The average American teen texts a lot: 3,339 messages per month, according to a recent Nielsen survey. That's more than 130 of them a day, everyday or a text every 10 minutes, almost around the clock. However one looks at it, cell phones have revolutionized the way kids communicate. How should teachers respond? Historian Niall Ferguson's opinion…

Teachers know that establishing a robust independent reading program takes more than giving kids a little quiet time after lunch. But how do they set up a program that will maximize their students' gains? Teachers have to know their students' reading levels inside and out, help them find just-right books, and continue to guide them during…

The end of the school year is in sight, but it's not too late to help lower-level readers catch up. Experts across the country were asked about the most common obstacles to reading success--and effective ways to over-come them. Their insights and tips can help a teacher make a real difference before summer begins.

This article explores the factors behind the success of a reading workshop at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine. In the workshop, teachers start by being honest with students about what they do as readers. They acknowledge the guilt many of them grew up with--the feeling that there's a proper, rigorous way to read and that…

Over the summer months, students can lose up to 60% of the math and reading skills that they learned during the year. From special ways to say goodbye to fun activities to share with parents, this paper provides over 50 ideas to keep the learning going.

Teachers sometimes try every intervention strategy they can think of to help struggling readers. However, some teachers still feel that they are not getting through. This article presents the reading strategies offered by two literacy researchers Michael Pressley and Nell K. Duke, of Michigan State University.

One way teachers can improve students' reading comprehension is to teach them to think while reading, questioning the text and carrying on an inner conversation. This involves: choosing the text for questioning; introducing the strategy to the class; modeling thinking aloud and marking the text with stick-on notes; and allowing time for guided…

Biographies can inspire students to reach their goals and explore various literary elements (turning points, cause and effect, and figurative language). This reading and writing workshop presents resources and strategies for introducing students to biography. A student reproducible has students examine why people are their role models or mentors.…

Describes how to use drama to help students live through and see what they are reading, thus enjoying reading more. The workshop offers strategies for reading and writing dramatic texts. A reading and writing workshop poster on a Midsummer Night's Dream is included. A reproducible sheet allows students to use their imaginations to create dramatic…

Think-alouds during reading allow teachers to model their thinking by voicing all the things they are noticing, doing, seeing, feeling, and asking as they process the text. Inferencing is essential for students to comprehend a wide variety of texts successfully. This article describes how teachers can use think-alouds to lend their language and…

Presents suggestions for bringing reading and writing to life in the classroom and helping students develop a lifelong love of both. Includes creating a refrigerator door for displaying student work, using digital notebooks, establishing a publishing center, holding lunch-bunch meetings, binding students' writing into class collections, reading…

New research shows that certain conditions surrounding read-alouds will ensure the greatest benefits. Suggestions for getting the most out of reading aloud include: engage students' interests; make sure the books are at the right difficulty level; spend an appropriate amount of time on reading aloud; offer a range of materials to read aloud; and…

Describes how to help young readers decode multisyllabic words by providing lessons on syllable spelling patterns. The article explains what a syllable is; presents the six common syllable spelling patterns (closed, open, r-controlled, vowel team, vowel-silent, and consonant-le); and offers a lesson on close syllables. (SM)

Tips for helping children develop skills in reading directories, timetables, maps, signs, newspapers, credit forms, and consumer information. (SJL)

Suggests three strategies to help students hear the sounds in words: developing phonemic awareness; explore sound/symbol relationships; and discover spelling patterns. This method is most effective if teachers continuously encourage students to think about how these strategies will help them as readers and writers. (SM)