When we transform a text into a multitasking mentor text, we increase the instructional mileage we can get from one power-packed teaching tool, writes veteran teacher and literacy consultant Pam Koutrakos. She includes five “energy star” ideas and a text set to get started.
In Katie Durkin’s ELA classroom, seventh graders pass along what they’ve learned to future classes via this Inheritance Box project, part of a literacy plus history unit that also teaches collaboration and promotes student choice. Katie takes us through it step by step.
Book talks are common in English Language Arts classrooms and libraries. But what about in the middle grades science classroom? Katie Caprino and Alyssa Marzili share how digital book talks can fit into science classes and offer book titles to catch students’ attention.
Multimodal literacy autobiographies encourage students to reflect on the many ways they have developed literacy skills and offer valuable insights that help teachers shape instruction. Educators Erin Knauer and Kathryn Caprino share tips and examples to get students started.
Using formative assessment effectively is key to becoming a reflective practitioner who can adjust literacy instruction to meet students’ needs and interests, write Lynne Dorfman and Brenda Krupp, who share their ideas for “breathing life into reading and writing lessons.”
From a drawing to a book, Maria Walther and Karen Biggs-Tucker trace a 5th grader’s growing creativity, curiosity and individuality. Discover their innovative ways to streamline literacy instruction while offering students opportunities to follow individualized learning paths.
When students try to write a short response to a fact-filled passage they’ve read, some will likely lose their grounding. How do we help them leap the gap between reading and writing? Alicia Genchi and Sunday Cummins share an essential scaffold for building the bridge.
When your students read, view, and listen to multiple sources on a topic or issue, do they tackle each source in a silo? Martha Polley and Sunday Cummins share Martha’s dive into helping students think across history sources, synthesizing to deepen their understanding.
Storytelling – speaking, writing, hearing, and appreciating our own and other’s stories – can be an equalizer for ensuring all students’ lives are respected, honored, and recorded, writes Literacy Essentials author Regie Routman. Learn about her new podcast series.
Teacher educator Sean Ruday hopes students will take ownership of ELA concepts like “inference” or “sensory language” if they can make meaningful connections between “school talk” and aspects of their out-of-school lives. He shares examples from his own research.
