Classroom Strategies
Explore classroom guidance, techniques, and activities to help you meet the needs of ALL students.
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Tidying Up
Instructional Routines for Whole-Class Reading and Writing
For the Love of Learning
How a focus on building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction can enrich ELA instruction and engage learners
I See Me
Building a diverse classroom library with the help of First Book Marketplace
What Makes a High-Quality Diverse Text and How to Get These Texts Into Your Classroom
Resources and guidance for educators
Laying a Solid Foundation of Literacy
Building Teacher Capacity with the Reading Foundational Skills
Creating Choice Boards to Meet the Needs of Every Student
FAQs about using choice boards
Strong materials in the hands of great teachers
A year of school visits highlights what makes curriculum work
Press Play
Using Podcasts and Documentaries to Supercharge Background Knowledge and Bolster Reading Comprehension
On Your Side to Beat the Summer Slide
Ways to Partner with Your Local Public Library
Kids Gift Us with Their Time
Increase Achievement, Motivation, and Connection with Students Through Classroom Games
Three Simple Steps to Empowered Word-Learning
Using morphology, context clues, and outside resources to help students decipher word meanings
Using Data Binders to Increase Student Independence
A tool for fostering intentional and purposeful learning
Part 1
Using Exit Tickets Strategically
Educators share how they've made exit tickets a powerful tool for supporting students
Part 3
Providing Feedback on Student Writing
Strategies to deliver positive, focused feedback to improve all aspects of student writing
Giving Students a Choice with Their Learning
Using academic choice boards to build metacognition
Classroom Strategies, Materials Adaptation, Research and Reflections, Standards-Alignment Information, Tools and Resources
Top Blog Posts of 2018
Here are our top 25 most-visited posts of 2018.
Choosing Text Excerpts for Close Reading
A teacher's recommendations for how to select text excerpts that make students love reading
Effective Reading Instruction
Why a text-centered approach, instead of a strategies-based approach, is more effective
Part 2
Designing High-Quality Writing Tasks
Three steps for creating an effective writing assignment
Part 3
Wit & Wisdom: Implementation Dos and Don’ts
Lessons learned from teachers who've implemented the curriculum
Encouraging a Growth Mindset through Art
Strategies for moving beyond "follow-the-leader" style art projects and developing an art curriculum that supports student learning across subjects
Using Content and Language Objectives to Help All Students in Their Learning
Strategies from an English Language Learner Specialist
Part 1
Addressing Common Challenges with Student Writing
Why aren’t students successful writers and what can teachers do to help?
Doing Better: Aligned Instructional Practice
An overview of the Instructional Practice Guide suite of tools
Building A Culturally Responsive Classroom
Why building a culturally responsive classroom matters for the success of ALL students
Engaging Students with #BookSnaps
Reinventing how your students discuss text within the classroom
Creating and Sequencing Text-Dependent Questions to Support English Language Learners
Strategic selection and organization of questions can be a scaffold that helps English learners grapple with highly complex questions.
Considering Reading Instruction with the End in Mind
Meet students not only where they are, but also where they're going.
Inspiring Writers
A process for supporting writing practice with K-2 English Language Learners
Part 2
To Write or Not to Write? There is No Question! Part 2
Activities to support the connection between reading and writing
Part 1
To Write or Not to Write. There is No Question!
The benefits of integrating reading and writing practice
Part 4
How much time do you need to create a foundation for literacy?
One coach’s reflection on increasing the foundational skills block
English Language Arts Practices
How do we determine that students are increasing their literacy skills as they progress across grade levels?
Welding Literacy into Scientific Instruction
An experienced educator provides a literacy protocol for interpreting scientific complex texts.
Part 3
Adding Fun to Your Phonics Block
Incorporating strategies to make phonics time the best time of day
Three APPS to Support Students with Special Needs
Helping All Kids Grapple with Grade-Level Content
Creating Student Empowerment Through Your Garden-Variety Graphic Organizer
How I use graphic organizers in my classroom to promote student independence
3 Steps to Engage Students in Research Writing
A high school teacher shares concrete suggestions for sparking curiosity and stimulating quality research questions
Designing Effective Homework
Best practices for creating homework that raises student achievement
High-impact strategies for teaching writing with evidence at the high school level
An interdisciplinary PLC develops common strategies and rubrics to support student writing.
Instead of…Try This
Avoid common pitfalls in the ELA classroom with these strategies
Assessing Grammar and Language Convention Skills
New guidance explains how to assess writing skills through embedded-error passages and multiple-choice items
Creating a Feedback Culture
Using effective feedback to help students master their learning goals
Blended Learning: The Station Rotation Model
Find out how a blended learning station-focused model can help you differentiate instruction and give ALL students the support they need to tackle grade-level work
There has got to be a better way to do this! How to start an interdisciplinary PLC.
Insights on the value of interdisciplinary PLCs and how to create one in your school
Digital Book Baskets for High School Classrooms
Students create their own high-interest text sets to build knowledge
Q&A – Supporting Fluency in K-12 Classrooms
Practical suggestions for focusing on reading fluency
Limiting “Teacher Talk,” Increasing Student Work!
A team of teachers share strategies to increase student ownership in literacy
Part 1
At the Foundation of Foundational Skills: Structured Phonics
Learn how structured phonics instruction is critical to literacy development and a necessary part of an ELA curriculum
Top 5 Questions About ELA Scaffolding in High School
What do we do when they “don’t get it”?
Top 5 Questions about ELA Scaffolding in Elementary School
Real-world advice for how to scaffold complex text for struggling students
What Do They Actually Know?
Using mini-assessments to break free of the norm
How to Create Book Baskets
Designing book baskets to boost motivation, enthusiasm and engagement
Designing Classroom Libraries that Build Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Engagement
The benefits of topic-based independent reading on student motivation
