Play with letters, words, and sounds. Hosted by Annette Bening, this episode focuses on how children learn the relationship between sounds, letters, and words as an initial step before being able to decode the printed word. Features children’s book author and illustrator Norman Bridwell (Clifford the Big Red Dog).
Watch video clips from well-known children’s authors, talking about their journey to becoming writers, describing their writing process, and offering advice for young writers.
April is National Poetry Month, 30 days of celebrating the joy, expressiveness, and pure delight of poetry. Learn more about the National Poetry Month, get to know some of our most well-loved children’s poets in our video interview series, browse the many online resources listed here, and visit your local library or bookstore to discover wonderful new books and anthologies.
Evidence-based means using classroom practices based on clear and convincing proof from well-designed research and data analysis. Find out what to look for in identifying best practices.
Learn more about the four recommended practices in Response to Intervention (RTI): universal screening; progress monitoring and differentiation; systematic skill instruction; and system-wide implementation.
Students often have difficulty understanding abstract map symbols. Learn how to introduce map skills with literature that contextualizes mapping in a narrative, can be related to where in the world each student lives, and engages students by actively “doing geography.”
Get the basics on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), including signs, treatment, accommodations in school, and tips for parents and teachers.
Interactive writing makes the writing process visual to the whole class. Reading literature is an excellent way to initiate interactive writing in the class, and the teacher can continue using literature as the class does interactive writing with any new book that is read throughout the year.
The teacher’s use of language provides an important model for children’s vocabulary development. By modeling the use of sophisticated words, teachers can promote students’ vocabulary growth and word consciousness. In this article, the research support for this approach is explained, suggestions are provided for how teachers might accomplish this goal, and examples are shared from teachers who have done it successfully.
How can we supplement the limited time available for vocabulary instruction while motivating students to attend to the words they are learning? As a part of an academic word vocabulary intervention, the authors challenged sixth-grade students to find their words in the world around them.
Tier 1 instruction — or high-quality, evidence-based classroom instruction — is the heart of the MTSS framework. Good Tier 1 instruction is systematic, differentiated, and explicit.
This article offers some ideas on how to introduce poetry to ELLs and integrate it with reading instruction, as well as some ideas for reading poetry aloud in a way that will encourage oral language development.
When students engage in “word analysis” or “word study,” they break words down into their smallest units of meaning — morphemes. Discover effective strategies for classroom word study, including the use of online tools, captioning, and embedded supports to differentiate instruction.
With thoughtful planning, reading and writing instruction can be adapted to meet the needs of every student in the classroom. Get ideas to help you design an inclusive language arts program, including tips about your classroom library, integrating technology, visual supports, read aloud strategies, teaching comprehension, and more.
Creating podcasts in the classroom has many educational benefits, including strengthening skills in research, writing, and collaboration — and podcasting is easy to do. This article walks you through the steps of preproduction, recording, postproduction, and publishing.
With televisions, computers, video games, and cell phones, modern culture makes it difficult to escape time in front of a screen, especially for our newest generation of kids. Deb Linebarger, Lisa Guernsey, and Marnie Lewis discuss what the growing exposure to media means for children’s literacy development.
The term “learning and attention issues” covers a wide range of challenges kids may face in school, at home and in the community. It includes all children who are struggling — whether their issues have been formally identified or not. Learning and attention issues are brain-based difficulties, and they often run in families. Find resources that can help kids be successful in school and in life!
