Category: Literacy / ELA

Amplifying Voice and Choice with Book Clubs

When I first introduced book clubs to my sophomores more than a decade ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew that I needed...

Using Picture Books to Engage in STEM/STEAM

When I worked at a children’s science center, my favorite time of the year was summer camp season. We ran seven weeks of summer camps every year...

Reading Refresh: Strategies to Reinspire Good Reading Habits

With spring semester in full swing, now is a great time for a reading refresh! Here are four strategies that can be used in the library or in the...

Building Professional Community with Picture Books

Leadership teams wanting to bring about any kind of change in schools right now may be (understandably) met with resistance from the...

Reimagining Assessment for Inquiry in ELA

When we shift from a traditional approach to an inquiry approach in our classrooms, we also must shift how we assess and grade our...

Complex Books, In Context #7: Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

In the seventh part of our Complex Books, In Context series, I’m “zooming out” on Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, written by Carol Boston...

Looking to Literacy Leaders for Hope

The most recent news about the NAEP reading scores are concerning for sure. The headlines are scary: “NAEP Scores Show Large Declines in Reading...

Want More Student Engagement? Hand Over the Controls

I am a recovered Type A secondary English teacher. I used to pride myself on not wasting a single minute of class time. I had a neat...

Inquiry in ELA: 10 Ways to Make it Work

As an English and speech teacher for mostly sophomores, I found myself frustrated when students seemed to be just going through the motions,...

Valuing Inquiry Over Opinions in the Classroom

When complex social issues are discussed in our classrooms, we often default to a “both sides” framing. However, this approach can leave our...

#wgl-menu-module_670901b3a5ca7 a.wgl-menu-module_link { color: #909090; font-size: 18px; }#wgl-menu-module_670901b3a5ca7 a.wgl-menu-module_link:hover { color: #e29261; }#wgl-menu-module_670901b3a5ca7 a:before { background-color: #e29261; }