Content Category: Choice Literacy
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Writing Models with Kelly Gallagher (PODCAST)
Kelly Gallagher, the best-selling author of Readicide and Reading Reasons, talks about the importance of teachers modeling writing for students. You can read more about Kelly's work at his website: http://kellygallagher.org/ A full transcript...
Putting the “Gradual” Back into Gradual Release of Responsibility
You know you have heard a great keynote speech when a few lines stay with you months after the conference has ended. This happened for us recently. Doug Fisher was...
New and Improved Nonfiction
I found little to enjoy about nonfiction when I was a young learner. It’s been a while—three decades or more, if you’re wondering—but back then, I looked at it as...
#articleaday
Recently, I sat in the midst of my classroom's nonfiction library looking at books scattered across the floor. Fiction books were piled onto empty nonfiction shelves. When I looked at...
The Big Fresh May 28, 2016 Grin and Bear It
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. ...
Tweets in the High School Classroom
Whenever I see a really clever tweet or the perfect hashtag, I am reminded of how there is an art to writing something that expresses so much and yet is...
Tweeting a Favorite Author
Katherine Sokolowski helps her fifth-grade student Tyler send a tweet to a favorite author.
The Professional Promise of Podcasts
The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent. Alfred Brendal Teachers prize efficiency. If we can organize files while we listen to a colleague talk about a...
Writing for Reflection at the End of the Year
The end of the year is a struggle for me. I worry I haven’t taught enough, talked enough, or shared enough. I want to keep them with me. I know...
The Big Fresh May 21, 2016 Taking Play Seriously
The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. Artists play with color and space. Musicians play with sound and silence. Gods play with the universe. Children play with everything...
End-of-the-Year Reflection
As the school year winds down, I have been encouraging teachers to have their elementary students do some reflective work around their writing lives. I’ve suggested an optional assignment of...
Making Plans for Summer Reading
As runners, we know the importance of having a plan when training for a race. We've learned from experience that our training is more effective—we see the most growth in...
Amazing Race
At the end of the school year, I am always looking for ways to keep my students motivated. Anything that can inject some energy into a lesson, or better yet,...
Five Steps to Meaningful Formal Celebrations
A formal writing celebration is an event to remember. When planned properly, these events are much more than a party. In fact, they can become a cornerstone in the lives...
The Big Fresh May 14, 2016 Taking a Break
There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither. Alan Cohen It’s late spring, the time of year for teachers when routines are...
Trying on Books for Reading Groups
Stacks of novels cover the top of the table in my classroom. Students come up to the table, grab a novel, and sit down to read. They return again after...
Getting Teens Out of Reading Ruts: The Sampler
The 5th Wave, The Crossover, anything by John Green, The Enemy series. These are the types of books that my students get excited about, the books that I see in...
A Formula for Great Book Talks
Christy Rush-Levine shares her formula for giving book talks that captivate her middle school students. The introduction leads to a book talk for the young adult thriller 23 Minutes.
The Big Fresh May 7, 2016 Gradual Release of the Library
To build up a library is to create a life. It’s never just a random collection of books. Carlos María Domínguez When I visited Bitsy Parks’ first-grade classroom last October,...
Graphic Novels for Beginning Readers
“Whoa! Do we get to read this?” asked Malik, holding up a copy of the graphic novel Binky the Space Cat. “No, sweetie,” replied Rochelle. “That book is for the...
Gradual Release of the Library
Years ago, I spent a good amount of August reorganizing my classroom library. I invested in uniform book containers, and relabeled books and book bins. I replaced books that needed...
