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Would a clearer purpose help?

If your students struggle with determining what’s important or they think “it’s all important!” make sure they have a clear purpose for reading. A purpose stated as a question is even better. Questions like “What is the author’s point of view? What are details in the sources that make me think so?” or “How did …Read more

BUT. DESPITE. WHEREAS. ALTHOUGH. IN CONTRAST. INSTEAD. HOWEVER. YET. WHILE. NEVERTHELESS. NOTWITHSTANDING. Our students may gloss over these words as they read, not realizing how powerful they are. Words like these signal a causal relationship that is in opposition to what a reader might have expected. These words are a BIG DEAL. Technically they’re called …Read more

Recently I watched 60 Seesaw videos of fifth grade students reflecting on a THIEVES lesson. I’d posed these questions for reflection: “Were your predictions on track? How were they helpful (or not) to you as a reader?” What I noticed was that many students commented about whether their predictions were “right” or “wrong.” This made …Read more

Jamboard + Guided Reading with Nonfiction

Here are three examples of how I’m using Google’s Jamboard to support teaching virtually. If you are familiar with my three phase plan for teaching reading at the transitional-fluent stages, you can use Jamboard in all three phases. These tips can be helpful for lessons during other parts of the day as well! Introduce Vocabulary …Read more

Are the Seesaw videos you need to watch piling up? While Seesaw seems to be an easy space for students to upload videos for a variety of purposes, as the teacher who has to watch them, these can pile up. So how can we use Seesaw as a reflection tool versus just a repository for …Read more

Last week a group of educators and I finished a month of “trying out” teaching small group guided reading remotely (using Jan Richardson’s Next Step Forward face-to-face lesson plan templates as a guide). Of course, we still have a LOT to learn and will continue to make modifications but we’ve gotten the ball rolling. I …Read more

Are you teaching young readers remotely? If you use Jan Richardson’s Next Step Forward in Guided Reading (2016) lesson plan templates for teaching these stages, here’s a modified plan for emergent stage (DRA levels 1-3 or F&P A-C) and early stage (DRA levels 4-16 or F&P D-I) (or see attached at bottom of blog). The modification details are highlighted …Read more

Distance Learning for PreA Guided Reading

Do you have students who know fewer than 40 upper/lower case letter names? And you’re teaching remotely? If you use Jan Richardson’s Next Step Forward in Guided Reading (2016) lesson plan templates for teaching these PreA stage readers, here’s a plan with modifications for teaching remotely (or see attached at bottom of blog). This plan …Read more

Teaching from a distance doesn’t mean we have to give up core beliefs about how our students learn to read. I’m still going to engage students in reading high-interest, complex texts. I’m still going to demonstrate strategic thinking for students. I’m still going to gradually release responsibility. I’m still going to have private reading/writing conferences …Read more

Anybody teaching a lesson virtually this spring and notice a caregiver being too helpful? Maybe whispering answers? Or providing some unproductive prodding? A few thoughts… They are the “first teachers” so it’s not surprising. Many of these “too helpful” caregivers (e.g., parents, grandparents, guardians) teach this child every day–how to wash their hands, how to …Read more

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