Content Category: Choice Literacy
Results
The Big Fresh February 7, 2015 Rereading the Classics
Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them. ...
Infographics and the Common Core: Resources and Standards
Infographics are intentionally selected or designed visual images such as graphs, charts, or diagrams used to represent ideas, information, or data. Using both text and images, well-designed infographics help writers...
First-Grade Math Lesson: Introduction and Partner Work
Danielle French leads her first graders in a math lesson where they also build vocabulary and language skills.
The Big Fresh January 31, 2015 Portmanteaus and Eggcorns
A new word is like a fresh seed sewn on the ground of the discussion. Ludwig Wittgenstein I've always loved Ralph Fletcher's advice that vocabulary instruction is all about...
Teaching Search Skill Basics to Students
One of the most amazing things about living in the digital age is the fact that information is everywhere. With a few clicks, keystrokes, or taps I can get most...
First-Grade Math Lesson: Practice and Discussion
Students practice creating equations and using new vocabulary in this second installment of a math lesson in Danielle French's first-grade classroom.
Webquests with Middle School Students
We recently wrapped up our study of Native Americans in North and South America. It's a tall order to sweep your way through both Americas and hit the major Native...
Using Google Earth to Support Readers
Reading is supposed to take us places we’ve never been and show us things we’ve never seen. But does the image we create in our mind match what the author...
Raising the Quality of Word Work
Zane carefully wrote the word found on his paper with the blue marker. Then he traced over the word with the red marker, followed by the green marker, and finally...
The Big Fresh January 24, 2015 DEARO
Smile at strangers and you just might change a life. Steve Maraboli On a cold winter day last month I stood at the front door of a local school,...
Three Questions to Ask When a Guided Reading Group Is Stuck
In our work in schools, we often field questions from teachers worried about student progress. The concern goes something like this: “I have this group that is stuck at level...
Small-Group Writing: Steps for Success
“Are we going to write about our reading today?” Christopher, Avery, and Braden beg. I know it’s hard to believe, but they really do. These three readers love to write...
The Power of Written Blind Word Sorts
Automatic pattern knowledge is critical to spelling and understanding how words work. Sorting words is an opportunity to examine words, search for common patterns, and categorize discoveries. Word sorting can...
Going Public with Word Work
On our first day back after spring break, I asked my students to think about word work as a math problem. How are the two similar? Puzzled looks were all...
English Language Learners First-Grade Guided Group
Stella Villalba leads a guided reading group for first-grade English language learners, beginning by building vocabulary.
Frog and Toad and Tina and Maya: A Precocious Kindergarten Reading Group
In March, Ms. Kelso invited me into her kindergarten classroom to work with some of her advanced readers. The end of the school year in Honolulu was bearing down on...
The Big Fresh January 17, 2015 The Power of Nonfiction Picture Books
People respect nonfiction but they read novels. E.O. Wilson Student choice is a key component of my fourth-grade reading workshop. I believe that if students have more control in...
Blurring Genres and Real-Life Readers
As a teacher who likes to observe reading trends in my classroom, I sometimes start to lump kids into groups when it comes to reading preferences. For example, I have...
Classroom Displays for Nonfiction Learning
We are surrounded by visible reminders in our daily lives: dates marked on calendars, sticky notes left for family members on the refrigerator, or comments made on an article shared...
Exploring Literary Nonfiction with Middle School Students
Lately, I have noticed that nonfiction is sometimes hard to categorize because of the innovative ways authors are writing it. It seems more creative and literary than it used to...
Science Observations in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek introduces a science observation activity to her kindergartners.
