Teachers want to create a space for their students to speak with authenticity and agency, writes author and English teacher Marilyn Pryle. She and 7th grade teacher Sharon Ratliff share ways to use Pryle’s Reading Responses strategy to deepen student thinking about literature.
ELA teacher Dr. Jason DeHart makes the argument that “literacy” today is not something that can only be accessed through an elusive set of text-based standards and practices but instead a state that can be achieved using a wide range of readily available media modalities.
Aileen Hower and Lynne Dorfman refresh our thinking about the advantages of facilitation over too much center-stage teaching. If we learn how to facilitate effectively and balance instructional methods, students will retain more and reteaching time will shrink significantly.
Do graphic novels get to stand on their own, or should they be paired with additional texts? ELA teacher Jason DeHart explores that question and concludes (no surprise) that the answer is both. See his suggestions for paired titles that will appeal to middle grades readers.
Taylor Swift is back on stage with her 2023 New Eras tour, rekindling the fervor of her school-aged fans. You can bring Tay Tay to ELA class with ideas from Patty McGee: selecting TS songs to understand a fictional character, analyzing her lyrics in several formats, and more.
Kasey Short shows how nontraditional fantasy books can be used to address difficult topics, provide real world commentary, counter stereotypes, allow students to see kids that look like them as heroes, and inspire new ways of thinking and imagining. Lots of titles included!
How might lessons connect local history and historical fiction? Katie Durkin and her 7th grade team are partnering with the Wilton CT historical society to engage students in a project that raises awareness about how fiction writers use history to tell authentic stories.
Working together in small groups using a book club model has helped sixth graders in Sara Kugler’s K-6 school shift from passive and disinterested to engaged and self-reliant. They’re eager to read and ready to “talk books,” writes the literacy coach and co-teacher.
In Love & Literacy, the authors walk readers through key priorities of literacy learning, offer examples of real teaching moments, and give teachers what they need to use their ideas. Veteran teacher Rebecca Crockett now sees engagement and student understanding in a new way.
Laura Robb has long championed the idea that reading and access to books are civil rights. In this story of turning around reluctant readers, the celebrated educator makes a powerful case that when kids have lots of book choices and lots of time to read in and out of school, they’ll become readers for life.
