Category: Literacy / ELA

Complex Books, In Context #1: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

In our quest to provide diverse and inclusive texts to our students, we must also be intentional about how we use texts that address social...

Exploring the Debate on Trigger Warnings in Books

There is significant disagreement among educators about whether books that include depictions of traumatic events should come with trigger/content...

Want Adolescents to Read? Environment Matters!

It was workshop week at the high school where I teach sophomore English and a ninth-grade literacy course. I was just beginning a year where I...

Using Book Challenges as an Opportunity for Growth in Your School Community

In honor of Banned Books Week, let’s talk about how we can use book challenges as an opportunity for growth in our school communities.  The...

Making Poetry: Using Maker Ed in Creative Writing

I can still remember the groans I would hear when I told my sixth graders it was time to learn about poetry. Poetry often brings out emotion,...

Reframing the Conversation on Implicit Bias for Our Students (and Ourselves)

Talking to our students about racial/gender/class/disability/LGBTQ bias can feel like tiptoeing through a minefield. But when we “zoom out” from...

Maximize Time by Braiding Learning Goals

Working with English/Language Arts teachers on developing highly engaging and intentional inquiry units of study, one of the concerns I...

Cultivate Confidence to Promote Motivation

Recently I decided that I was going to commit to beginning each day with yoga. My work-from-home body was telling me I really needed to start my...

Laying the Groundwork for Complex Conversations

Deciding to talk about social inequality with our students is one thing, but knowing how to prepare for and start those conversations is an...

Just Let Them Read!

I was sitting with my colleague, a fellow reading specialist, in our empty classroom one summer. We were donating time to planning, as many...

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