Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Expanding Black History Month Reading
It’s easy to tell when it’s Black History Month. Every classroom has a display of favorite read aloud books featuring African Americans. Children can look forward to hearing them during...
Russell Freedman Book Clubs
I love the idea of having all my students read the same book and discuss it. The shared interest and excitement that comes from having book clubs in the classroom...
Picture Book Biographies
Whenever I heard the word biography from my teacher while I was growing up, my mind translated it as a long, boring, unappealing, and completely dull book. I never would’ve...
The Big Fresh September 8, 2018 Mothers of the Brides
Whoever said that money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping. Bo Derek My friend Franki and I both have daughters who are getting married over the...
A Poem About Lost Friendship: Conferring with Estelle
Estelle shares a poem she has written about lost friendship with her teacher, Katherine Sokolowski. She captures the fickle nature of fifth-grade relationships among girls. Katherine connects the cadence of...
Ohana Means “Family”
Ohana is the Hawaiian word for "family," with a meaning that is both simple and complex. Ohana includes the people to whom you’re related, as well as the larger group...
Does the Pencil Still Have Power?
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered. The point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei An enormous supply of graphite was found in northern England in...
The Big Fresh September 1, 2018 Listening to Children
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Stephen R. Covey I was enjoying one of those magical moments of teaching,...
Message from the Moon
Message from the Moon In my solitary work I am dark, a wounded myth of stories, ghosts and dreams. You brush the hard places luminous like a campfire—...
Avoiding Flat Tires
This spring, I discovered a colossal flat tire on my bike. Not the kind that an air compressor will help, either—the tire, ripped and frayed, didn’t even adhere to the...
Reading Partners: Process Discussion
Gigi McAllister helps fourth-grade reading partners evaluate their success and areas to work on in their partnership.
Building Routines
I give the group of teachers a big wave and a smile as they quietly slip out of the classroom. Many of them smile and wave back, some mouth Thank...
Confusing Children
Many kids show up in school with behaviors that confuse adults. Our understanding of the way brains work, especially our understanding of self-regulation, will determine our solutions or responses to...
The Big Fresh August 25, 2018 Gym Workshop
Gym class was, of course, where the strongest, best-looking kids were made captains and chose us spazzes last. Ayelet Waldman I am the least athletic person I know. In...
Reader Response as an Entry to Conferring
“How often do you confer with readers?” I get asked this question a lot. In fact, I work with a close friend of mine who, before I can answer that...
Reading Conference: Keeping Track of Characters
Christy Rush-Levine refers back to a previous reading response to help eighth grader Edith track changes in characters' relationships in Room, the novel she is reading.
Annotating While Reading
an·no·tate VERB annotates (third person present) · annotated (past tense) · annotated (past participle) · annotating (present participle) add notes to (a text or diagram) giving explanation or comment. (Definition from the Oxford Dictionary) My students annotate...
What Does It Mean to Read?
It was late fall, and I was sitting in our reading reflection circle listening to my students share their thinking with the group. “I read 35 pages,” said Luke. Not...
The Big Fresh August 18, 2018 Lily Pads
You only see the top of a lily pad, but if you pull the lily pad out of the water, it has roots and tangled weeds and all the stuff...
Guided Reading Run Amok
“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” said Sharice. “I plan, reflect, and read. I watch videos on YouTube and Edutopia. I even tried filming myself and watching the videos....
Three Challenges for the 40 Book Challenge
It’s interesting what gets adopted widely in education. Growth mind-set, for example, is almost an industry, with workbooks, posters, and computer software all designed to instill resilience in students. Yet...
