I’ve lost count of the times teachers are asked about the fidelity of guided reading in their classrooms during a data meeting when students’ achievement (or the lack of) is being discussed. There are other components of a balanced approach to language arts instruction and I’m confused as to why they are so easily forgotten. …
Teachers and parents are often frustrated with kids when they don’t do more reading on their own. We talk a lot about the importance of choice,too. But do we do enough to facilitate choice for our students so they’re genuinely invested in the books they’ve chosen? In their new book, Game Changer! Book Access For …
If we want students to fully comprehend nonfiction text, we must provide powerful instruction in the types of text structures authors typically use. In the past I gave a gentle nod to the text structure unit, but lately I’m rethinking my mild indifference. Non-fiction text structures guide the reader in knowing how an author organizes …
Less, but better. –Dieter Rams “Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932 in Wiesbaden, Hessen) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the functionalist school of industrial design. Rams was strongly influenced by the presence of his grandfather, a carpenter. Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase ‘Weniger, …
Many a parent or guardian has experienced it. The repeated demands from a tiny tyrant to read a beloved book. Beloved by the child. Most likely not so beloved by the adult—after having read it a bazillion times. That one practice alone (repeatedly reading the same book over and over again) does more to promote …
When our daughter, Paige, was five she fell while standing on a chair. She hit her head and was unconscious for what I’m sure was only a few minutes, but to this newb parent it felt like an eternity. We were living in Austria at the time and our pediatrician had practiced in America for …
“I wish I had known that last year,” whispered Imena. Seated between Imena and Adi in the back of their 3rd grade classroom, after listening to their teacher read Rough Face Girl, I asked what life lessons they were considering. Imena said, “The lesson I take from Rough Face Girl is to be strong in …
I’m not one of the those people who possesses the natural ability to learn another language. We lived in Austria for seven years back in the late 80s-early 90s. I’d taken two years of German in high school and two years at the university level and I still embarrassed myself on a fairly regular basis …
I’m dating myself, I know, but years ago when I read Ellin Keene’s Mosaic of Thought (1st edition) and she included Billy Collins poem, First Reader, I had a moment. A really nostalgic moment. A sobering moment. “…forgetting how to look, learning how to read.” First Reader I can see them standing politely on the …
I love a good challenge. One of my favorites? Convincing middle grade readers that the work of reading is worth the effort. The last couple of years I’ve developed a deep appreciation for Scholastic’s classroom magazine, Storyworks. Each publication contains engaging selections in a variety of genres: fiction, nonfiction, debate, poetry and often a high-interest …
