Melissa Kolb

Words with Friends

Melissa Kolb explores what needs to be in place for our youngest students to learn how to converse kindly.

How to Speak “Friend”

Melissa Kolb shares some of her favorite mentor texts for helping preschoolers understand friendship.

Do You Have Any Questions? Conferring with Families

We've all experienced that moment in a parent conference. You finish your spiel, which includes assessment data, charts, and an anecdote or two about the child. And when you're finished, the parent asks, "But how is my child doing?" Melissa Kolb explores the reasons why there can be a mismatch between our sense of useful information in parent conferences and a parent's expectations.

Three Ways to Build Purpose in a Preschool Reading Workshop

Melissa Kolb finds her three- and four-year-old students are ready for more focus during reading time.

I Have Two Pictures of Cindy. . .

Melissa Kolb writes about the importance of time and patience in meeting our goals with young learners — in this instance, a child who struggles to speak in her preschool classroom.

Preschool: Learning in Many Languages

Melissa Kolb explains how she supports many languages in her preschool classroom through the thoughtful use of volunteers and other resources in this three-minute video.

Preschool Morning Sign-In

Melissa Kolb explains the social and academic value of morning sign-in for preschoolers.

Preschool Read Aloud

Melissa Kolb talks about the power of read alouds for preschoolers and shares an example from her classroom in this video.

Keeping the M

Preschool Centers

Centers can be an effective teaching and learning strategy in preschools. In this video, Melissa Kolb shares her rationale for using centers in her Head Start classroom with video examples of centers.

Preschool Thank You Writing Center

Teachers Melissa Kolb and Andie Cunningham help preschoolers use the thank you writing center in this quick two-minute video.

Preschool Writing Center

In this video from Melissa Kolb’s preschool classroom, children work in the writing center. Melissa explains how she routinely changes the supplies in the center to spark interest in students and make connections to their experiences.

Preschool Morning Message

This five-minute video from Melissa Kolb's preschool classroom shows the value of morning message for teaching literacy skills. Melissa explains the skills children develop during this brief whole-class lesson and sharing time.

34 Languages

What is the starting point for building community in a preschool classroom where almost every child speaks a different first language than their teacher? Melissa Kolb writes about how she gently guides her preschool students early in the year.

Where Am I?: The Power of Wordless Photo Books for Preschoolers

Melissa Kolb shares the power of wordless photo books with preschoolers, explaining how they work in her classroom and demonstrating with a video.

Many Languages, Many Texts: Book Time in Preschool

In this brief video, Melissa Kolb explains "Book Time" in her preschool class. It's a time when many volunteers read books informally to small groups of children in their home languages.

Keeping the M

Melissa Kolb confers with three-year-old Daniela and explains why approximations are crucial for young literacy learners.