Close Reading Lesson with Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine
Posted on October 7, 2014Share This Content
teaching nonfiction
“Can’t live without doing” during my close reading lessons
Posted on September 16, 2014Last week I had the honor of visiting multiple schools and giving demonstration lessons in 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. For each lesson, there were 10-15 teachers observing. Afterwards we debriefed about methodology and evidence of student learning. Some amazing insight was gained – as well as a sense of affirmation for what they are …Read more
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Displaying Nonfiction in Your Classroom Library
Posted on August 11, 2013Here’s a model for displaying nonfiction in your classroom library. Notice how the books are facing forward in baskets – easy to flip through and find a title of interest. Also, if you zoom in, you’ll see the books are categorized and coded – “Transportation NF#5.” The codes are marked on the back of the …Read more
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Museums as Nonfiction Sources with Central Ideas
Posted on July 1, 2013I’ve always found field trips frustrating. The students are very excited, but most of the learning is superficial. But what if we treated field trip locations as nonfiction texts that have central ideas? What if, while on a field trip to a museum, we did the kind of thinking we do to make sense …Read more
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Meghan – Determined Reading Specialist in Action, Part 2
Posted on June 6, 2013Have you ever modeled reading and writing for your students and then when it’s time for them to work independently, they have blank looks on their faces? They are not sure what to do? Meghan, the Reading Specialist whose work I highlighted in my last blog entry, has found a way to “bridge” between modeling …Read more
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Teacher’s Blog on Text Complexity & Close Reading
Posted on March 30, 2013Check out this 4th grade teacher’s professional inquiry into text complexity and close reading on her blog. Okay…just a heads up – she does review my book! (Favorably 🙂 ) But I’m recommending her blog because the other resources she’s found deepen our understanding of this type of classroom practice. Thank you, Andrea McEvoy! Video …Read more
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All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine by Monica Kulling (2013) Recently I had the pleasure of teaching demonstration lessons in several third grade classes. In one class, the students were immersed in a unit of study with the essential question “How can learning help us grow?” The text for the lesson was All Aboard! Elijah …Read more