As I walk into Mr. Lee’s 6th grade classroom, hands are shooting up everywhere. “Ooh, Mr. Lee, I know! I know … my brother…” Mr. Lee is smiling, letting the energy build; more students make connections. Looking at his board
“But if I don’t know the stories…”
“… how will I know they are being honest? That they really read?” It seems my reluctant readers through all my classes and my struggling readers in my co-taught classes will go through the motions as if reading… but struggle
Making a Personal Narrative Personal
“When the cold manacles bit my wrists, I knew this was real; I didn’t run fast enough this time…” Reading Ric’s personal narrative – it was clear he was really writing a personal narrative. I had only been at this
“Tugging” to Impact Student Participation
“I usually feel like a submarine, but that doesn’t work in this class,” said with mixed humor and frustration. My sixth grade class was reading the novel Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt and we were at a point where Dicey, the
Who Owns This? A Vocabulary Word Wall Activity
Dragging a chair to my side cupboards and stepping onto my counter top, I hoped the principal wouldn’t walk in. The lesson planned was complete, but the class period was not – so I took a gamble on filling the
Learning from Anne Frank
“Ms G – did you know Miep Gies was real?” My first thought was, yes, you know we are reading the play based on the Diary of Anne Frank … which is real. My second thought was that I was
Constructed Response Writing Workshop: Learning from and with peers
“Well, we didn’t really address the question too good” – a statement by one of my 3rd graders as his group brought their poster paper to the front of the classroom. Trying to encourage my students to write well-crafted constructed
Relationships Aren’t Built Through Activities
When my friend and mentor invited me to write for 5 Star Teaching, I was perplexed. Specifically, she asked me to write about my experiences as a mentor to new teachers and now as a resource teacher to mentors. Me? What
Reading Conferences… I found a book I like!
Karen is one of my more able middle school readers, however she is often unengaged in reading a book during the Monitored Reading (independent reading time) in our language arts period. One day in the hall before class, she asks
Modeling independent reading habits – learning from student “co-researchers”
During my grad school-required classroom action research, I posed the question: How to engage middle school students in independent reading? Through reading conferences, journal writing, and classroom discussion, I begin to explore what students do to choose a book for