Topic: Units of Study

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If you read aloud regularly to your students, you know: there is no time in the day quite like read aloud time. A good read aloud can bring a group together like nothing else, can provide a foundation of camaraderie, trust, and respect in a classroom.

TCRWP Office Hours

Introducing TCRWP Office Hours: Live Online Conversations with Lucy Calkins and her Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Colleagues

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All students, those that gravitate toward nonfiction and those that don’t, need opportunities to engage with nonfiction not just during nonfiction reading units, but all year long.

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Engaging students in lines of inquiry and independent projects of their choosing is a way to teach into transferable skills and to give students practice with the kind of learning that is lifelong.

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In the upper grades, students don’t often move up reading levels as quickly as they do when they are younger. But that said, it’s still important to take note when a student has been in the same level for what seems like too long.

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At this week’s TCRWP Twitter chat, Janet Steinberg, Research and Data Manager for the TCRWP, and staff developer Rhea Royster will lead a chat on what is most important in helping students in grades 3-8 prepare for tests.

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If you work with students with learning disabilities, do not miss this week’s TCRWP Twitter chat. Colleen Cruz— a powerhouse of information on working with youngsters who need extra support to learn best— will facilitate that chat.

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Ways to Study the Teaching of Writing with Your Colleagues: PD Ideas for Inside & Outside the Classroom K-8

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Because learning progressions are progressive and precise, they are an invaluable tool for teaching and for assessment.

Kids and technology

Many students are already social media experts. Tapping into their knowledge to channel them to try new books and to reflect on their work can be powerful.

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As students move up the grades and further in their history educations, they will be expected to write about it in increasingly sophisticated ways.

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Because of the myriad ways writing workshop and oral language development are linked, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

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Readers who read strictly for plot nearly always remain stuck in literal interpretations of text, and typically struggle with more complex reading skills.

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Creating Powerful Book Clubs 4-8

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A study written up by the Association for Psychological Science on factors that affect learning. Which traits help students to do well in school?

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Think of the possibilities as graphic novels provide readers who might not be able to tackle higher-levels of text an inroad for high-level thinking work.

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Information writing is one of those topics that can seem, on the outset, rather dull. It doesn't have to be that way. Here's how.

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There are two key considerations when planning a curriculum that supports success with ELA exams: time and level of text complexity.