What kind of books should we read? Just Right Books

What is the ultimate goal of book reading? I want all my children to LOVE reading.
I want my students to drive to Barnes and Noble or any bookstore and buy a book that they want to read. I want my students to know how to walk into a library, and know what book they [...]

Waitin on A Woman … Having Patience with Our Students

As teachers we have to have patience all day long. Sometimes it is with our students. Sometimes it is with our fellow teachers. Sometimes it is with a parent or supervisor. This video is a wonderful message that other people are patient with us too. I grew up watching Andy [...]

How to Predict

Many students know the definition of predicting, but do our students know why we do it? Do our students know when we do it? Or how to do it? I have found that most students need explicit explaining. I believe we need to use more words. I model three times [...]

“Why can’t I skip my 20 minutes of reading tonight?”

Let’s figure it out —MATHEMATICALLY!
Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;Student B reads only 4 minutes a night…or not at all!
Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 mins./weekStudent B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week [...]

Suddenly! by Colin McNaughton

Colin McNaughton’s work is listed here on this site. Colin McNaughton’s work My favorite Colin book is called, Suddenly!  It is wonderful! It is also wonderful for teaching predictions. When I teach students about predictions, I teach students to confirm their predictions and to adjust their predictions now that they have more information. Suddenly! is [...]

Did You Know? 2.0

Did you know? was written by http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html I think this is an interesting concept since many of our students are highly interested in technology and many of us are (kinda) not as interested. I am interested and learning to be better at incorporating many different technologies. Many students do not consider technology as an addition [...]

Reader’s Theatre on You Tube

I found several links to reader’s theatre on you tube. Recently, I received an email asking if I knew of any resources for reader’s theatre. These are kids and teachers involved in reader’s theatre on You Tube.
Where the Wild Things Arewhere the wild things reader’s theatre link
Houghton Mifflin Materialslink to Houghton Mifflin reader’s theatre
Adorable! The [...]

Teach the child, not just the students or the group

Stacey and Ruth wrote about this post. I read it also. Who do we teach? Do we teach writers or writing? Do we teach readers or reading? As I sent my children and nieces and nephews to school, I wondered what their teachers would be like. I hoped their [...]

Do You Believe In Me? Dalton Sherman

Many places across the internet and blogging world are linking to Dalton’s speech.Dalton asks, “Do you believe in me? I believe in me.”
Wow! His message is so powerful. I do believe in hope and in this message!
If you have not seen it yet, I hope that you watch this 9 minutes here: Do You Believe [...]

Reading Rockets Site

Many teachers ask where I find movies and resources. This is one site I use frequently. Choice Literacy happened to mention it this week too. I thought that I would link it today so I have an easy place to click on too. reading rockets link here
There are so many podcasts [...]