A few weeks ago, I wrote a two-part blog series about why I think it’s so hard to help students learn to summarize. On our state assessment, students from third to eighth grade are required to identify the “best” summary in a multiple choice question format. The data show that kids in our district (and …
This post was published earlier this year and the response was overwhelming so I’d like to repost. If you’re like the teachers on our campus, the middle of year (MOY) early reading scores are back in. We’ve also been looking at our upper elementary grades at individual students’ needs and this blog post by Russ …
Today’s That Thing You Do! segment showcases all those teachers who know and leverage the power of the read-aloud. This is the day we pay homage to the mighty read-aloud even though it plays a critical role in many classrooms every day. I have gone back again and again to Burkins and Yaris book, Who’s …
One of the things I’ve learned over the years when talking with teachers about students and comprehension instruction is that sometimes as proficient readers ourselves we don’t fully understand where to begin when working with our young readers. When you are a master at any given skill it’s sometimes difficult to identify the “first step”. …
I am so very pleased that Dani Burtsfield is the guest blogger today for That Thing You Do! Dani and I are tweeps. I met her when we both joined in the #G2Great Twitter chat each week. We’ve communicated often through social media and I was determined to get her to contribute here so teachers …
From 1985 to 1992 my husband traveled behind the Iron Curtain and engaged in an operation that only a select few of our family and friends knew about. Before he could meet up with his contacts in the Eastern Bloc countries where he traveled, there were other individuals who smuggled materials into secret locations for …
For the record, I don’t hate poetry. I rather like it. It can be tricky, however, to pass on a love of poetry to young students. I know this because I remember sitting through interminable, painful lessons on poetry as a student myself. Last month I spent several weeks co-teaching with a first year teacher …
In Part I of Why Is Teaching Kids To Summarize So #@*^ Difficult? I shared that the first critical step is understanding why it’s such a daunting task. “Students must determine what is most important and form ideas from the text that are written in a brief retelling and this requires students to analyze, evaluate …
Nicolle Rulff, first grade teacher on a Title I campus in Texas is guest blogging today. She has a unique perspective on supporting English Language learners and is sharing a strategy that she uses in her classroom with non-English speaking students. Thank you, Nicolle! You can reach Nicolle at nicollerulff@hebisd.edu. Twenty years ago I …
Thank you to Amy Bettis, kindergarten teacher in Texas, for guest blogging on That Thing You Do segment today. Amy shares today how she and her students engaged in the important work of learning behaviors that lead to strong readers. Imagine a classroom full of young students reading independently: you hear the low hum …
