While reading Debbie Miller's book, Reading with meaning, or viewing her Happy reading! video series, one wonders at Debbie's ability to orchestrate a buzzing classroom full of first-graders into a cooperative literacy community. The Joy of Conferring lets us focus in with Debbie and see what happens at the individual level as she conducts reading conferences with her students. About the author: Debbie Miller taught and learned from children in the...

When children begin to read and write they are as interested in information as they are in fiction. But information is not conveyed only with print; the wealth of visual texts are often the clearest communicators of information. Charts, diagrams, cross sections, and maps are a few of the elements that are as critical as the words they supplement. In many cases, the visual text is the clearest way to present information. In this video, Steve Moline...

Writer's notebooks allow students of all ages to brainstorm ideas, test strategies for crafting writing, and develop tools for drafting and revision. In this two-part series, Aimee Buckner, a fourth-grade teacher and author of Notebook know-how and Notebook connections, takes viewers into her classroom as students use their writers' notebooks across the curriculum to hone skills and play with language. The video features numerous mini-lessons that...

Small groups are a crucial element of every teacher's reading program, and their importance only grows as teachers work with more diverse learners. Spotlight on small groups gives viewers an in-depth look at two reading groups led by master teacher and author Debbie Diller. Debbie leads the groups through a structured routine (introduction, guided practice, conferring, check-in, and more practice), demonstrating how to balance whole-group and differentiated...

In A day of words, fifth-grade teacher Max Brand demonstrates how he helps students search for, study, and celebrate words. Taped over the course of one day, we see distinct word instruction segments that Max has planned, along with many spontaneous teaching moments that occur for word work. Students learn more than just spelling skills or vocabulary knowledge; they become more naturally accomplished in their understanding and use of words in all...

Literacy work stations are being embraced in many elementary schools as a way to ensure students of all ages are completing thoughtful, challenging tasks while their teachers meet with small groups of students. Debbie Diller, author of the book Literacy Work Stations, takes you into two primary classrooms to demonstrate how to create a thriving stations program. Patty Terry's first grade students and Vicky Georgas' second graders work in stations...

This lively video invites you to join Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, authors of Strategies that work, in an middle years reading workshop where students engage in real-world literacy. In this classroom, kids use comprehension strategies to better understand what they read. They grapple with issues, information and ideas that provoke thinking and spur thoughtful conversation. Read, write and talk provides a framework for literacy, supporting readers...

Literacy attendance is an alternative to the traditional attendance roll at the start of the day. Students have the option of sharing reading or writing activities from home when their name is called, and teachers gain insight into students' literacy behaviors in the home environment. The daily activity is scheduled for no more than ten minutes, and provides teachers with a wealth of insight into literacy learning beyond the classroom. About the author:...

It's a common dilemma: teachers need time to work in one-on-one conferences and in small groups with students during literacy workshop. And yet assigning 'busy work' to the rest of the class won't help all students to develop the essential reading and writing skills they need. Can we really expect young readers and writers to tackle challenging work on their own without constant support and intervention from teachers? This question led Gail Boushey...

While literacy development begins long before children are of school age, the kindergarten classroom marks an important moment as students embark on their lifelong journey as writers. This enlightening video program offers a close up view of a master teacher's writing workshop as she focuses on critical topics associated with young children. She addresses conferring with young writers, teaching skills in context, tools for record-keeping, publishing...