Tag Archives: reading

How Can I Help My Child Improve in Reading?

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

Photo courtesy of Dads Read, Public Library Services How can I, as a parent, affect my child’s reading life? If you look on the internet you might come away with the idea that you need to heavily scaffold the reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Child Matters, close reading, Family, Home, libraries, reading | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

News 

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

   A new day  Arrives on the lush green grass Fresh off the press Damp from water we do not have enough of here in Southern California. Headlines Blurred lines What matters? What’s important? If I am uncertain an editor … Continue reading →

Posted in Poem, poetry, reading, Small Moment, SOL2016, thoughts | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Reading Non-Fiction with Power

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

I’ve spent some time thinking about how to help students read informational text.  If you’re an educator, you have too.  I’ve gathered a lot of strategies across years to further this effort. This is difficult work because often children want … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Matters, close reading, Learning, Passion for teaching, SOL2016, Students First, Teaching, thoughts, Truths | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

No More Sound it Out

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

We’re working as a school on improving our ability to grow students as readers. One of the ways we are doing this is by pulling students into small groups each day and reading with them. We use books that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Matters, Learning, reading, SOL2016, Students First, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

What is Reading?

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

Seriously.  Can we talk? Get ready because there just may be a rant brewing. Sometimes people who teach children to read will say things. And those things offend. Not because they’re intended to do so. Definitely not. Teachers are amazing … Continue reading →

Posted in Passion for teaching, reading, SOL2016, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Main Idea . . . Think about it.

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

Today I shared a couple of simple strategies for helping students understand how to take in informational text.  It involves breaking down information into manageable bits.  I used to think students should be able to find the main idea easily. … Continue reading →

Posted in close reading, Common Core State Standards, History & Social Studies, Learning, reading, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Doctors & Distractions

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

I considered calling out. “Hello, This is me. I’m doing well, so I’m not coming okay?” No. I wanted to hear it from him. The surgeon who had less than four weeks ago cut my body and removed an offending … Continue reading →

Posted in close reading, distracted reading, Learning, perceptions, reading, thoughts | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Text + Questioning = Critical Literacy

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

This morning I had opportunity to be in classrooms working with 3rd and 4th-grade students on reading a visual text. (I played a video.) I was aiming to set them up to do some critical reading work. I wanted to point … Continue reading →

Posted in History & Social Studies, paired text, SOL2015, Teaching, video text, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Cultivating Thought: Author’s Series

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

Entertain an instructional idea with me.  Will you? How about showing your students this short video from Chipotle’s Cultivating Thought, Author’s Series?  After viewing the video, students could stop and talk about what they just saw. Let them “just” talk. … Continue reading →

Posted in paired text, Teaching, video text, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Know Thyself, Reader

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Be Strong. Be Courageous. Be You

On the plane home from NCTE last November, I read many of the pieces on written by some of my favorite authors in Open A World of Possible: Real stories about the joy and power of reading. There are so many … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments