Writers often put unsatisfying drafts on the back burner, but our students seldom have the luxury of time, says literacy expert Lynne Dorfman. They need to take a piece through the complete writing process. Knowing when to let go and choose a new topic becomes a valuable skill.
New YA books by Amanda Gorman, Lois Lowry and Margarita Engle are all written in verse, says Katie Caprino, yet each tells a story in a different way. One is a poem to America. Another is memoir. And the third is historical fiction, set in 1990s Cuba, with a singing dog.
For his final post at the end of the most challenging school year ever, Jeremy Hyler went to his students in grades 6, 7 and 8 and asked them: “Is there something you want to share with the education world?” Here’s what they had to say – and what Jeremy thought about it.
Educator and author Nancy Boyles helps teachers plan for accelerating reading comprehension in post-pandemic classrooms by rethinking answer frames and strengthening instruction using more nuanced strategies that involve all students in complex tasks for complex texts.
In relating to students experiencing trauma, teachers need to consider boundaries – how much we share of ourselves and how we respect our students’ personal spaces. Alex Shevrin Venet offers her insights about equity and trauma in school and ways to respond and build bridges.
Middle school educators at Brooklyn’s Ditmar IS 62 chose to overcome “learning loss” by engaging their sixth, seventh and eighth graders in a long-range project documenting the tragic story of 9/11 through research, oral family and community history and literacy activities.
Considering how to shift from just assigning writing to modeling writing, language specialist and co-teacher Tan Huynh walks readers through the process of making the act of writing visible to students. Tan draws on his podcast chat with workshop facilitator Indu Bedi.
The positive physical, cognitive and mental benefits of reading for pleasure might convince overworked educators that diving into your favorite fiction or hobby books can be guilt free – even therapeutic! Stephanie Affinito shares the research, the rationale, and the method.
If getting feedback from students is an effective practice, why not ask for feedback from our teaching partners? Language specialist and co-teacher Tan Huynh describes formal and informal co-reflecting, outlines useful topics, and provides several co-reflection protocols.
How do we give students the key to success in school? In every aspect of assessment, teachers engage and empower them by offering opportunities for student voice, choice, self-assessment and self-reporting, writes ASCD bestselling author and school leader Myron Dueck.
