Linda Karamatic has been teaching students and coaching teachers for over 30 years. She’s currently a building-based literacy coach in Lacey, Washington.
Linda Karamatic explores poetry with her second graders. She displays poems students have written and teaches them about fresh language using a poem about a pencil sharpener.
Linda Karamatic observes a second-grade boys book club using tokens as a cue for turn taking, and then discusses her observations with the students.
Linda Karamatic uses texts her second graders already know to build their inferring skills as they construct a chart together.
Linda Karamatic uses a read aloud to launch a group activity to build understanding of inferring.
Observation skills are tricky to demonstrate to teachers. In this photo, you can see what it looks like when Linda Karamatic confers with a student and Amanda Adrian takes notes as part of a live demonstration for teachers during a professional development session.
Instructional coach Linda Karamatic works with Hannah and her classroom teacher to build the reading scaffolds Hannah needs to reach her goal.
Linda Karamatic uses quick sketches to teach her second graders about sensory images in reading. This is the second installment in a two-part series.
Linda Karamatic uses quick sketches to teach her second graders about sensory images in reading. This is the first installment in a two-part series.
Linda Karamatic is launching a unit on punctuation with her second graders which includes mentor texts, inquiry, and anchor charts.
In this video from Linda Karamatic’s second-grade classroom, two girls meet with Linda to develop tips to share with their classmates on how to partner read successfully.
Linda Karamatic teaches a small group of her second graders about found poetry.
The line between copying and plagiarizing can be a difficult one for young students to understand. In this video, Heather Rader and Linda Karamatic share a humane strategy for helping two second graders craft nonfiction writing.
“About the Author” blurbs are a great way to bring closure to writing in workshops. In this “Listen In,” Myia begins to construct her “About the Author” page.
Heather Rader uses Kincaid’s intricate system for analyzing books to build a writing agenda in this writing conference.
Some young writers take a lot of time and encouragement on the journey to uninhibited prose, while others zip to prolific. Maya is such a writer. Heather Rader assists this proficient 2nd grade writer as her teacher observes.
Heather Rader confers with 2nd grader Maya about her math writing as Linda Karamatic listens in.
When is writing finished? Heather Rader confers with a second grader over that age-old question for writers as Linda Karamatic listens in.
Boys and their toys: Heather Rader confers with a second grader over his game writing while Linda Karamatic listens in.
In this reading conference from a 2nd grade classroom, Linda Karamatic pairs two children who have similar needs in reading.
In this video from Linda Karamatic’s second-grade classroom, Charlie shares his punctuation “find” of asterisks with his classmates. He is reading the book Miss Child Has Gone Wild by Dan Gutman.
In this brief video from Linda Karamatic’s 2nd grade classroom, students share words they are noticing, and Linda talks about making revisions to the wall displays of words in the classroom. She also mentions the word “wretched” which the class discussed the previous day, and how the word might be used naturally in conversations.
In this conference with two of her second-grade students, Linda Karamatic shares mentor texts and tips to help them with their writing. Both boys are writing stories with strong visual components.
Sometimes using a prop can help young students understand a revision strategy. Heather Rader helps second-grader Sammi understand how to “magnify” a moment when revising her writing.
Many commercial aids are available to assist young writers. The challenge is choosing carefully, and integrating them into workshops in a way that doesn’t inhibit student fluency and risk-taking. In this video, Heather Rader confers with a second grader, demonstrating how to use a spelling log for high-frequency words.
Second-grade teacher Linda Karamatic has been starting her morning with a message for years. The morning message is just one part of her daily opening that reinforces community.
Moving a child from simple to complex sentences is the goal in this second-grade writing conference.
Linda Karamatic works with a student who is reading the Stink series as he tries out a new tool for documenting inferences as he reads.