Category: Articles

We Can Teach Grammar Better Than This

Grammar doesn’t need to be numbing. As you consider curriculum additions and tweaks over summer, author and literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo suggests ways you can incorporate grammar into those refreshed lessons to help students understand structure and write more clearly.

Regie Routman: On the Level with Leveled Books

To level, or not to level? Like many educational dilemmas there is no simple right or wrong answer. Literacy coach and author Regie Routman explores the limited role book leveling might play in supporting students to become engaged, deeply comprehending, joyful readers.

Assess Students Using Projects & Performance

Whether it’s performing as a person from history or working on a community problem with others, an assessment that gets students to dig deep into content will result in more rigorous learning, writes consultant Barbara Blackburn. She shares examples to get kids started.

Could Doubt Be a Tool to Spark Student Learning?

Student discussions fueled by doubts and personal questions can push learning very deep, says teaching consultant Jackie Walsh. To set the stage, educators will need to address Teacher Mindset, Classroom Culture, Teaching Modeling, and Student Skills and Dispositions.

4 Ideas Help New ELA Teachers Start Strong

After considering his early years as an English teacher, looking at research and talking with teachers and administrators, teacher educator Sean Ruday shares four recommendations to help new ELA teachers’ first years in the classroom be as successful as possible.

Should You Become a Middle School Teacher?

While lists for essential teacher qualities abound, these are the three questions author Debbie Silver particularly wants to ask middle school teacher candidates. Discover what Silver, who has taught across the grades, finds essential for effective middle level educators.