Things to Do in the Classroom with a Picture Poetry Book

By Elaine Magliaro
Author of Things to Do, a picture poetry book

I was an elementary school teacher for more than thirty years. I loved sharing poetry with my students! I also loved teaching them how to write poetry. One kind of poem my students enjoyed writing was a “things to do” list poem.

When I write my […]

By |April 11th, 2017|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

5 Ways to Empower Students through Writing—Each and Every Single Day

When I started my teaching career in 1987, I was fortunate to begin in a school that implemented classroom libraries for English/language arts instruction. And despite knowing with my whole self that what I was doing each day was best for students, I definitely floundered when trying to implement and execute.

I focused on one component […]

By |October 13th, 2016|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

Mentor Texts 101

Pen in hand, paper on the table in front of me. The words, “Dear Sir or Madam,” scrawled loosely across the top. And nothing else. I wracked my brain for the lessons learned almost a decade before in high school about formal letters or business letters, but I struggled to apply these lessons to what […]

By |August 3rd, 2016|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

The Heart of Literacy, Part 3: Whole Class Reading Instruction

What I love about whole class reading instruction is that it provides all students with a shared experience and shared book. Teachers have the opportunity to model skills and create a dynamic level of enthusiasm and engagement with the entire class.

We have to remember, however, that whole class instruction does not simply mean providing students […]

By |April 15th, 2016|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

A Creative Director in the Classroom

The first thing I do when I arrive at the office each morning is sit down with my notebook to map out a game plan for the day or reference insights, thoughts and ideas to explore. My current notebook holds a list of publications and artwork that helped inspire the new look and feel of […]

By |February 27th, 2015|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

Write Your History: Exploring Memoir in the Intermediate Classroom

By Holly Mueller, Fifth and Sixth Grade Teacher

Memoir has always been one of my favorite genres to read and write, but it is not always an easy genre for young students to grasp. Its reflective nuances and deeper themes require more thought than the personal narrative. A memoir is not just a recounting of an […]

By |November 19th, 2014|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

Hook Readers with Short Passages

By Penny Kittle, Author and Founder of Book Love Foundation

I talk about books every day in my classroom. It’s my daily chance to romance readers, to challenge readers, to sell all the possibilities stacked upon the shelves in my room. Sometimes students listen to me read a short, dynamic passage. Sometimes I show a book […]

By |May 29th, 2014|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments

Reading Workshop: Is It Alive in the Era of Common Core State Standards?

By Phyllis Cook, Retired Elementary Teacher

As we infuse more of the standards into our daily lesson plans, classroom teachers may be getting mixed messages in the media about what really is best practice. Decades of research have clearly laid the groundwork for some common sense practices such as:

Identify what the child knows and move forward.
Acknowledge […]

By |May 15th, 2014|Reading/Writing Workshop|0 Comments