Helping our students learn to write across the curriculum and across genres is a powerful way to provide lifelong skills. We want to give them confidence and the desire to write. But making the transformation from idea to composition can be intimidating to many students. So how can we make writing a fun learning experience? Powerful teaching strategies are the answer! Here are three things you can try tomorrow.

How many times have you, as a teacher, heard a phrase from your students such as “I need the things, to do the stuff.” The correlation between student vocabulary knowledge and academic achievement is well documented, and all teachers focus on teaching their students the academic vocabulary representative of the grade level and content areas they teach. However, it can be a challenge to get students to incorporate that vocabulary into their own speech and writing. Here are three simple ways to he

Fiction or nonfiction?  Often, teachers view these two types of texts as separate and distinct, with little overlap in purpose or instruction. However, pairing fiction and nonfiction texts together in instruction can have many beneficial effects. While some students are drawn to fiction, others are naturally attracted to nonfiction. Pairing fiction and nonfiction texts help to engage both types of students, while also broadening their vocabulary and knowledge about a common topic.

On the surface, a text-dependent question (TDQ) is simply a question whose answer can be derived directly from information in the supporting text. However, for

With renewed emphasis on Text Complexity in state standards, teachers must find ways to help students access text that is written above their current reading level, or at or above grade level. When and how should we introduce Complex Text to students? What exactly makes text complex?

Close Reading requires rereading. Students will need to reread text several times with specific purposes in mind. “Not Again!” I bet you can anticipate the groans, "But, we've already read this." So, what can you do to keep students' interest during several Close Readings of the same text? Here are a few suggestions!