Walk-throughs provide a snap shot of student learning. Protocols can effectively structure classroom visits and focus them to observe for components of effective instruction. Brief, frequent, routine classroom visits with explicit “look-fors” can be powerful opportunities for collaboration between educational leaders and teachers (Protheroe, 2009). Literacy Walk-throughs Principals and literacy leaders can access this collection… Read More Leadership Tools and Literacy Walk-through Protocols
Summer Reading Lists for Students
The International Literacy Association has published their Choices Reading Lists. They are available for Free Download. They include: Children’s Choices—approximately 100 titles recommended by children for children. Teachers’ Choices—books rated by teachers, librarians, and reading specialists as outstanding for curriculum use. Young Adults’ Choices—books selected by teenage reviewers. Literacy Daily is a weekly themed book review… Read More Summer Reading Lists for Students
Six Great Technology Tools for Teachers
1. AutoDraw AutoDraw is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to guess what you’re trying to draw. You start with a blank screen, begin sketching something, and AutoDraw gives you a strip of professionally illustrated images to choose from, based on what the tool thinks you’re trying to draw. 2. Book Creator Book Creator is a… Read More Six Great Technology Tools for Teachers
Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension
According to Dr. Kelly Cartwright, author of Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension, three core executive skills are cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibition. Cognitive Flexibility allows student to shift attention between components of a task (i.e. decoding and text meaning). Working Memory is the capacity to be able to work with and hold information in… Read More Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension
Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Research indicates that the Self-Regulation Strategy Development (SRSD) model is more effective at improving writing performance than are all other instructional approaches. The POW+TREE strategy, a SRSD writing strategy, can help students produce better persuasive essays. You can complete the IRIS Center module, Improving Writing Performance: A Strategy for Writing Persuasive Essays. It highlights the… Read More Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Word Workers In The Reading Classroom: Word Study That Supports Differentiated Literacy Instruction
A differentiated, small-group, word study program provides students with the foundation for establishing important reading skills. Every group of students receives quality instruction matched to their reading stage, and instruction can be paced to accommodate the needs of beginning and struggling readers. Assessment is ongoing, and directly linked to instruction, so you can track students’… Read More Word Workers In The Reading Classroom: Word Study That Supports Differentiated Literacy Instruction
Read Aloud, Think Aloud and Write Aloud to Build Confident and Independent Writers
To make writing instruction meaningful, students need explicit instruction that presents them with writing models and teaches them skills within a community of writers. By using an “ I do , We do , You do ” approach, shift responsibility to students and help them develop the skills and confidence to write for real purposes…. Read More Read Aloud, Think Aloud and Write Aloud to Build Confident and Independent Writers