January 31, 2022 To support the students’ reading, we chose this poem from RWS Primary 1 which included a group of S digraphs. We read aloud and even acted the poem out, having fun adding actions and hand motions. We did have one initial hold out who is reading on about a fourth-grade level. He …
We have been volunteering having made a long-term commitment to a Cleveland city school second grade classroom. Working with our cooperating teacher, Quartez Harris (Ohio Poet of the Year, 2021) and his teaching partner assistant, Harriet Cole has been the opportunity of a lifetime. First, we rarely get the chance to write with students …
Our Learning Journey with The Superior Writers of Stonebrook-White Montessori School Read More »
When this question was posed by Larry Ferlazzo for his column in Education Week, we were happy to respond with our strategy to engage students by encouraging them to see every piece of writing as an evolving document. (see below). He received four strong responses and we urge you to read the full context of …
How do you get students to want to revise their writing? Read More »
“You can’t improvise digital teaching.” Dawn Neely Randall, Grade 5 teacher, Elyria, OH. Our teachers are stretched beyond human limits. Attached please find (shared with permission) a Facebook post by our longtime friend, 30+ year teaching veteran, and spokesperson for kids and teachers in OH, Dawn Neely Randall. We stand with teachers and want you to …
Pre-planning a Social Emotional Lesson in a Digital Environment Read More »
“It is not the rigor of the text that benefits the reader, it is the engagement the reader brings to the text.” Kylene Beers (quote taken from an email). “Don’t forget what Kylene always says.” A phrase that Michael and I sent back and forth to each other, bat to glove, as we wrote and …
We sat down with fellow Ohioan, researcher/author Dr. Timothy Rasinski and his brilliant partner teacher Melissa Cheesman-Smith to talk about the importance of repeated reading aloud for students working to increase their reading and speaking fluency. We posed a series of questions to these experts and made 4 short videos of Tim and Melissa’s responses …
“For language learners to be successful in schools, we have to do more than just scaffold instruction, reinforce students’ awareness of academic language and acknowledge and support their home language development. We also need to create instructional contexts where students’ identities are affirmed, and they develop the sense that they are capable of strong academic …
Know this: Perhaps more than any other time in education, kids are hungry for connections. They are missing time with friends and all the experiences that come from personal contact. We want to welcome them into a community where they can smile, interact, and offer ideas – and be confident that someone is listening. Ice …
Building Community in a Virtual Environment with RWS Read More »
Our favorite platform for online journaling is Google Slides. It is so easy to pull in images, the text boxes are not intimidating and infinitely customize-able, and of course they are just right for saving for personal use or sharing with others. We use a basic design with a title line, date and the student’s …
Labels matter. The first thing we do is ask every writer to label every new piece of writing “Version 1.” This makes it clear from the beginning that this is an embryonic document. We use the word “draft” as a verb. There are no “first drafts” in our writing workshops because a first draft …
Proven Steps to Reading, Writing, and Oral Proficiency for all students.
