Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
Doodlebug
Mrs. Cox was my second-grade teacher. Tall and lean, she had a wide grin and a crazy mess of bright red hair that matched a smattering of freckles all over...
Beyond Cute: Print Rich with Purpose
Preparation for the new school year is under way. Are visions of chevrons, polka dots, and owls dancing in your head? Many classrooms are filled with them. Rosy-cheeked, curly-headed children...
The Big Fresh August 8, 2015 Cold Pool
If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you. Bruce Lee One of my...
Adding Dialogue to Writing: Conferring with Sam
Karen Terlecky confers with Sam about adding dialogue to writing in her fifth-grade classroom.
The Big Fresh August 1, 2015 What’s Worth Keeping
The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life. Marie Kondo Buried in the rubble of my many...
Back to Basics: Routines in Writing Workshops
As a mother of four, I’ve learned to have a few non-negotiables when it comes to our bedtime routine. In a nutshell, the non-negotiables in our house are brushing teeth,...
Easing into Workshops: Routines in Third Grade
This quick and silent time-lapse video shows the arrival routine in Leslie Lloyd's third-grade classroom. Students arrive at different points during a 15-minute stretch each morning, and read the board...
Reading Workshop Routines in First Grade
Bitsy Parks explains the routines and procedures in her first-grade reading workshop.
Perfect Frosting and Workshop Routines
The grandkids were coming over for a Sunday meal. The meal would not be complete unless it ended with something chocolate. I wanted to keep the meal simple and child-pleasing...
The Big Fresh July 25, 2015 The Power of a Read Aloud
Why do they not teach you that time is a finger snap and an eye blink, and that you should not allow a moment to pass you by without taking...
Read Alouds as “Third Things”
Many things are unpredictable each day in our classroom, but one thing my students can count on is that they will be read to every single day. I read aloud...
Bring Back Read Aloud
Recently, I met with a group of middle school students, hoping to get some input to help me plan a professional-development class for teachers. When I first met them, I...
Strategies for Using Reader’s Notebooks
I love read alouds, modeling ways to write about reading, and having conversations with students about books. I am an avid reader of children’s books and thrive on spreading the...
Fourth-Grade Read Aloud: Checking In
In this video from a fourth-grade classroom, Gi Reed reads aloud Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Notice how Gi continually checks in with her students, making sure...
Creating a Classroom Environment That Supports Community Building and Independence
I absolutely love setting up classrooms and get excited every summer when I get the chance to change parts, rearrange, add, and/or delete. I want to create a classroom environment...
More Than Dr. Seuss Hats: Why Events Matter
I am not usually a fan of reading activities and events. I do not enjoy the days when everyone in the school wears a Dr. Seuss hat, and I do...
The Big Fresh July 18, 2015 Close Reading a Community
Everyone in this world is somehow connected. So why not just be nice to everybody? Richard Simmons It was one of the days in our classroom where we...
The Beginnings of a Middle School Literacy Community
I already missed last year’s students as I led my first-hour class from the gymnasium to my classroom on the first day of school. I was nervous about facing a...
Using a Strategy Card in a Reading Conference
Deb Gaby confers with second grader Reagan early in the school year. She is reading her first chapter book, and using a reading strategies "tool kit" for support.
Potato the Crow: Blurring the Lines Between Reality, Fantasy, and Play with Young Learners
One fall day as I strolled through the aisles of the dollar store looking for classroom curriculum, I came across an artificial crow. It was realistic looking, with feathers over...
The Big Fresh July 11, 2015 Catching Your Breath
Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. Henry James “You’re so lucky to have your summers off.” That...
