In my previous post I wrote about how to create truly independent readers, ones where students are in charge of their own reading lives. When students are truly independent, they assign, monitor, and manage the decisions they make about what and how to read. They
Corwin Literacy editor Wendy Murray chatted with fourth-grade teacher Leslie Blauman and literacy coach Janiel Wagstaff, and six practices came up in conversation that can make a big difference in your students’ literacy achievement this year—and bring some needed joy back into teaching. WM: First, kudos
We want our students to be independent thinkers and readers and we want our students to have ownership of their learning. But our wants and our roles as teachers sometimes conflict. First, we can get clear on what true independence is and then we can
Picture books are a multidimensional medium that is a rich resource for a broad range of instructional situations. But finding the right picture book can be tricky. Most book lists focus on the static text and do not incorporate the visual and experiential dimensions of
In the renaissance years, an educated person dabbled in all fields of knowledge. By the 20th century, an increasing specialization led to compartmentalization of knowledge. Isolated university departments trickled down to isolated school subjects and now teachers label themselves as “math teachers” or “literacy teachers.” But
I want you to stop covering material, stop covering standards, stop covering a lesson. Instead, I want you to dig deep, to create learning environments where your students read, and think, and question, and write. I never became a teacher in order to cover curriculum.
It was the third day of kindergarten, and there I was standing amidst twenty-one four- and five-year-olds; showing my students how to “mingle,” a type of standing turn and talk. The children were so eager to share any morsel about their lives during those first
How many content-area teachers have groaned under their breath (or quite audibly) when they’ve been told by a smiling consultant, “Every teacher is a teacher of reading
Vocabulary and comprehension are soul mates! They go together like cheese and crackers, bread and jam, friendship and trust. The more words students have the better they can read and comprehend. With a wealth of words, students can write and be creative and innovative problem solvers. We’ve
“Words are a narcotic for you,” a colleague quipped when I’d rounded the corner and sprinted into my 14th email lap, wordsmithing the subtitle of a book I’d just edited for Corwin Literacy’s spring list. And she’s correct—I love language. One reason I’ve been a