Are you looking for ways to enhance and strengthen how you teach your students to write effective opinion pieces as outlined in the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards? In this teaching tip, the authors describe an innovative and dialogic approach that elementary school teachers can use and adapt as needed to strengthen students'…

This teaching tip details one teacher's implementation of student-led book talks in her primary-grade classroom. The author describes a simple gradual-release method that she has successfully used with her students in order to get them talking about the books that they are reading independently. She found that when used in the readers' workshop…

Dyslexia is a neurological language-based learning disability. Several legislative bills related to dyslexia have recently been introduced in the United States so dyslexia can be understood and interventions in reading instruction can be provided. Studies have shown measurable improvements in the language areas of the brain's left hemisphere after…

Successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards (2010) will require an alignment between learning standards, effective instruction, and the new assessments designed by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced (SB) consortia. Both the CCSS and the new generation of assessments…

Talk is the foundation for thought and understanding and the key to literacy learning. Research demonstrates that powerful metacognitive strategies can be taught to help students self-monitor their comprehension when reading print and digital texts. This article provides a repertoire of speaking and listening strategies to develop the…