessons
The district in which Kate coaches has teachers in grades 1-5 who are comfortable with guided reading. Three years into reading workshop, many are ready to try strategy lessons as...
Digital and Disney: Conferring with Ben
It would be easy to zip quickly through a writing conference about a vacation story, especially one about a trip to Disney. Franki Sibberson doesn't do that. She slows down...
Slowing Down
During the rush to retrieve my class after lunch, I saw Olivia crying as she ran to get a spot in line. Her arms were cradling a coat, food containers,...
Don’t Forget to Marvel
“You’re here!” Lora Bieghler said as she bounced into my office. “I’m so glad, because I want you to see this first-grade response to Freckle Juice.” Lora’s arms were full...
A Minilesson on Minilessons
Franki Sibberson leads a minilesson in her fifth-grade classroom to help students design their own lessons. Students also assess what goes into a high-quality minilesson.
Think Small
"Think small" is my new motto. It helps me handle the complicated too-muchness of it all. Maira Kalman (from And the Pursuit of Happiness) This year, when selecting a...
Secret Reader
I stay modest 'bout it, aye, she elaborate it, aye. —Kendrick Lamar, from “Humble” “I have a secret reader in my class,” Betsy told us at a recent professional development...
March 29, 2019 Salad Dressing and Soft Spots
Having a child is like getting a tattoo . . . on your face. You better be committed. Elizabeth Gilbert Last night,...
Poetry Path
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. The sound of the stapler out in the hallway meant that more poems were being shared on the bulletin board outside my classroom. I peeked around the...
Google It!
“Mom, you’re awesome!” Jordan said as he bounded into the house after wrestling practice. Since Jordan is a teenager, I definitely didn’t let his sweet words go to my head....
Stretching Writing in First Grade with Details
Bitsy Parks makes the home-school connection with first grader Grace early in the year as she writes about her birthday party. Bitsy encourages Grace to stretch her writing with more...
Unadulterated Reading
My son sighed in exasperation and yelled across the table, “Why does my mom have to be a reading teacher?!” There it was. The dreaded phrase that I have come...
Small Group: Creativity
Franki Sibberson pulls together a group of fifth graders to explore writing mentors together.
March 22, 2019 Spring Break
The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. ...
March 15, 2019 Impossible Negotiations
Do not force people to choose between doing what is smart and doing what helps them save face. Deepak Malhotra I am fortunate to swim in two worlds professionally....
Conferences with Parents of English Language Learners
In the past decade, my school population had shifted dramatically. Transiency, shifting attendance lines, and the passage of time has changed our school population such that we have a significant...
March 8, 2019 With Students in Mind
At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living. Neil Postman My son’s Go Kit was...
Opinion Proof Lesson
In this minilesson, Christy Rush-Levine helps her students create an "opinion proof chart" in their notebooks. This exercise helps them build their skills in backing up opinions with evidence.
A Fresh Take on Persuasive Writing
Can I persuade you to take a fresh look at teaching persuasive writing? This genre has become a pet peeve of mine. It is time to bring it up to...
Reading That Changes Us
This year, inspired by Kelly Gallagher's "Article of the Week" activity, our seventh graders started reading a weekly nonfiction article. This weekly reading has many benefits, including building background knowledge,...
