A lot goes into learning words and phrases, which are widely recognized as critical to understanding the content of what you are reading. Teaching vocabulary is a critical aspect of overall reading development and is an important strand in language comprehension. After all, while decoding
Here’s what learning alongside my students looked like last April: me, hunched over the back table during my planning period, head in my hands, staring blankly ahead in abject misery, paper and scraps of used eraser littering the table. I was near tears when my
Reading development is complex and is not a natural process. Humans are not born to read. Instead, every brain must be taught to read as there is no genetic code passed down from one generation to the next. This has significant implications on the interactions
In my new book, Poetry Pauses: Teaching With Poems to Elevate Student Writing in All Genres, I examine how poems can be easy to tuck into our practice and enhance the work we are already doing as we helps student writers to grow. For the past
The goal of reading is the active construction of meaning. Each reader is a unique individual who brings a collection of information, a personal vocabulary, a set of experiences, biases, and personal identities to every text they encounter. When we read with the text, we
I recently sat down with a reader to discuss the “clarifying” reading strategy with a student. We’d just started learning about the strategy and variations thereof in mini-lessons and shared reading. I noticed she was not fond of identifying new, unfamiliar, or interesting words in
Halloween may be behind us, but this fall season has been filled with horrifying stories about information pollution. Perhaps the most dramatic: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, founder of the InfoWars site, was found liable in two recent cases for falsely claiming that parents of murdered
Spend a bit of time with young children and you’ll almost certainly hear questions like this: Why? Why not? How come? They are curious about the world around them. Their questions help them to locate a logic in what they experience and see. That’s verbal
Mentor texts are a fabulous source of inspiration for writers. They provide clear models for how to organize and develop ideas. For years, teachers have leaned on mentor texts, using them as teaching tools during writing instruction. However, a strong mentor text also holds plenty
It’s tough out there. The threats against schools and teachers have never been more devastating. No school appears safe from mass shootings. Schools are redesigning their architecture to protect themselves against gun violence, and dress codes are being rewritten to prevent students from wearing body armor,