For students, a read aloud is a serious tool. It is a source of building community, language, literacy, and much more. Read alouds offer a lot for the growth of a reader, but they offer much more than we think for writers, especially writers who are also EALs (learners of English as an Additional Language).… Continue reading Read Alouds for Writers
Tag: reading
Writing about reading: offering students choice in reading responses
When I first began teaching, Nancie Atwell’s In The Middle was my go to PD book for all things to do with reading and writing workshop. I modeled so many of my teaching practices on what I learned through that book and through a few workshops with Nancie. More than anything else, I wanted to… Continue reading Writing about reading: offering students choice in reading responses
Reflecting on Reading Like a Writer
So I took some time to create a video about the system I created in order to track and reflect on my summer reading. Because I pushed myself to reflect in a new medium, I feel like I dug deeper into the work I've done with reading like a writer. (I hope it's not too… Continue reading Reflecting on Reading Like a Writer
What I Learned Today.
This trimester I've been fortunate to be able to continue working at the high school level alongside a ninth grade English teacher. Although my passion lies in implementing writing workshop throughout all grades, I'm wired to adore adolescents and find it a sweet treat when I get to work with them. Recently we moved from… Continue reading What I Learned Today.
The Reading Zone.
Last weekend I was compelled to return to Nancie Atwell's book, The Reading Zone, in order to be inspired for this week's focus lessons. As I was reviewing it, I ran across this quote: For students of every ablility and background, it's the simple miraculous act of reading a good book that turns them into… Continue reading The Reading Zone.
My Life as a Reader.
The first unit of study is coming to a close. The summative assessment is two part. First, students are to create a multimedia presentation (text + image + audio) of their past, present, and future reading lives. (Part two is an on-demand writing, where they summarize their learning about reading + a reflection of this… Continue reading My Life as a Reader.
NCTE: Reading Assessment.
While at NCTE, I listened to Patrick Allen, Franki Sibberson, and colleagues discuss reading assessment. Here are some highlights: One assessment isn't better than another and none can stand alone. We need a variety. Look at the routines of reading workshop and figure out how to assess those routines. I should ask myself: What does… Continue reading NCTE: Reading Assessment.