Reading Independently There are lots of positive thoughts students have about reading independently, but this post is about the negative ones, why they’re valid, and how we as teachers can respond. You can see an Instagram live version of this post here. What Students Think About Reading Independently Here are some of the most common…
Category: Reading
Instagram Vs. Reality: How To Teach Independent Reading Edition
Have you seen those Instagram vs. reality videos and memes? Photos by Geraldine West This is like that for how educelebs say independent reading should look versus how it actually looks. I am having a little fun with this post, but I really do appreciate an aspirational lens and am inspired by people who capture…
8 Rights for Teachers of Reading to Reclaim
Not sure if you’ve seen the readers’ bill of rights from Daniel Pennac which is often used in schools, but I am riffing on that idea as rights for teachers, because you too, Gentle Reading Teacher, have rights. Here they are. You can add, revise, and delete, as you see fit. You know best. There…
4 Unusual Ways to Motivate Students to Read
Ways to Motivate Students to Read We all studied motivation for at least a nanosecond in our teacher training programs. I remember them focusing on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. When finding ways to motivate students to read, we tend to focus on extrinsic. Positive reinforcement, like sticker charts, raffles, and prizes. Negative reinforcement, like losing…
Easy Lesson Planning with ChatGPT for Teachers
ChatGPT for Teachers Have you played around with ChatGPT yet? I finally got around to it amidst all the things, and I am very excited about some of the possibilities of ChatGPT for teachers using the four moves every literacy lesson plan needs for soaring reading growth. If you haven’t had a chance to check…
Joyful Reflections with a Reading and Writing Portfolio
Reading and Writing Portfolio As I get sucked into the day-to-day of teaching, I can lose sight of the big picture–and so can my students. That’s why taking time to breathe, reflect, and dream are so important for me to do with my students. Finding activities that help us pause makes sure we focus on…
What Reading Means: Do You Really Know?
What Reading Means Oftentimes at the secondary level, reading is getting meaning from text. Language arts teacher training programs almost exclusively focus on reading comprehension, with maybe a little fluency and vocabulary thrown into the mix. While this may seem to fit the majority of secondary readers, it doesn’t include all of them. It privileges…
Helping Students Become 3-D Readers
My students set reading goals every six weeks, and over the course of the year, I want them to become readers who read along the x-, y-, and z-axes. If those math terms send chills up your spine, think of it as horizontal, vertical, and diagonal reading. All three dimensions are important to becoming a well…
