Teacher's Corner

Better Book Clubs In and Beyond the Classroom with Sara Kugler and Grace Choi

In her comprehensive guide, Better Book Clubs: Deepening Comprehension and Elevating Conversation, literacy coach and staff developer Sara Kugler shows you how to combine the power of book clubs with assessment-driven instruction to support your students as they talk and think about texts together. Using authentic book club conversations as an assessment of academic talk and text understanding, Kugler raises the bar on typical professional discussions about book clubs, moving beyond teacher-...

Talking About Race in the Elementary Classroom: Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr

In this episode of Teacher’s Corner, we tune into a conversation between Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr, authors of We’re Gonna Keep On Talking: How To Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom.  They discuss how they chose the book’s title, productive strategies for talking about race with young children, and what readers can expect in their new book. LINKS   Matthew's Twitter Jennifer's Twitter

Conferring Across Math and Literacy with Gina Picha, Maria Walther, and Karen Biggs-Tucker

Whether its literacy or math, the goal of conferring with students is to understand student thinking and support their learning in the moment, nudging them forward through brief, informal conversations. Today’s podcast features Gina Picha, author of Conferring in the Math Classroom, and Maria Walther and Karen Biggs-Tucker, co-authors of The Literacy Workshop, in discussion with Stenhouse’s Sarah Haynes-Dietzen about where conferring in math overlaps with conferring in literacy, as well as...

A Peek Behind the Cover of We’re Gonna Keep On Talking with Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr

What should conversations about race look and sound like in the elementary classroom? How do we respond authentically and truthfully to children’s questions about the world? And how can we build classroom communities that encourage these meaningful conversations about race? Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr take on these questions and more in We’re Gonna Keep On Talking: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom. A companion work to Kay’s Not Light, But Fire, this bo...

Stacey Shubitz and Lynne Dorfman: Welcome to Writing Workshop

Stacey Shubitz and Lynne Dorfman in discussion with Stenhouse’s Bill Varner. Stacey and Lynne are veteran writers and educators, and together co-authored the recent book Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today’s Students with a Model That Works. As you’d expect, today is all things writing workshop, including structure, small group instruction, and the role of teacher as writer— plus we'll learn about Jump Into Writing their new writing workshop curriculum with Zaner-Bloser. LINKS ...

What Does Teacher Appreciation Look Like?

Paula Bourque, Matthew Kay, and Terry Thompson discuss the myth of the perfect teacher, what we get wrong—and right—about teacher appreciation, and how we can show appreciation year round. Original Airdate 2020. Links: Paula Bourque: Spark! https://www.paulabourque.com @LitCoachLady Matthew Kay: Not Light, But Fire https://www.notlight.com @MattRKay Terry Thompson: The Construction Zone @TerryTreads

Shelley Harwayne: Above and Beyond the Writing Workshop

Shelley Harwayne and Stenhouse's Maureen Barbieri in a wide-ranging discussion about Shelley's new book, Above and Beyond the Writing Workshop. Check out the free study guide for Above and Beyond

Jennifer Fletcher: Teaching Rhetorical Thinking

Jennifer Fletcher and Stenhouse editor Bill Varner discuss her shift from a teacher-centered approach to a rhetorical one, the long-term value of teaching students to think rhetorically, and the big ideas behind her new book, Writing Rhetorically: Fostering Responsive Thinkers and Communicators.  Learn More:  Writing Rhetorically: Fostering Responsive Thinkers and Communicators Jennifer's site Jennifer's Twitter    

Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia

In 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books, Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia present a new way to sort nonfiction into five major categories and show how doing so can help teachers and librarians build stronger readers and writers.  In today’s episode, Terry Thompson talks with Melissa and Marlene about changes in expository nonfiction over the years, the recognition of the Info-Kid, and how teachers and librarians can use the categorizatio...

Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and Christy Hermann Thompson have spent years comparing notes on how to build effective classroom communities across the content areas.  Their research led to the development of Hands Down Conversations, an innovative discourse structure in which all students’ ideas and voices take the lead while teachers focus on listening and facilitating.   That structure is detailed in their new book, Hands Down Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math, K-5.  ...

Equity, Access, Book Choice, and Student Connection

Rebroadcast: Gravity Goldberg and Renée Houser, creators of the Teachers Toolkit for Independent Reading share their experiences and questions about helping kids access books and teachers, and what’s important as they look to the fall.  LINKS! The Teacher's Toolkit for Independent Reading: https://www.stenhouse.com/1400.asp https://www.gravityandrenee.com https://www.drgravitygoldberg.com https://www.readwritethinkwithrenee.com   @DrGravityG @ReneeDHouser  

Text Sets in Action: Stories from the Classroom

In the upcoming Text Sets in Action: Pathways through Content Area Literacy, Mary Ann Cappiello and Erika Thulin Dawes demonstrate how text sets can prompt serious thinking more effectively than any single text.  Teachers who adopt this approach find that the texts’ various lenses enable students not only to meet curriculum standards but also to experience engagement and encourage inquiry across the disciplines. In this podcast, Mary Ann and Erika share their background and the origin and ...

Building Skills to Navigate a Complex World

What can we teach kids today that will have utility ten or fifteen years from now? Angela Kohnen and Wendy Saul propose an approach to information literacy that goes beyond the teaching of discrete, easily outdated skills. Instead, they use activity to help students build identities as curious individuals empowered to ask their own questions and able to navigate their information-filled world in pursuit of credible answers. Thinking Like a Generalist  

Sneak Peek at Building Fact Fluency for Multiplication and Division

Graham Fletcher and Tracy Zager share a sneak peek of upcoming Building Fact Fluency Toolkit for Multiplication and Division and discuss the purpose and challenge of creating intriguing and accessible contexts for students.  LINKS Want to be the first to know about Graham's new Toolkit? Building Fact Fluency; A Toolkit for Addition and Subtraction Building Fact Fluency Community Facebook Group Graham Fletcher: @gfletchy Graham's Website Tracy Zager: @tracyzager Becoming t...

Behind the Scenes of Why Do I Have to Read This?

Cris Tovani teams up with her instructional coach/editor/friend Samantha Bennett for an engaging, often funny, always insightful discussion of their long relationship and the stories behind her new book, Why Do I Have to Read This?  Literacy Strategies to Engage Our Most Reluctant Students.  Don't miss it! Do I Really Have to Read This? Cris's Twitter Sam's Twitter Free webinar with Cris

Expressing Gratitude in 2020: 5 Perspectives

When we set about creating today’s episode, we knew we wanted to explore the idea of gratitude with several authors.  What we could not have anticipated is how thoughtful and gracious they were.  In our first segment, we speak with Lisa Lucas about what we experience physiologically when we express gratitude and how we can incorporate gratitude into our classroom and daily lives.    Next, Gravity Goldberg and Renee Houser discuss how gratitude is embedded in their teaching and its role w...

Streamline Your Instruction with The Literacy Workshop

If reading and writing go hand in hand, wouldn’t it make sense to merge your reading and writing workshops occasionally? What would that even look like? And how would students respond? In this episode, authors Maria Walther and Karen Biggs-Tucker (The Literacy Workshop: Where Reading and Writing Converge) describe literacy workshop, how it looks in primary and intermediate classrooms, and how the streamlined nature of literacy workshop lends itself well to online and hybrid teaching.    ...

Building a Curious and Playful Early Childhood Math Community

Toni Cameron and Deanna McLennan in conversation with Stenhouse’s Kassia Omohundro Wedekind about creating a supportive, curious, and playful environment for mathematics in early childhood classrooms, the importance of stepping back to listen, and (of course!) what this all looks like these days.  LINKS Early Childhood Math Routines Joyful Math Toni's Twitter and Website Deanna's Twitter

Graham Fletcher: Building Fact Fluency

In Building Fact Fluency: A Toolkit for Addition and Subtraction, Graham Fletcher helps students learn their math facts by developing conceptual understanding and procedural fluency at the same time. This comprehensive, research-based toolkit provides everything a teacher needs to help students develop number sense on the way to fluency—from cards, games, and videos to online resources, a facilitator’s guide, and hundreds of highly-engaging activities and tasks.  This episode of Teacher’s ...

J. Richard Gentry: Brain Words

According to the NAEP, two thirds of American school children read below grade level proficiency.  Some cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists argue that this is because of the gap between what we know about the science of reading and how reading is taught in the classroom.  In their recent book, Brain Words: How the Science of Reading Informs Teaching, Richard Gentry and Gene Ouellete explain the latest research and theory on lexical representation and its relation to rapid and accur...

Math Instruction in the Age of COVID-19

As we begin a new school year, Amanda Jansen and Chris Luzniak  share their experiences teaching during the pandemic, how communication with students and colleagues has changed, and the challenges and opportunities presented in moving math discussion from the classroom to Zoom sessions.    L I N K S : Mandy @MandyMathEd Rough Draft Math: Revising to Learn     Chris   @CLuzniak https://clopendebate.wordpress.com https://www.luzniak.com Up for Debate: Exploring Math Through...

Using Book Choice to Build a Caring Classroom Community

What if we viewed every read aloud as an invitation to learn more about literacy and ourselves?  That’s the opportunity presented in JoEllen McCarthy’s new book, Layers of Learning: Using Read-Alouds to Connect Literacy and Caring Conversations. Earlier this summer, JoEllen joined us to talk about her new book, how to think differently about your classroom library, and offered several great choices of heartprint books. Layers of Learning: https://www.stenhouse.com/1291.asphttps://www.s...

Equity, Access, Book Choice and Student Connection

Gravity Goldberg and Renée Houser, creators of the Teachers Toolkit for Independent Reading share their experiences and questions about helping kids access books and teachers, and what’s important as they look to the fall.  LINKS! The Teacher's Toolkit for Independent Reading: https://www.stenhouse.com/1400.asp https://www.gravityandrenee.com https://www.drgravitygoldberg.com https://www.readwritethinkwithrenee.com   @DrGravityG @ReneeDHouser  

Open Middle ® Math with Robert Kaplinsky

Imagine that you assign a math problem and your students, instead of getting discouraged after not solving it on the first attempt, start working harder—as if on a quest to figure out the answer. What could possibly make this fantastic scenario come true? The answer is: Open Middle ® Math by Robert Kaplinsky.  With these practical and intuitive strategies, extensive resources, and Robert’s own stories about his journey learning to use Open Middle math problems successfully, you will be abl...

Read Aloud: The CAFE Book with Gail Boushey and Allison Behne

For the past ten years, Gail and Allison have worked with hundreds of teachers and students nationwide, gaining insight into best practices for reading instruction.  Using those insights, they developed The CAFE Book, Expanded Second Edition: Engaging All Students in Daily Literacy Assessment and Instruction to help teachers apply what their research has shown— that reading instruction isn't about the setting, the basal, or the book level.  Effective reading instruction is based on what that...

Lisa Lucas: Responding Instead of Reacting

We discuss reframing our thinking, Lisa shares her 4 C’s and leads Nate in the Presence Pause, a simple and effective technique to ground and transition yourself and your students. Do it with us!  Lisa's Site: https://www.practicingpresence.life Register for Lisa's FREE webinar May 6: https://page.stenhouse.com/webinars Practicing Presence: https://www.stenhouse.com/1191.asp Twitter: @DrLisaJLucas

1:1 Teaching Strategies for the Online Classroom with Diana Neebe and Jen Roberts

With the sudden change to online learning, teachers have been asked to adapt to a mode that they may not be comfortable with or have the necessary training and support to thrive.  Our guests today are educators Diana Neebe and Jen Roberts, co-authors of Power Up! Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning, which provides a framework for reshaping a traditional classroom into a student-centered, technology-rich environment.  Their work is especially relevant today, and we're excited to s...

Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers with Dr. Lisa Lucas

A couple of years ago we talked with Dr. Lisa Lucas about her then-new book, Practicing Presence: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers. At the time, we talked about how to work with the sometimes overwhelming level of stress that educators face.  Today, that seems an even bigger challenge and Lisa’s work is even more needed than it was before, so we're rebroadcasting Lisa's episode, originally aired in 2018.  Links: Lisa's Website:  https://www.practicingpresence.life Facebook: P...

Rick Wormeli

If the playbook for grading and assessment went out the window a couple of weeks ago, what do we do in its place?  Rick Wormeli, National Board Certified Teacher and author of Fair Isn't Always Equal, talked with Stenhouse’s Faye LaCasse about what matters most in student assessment.  Several times throughout the conversation, Rick and Faye refer to his AMLE webinar "COVID 19: Assessment and Grading Concerns  During Remote Learning" which you can sign up for at https://www.amle.com .  Follow...

Whitney La Rocca

Stenhouse's Faye LaCasse talks to educator, author, and parent Whitney La Rocca about how she is adjusting to remote learning, social distancing, and homeschooling—all while trying to stay positive and connected, but also giving herself permission to lament her pre-COVID routine. 

Matthew R. Kay: Not Light, But Fire

Do you feel prepared to initiate and facilitate meaningful, productive dialogues about race in your classroom? Are you looking for practical strategies to engage with your students? Matthew Kay has spent his career learning how to lead students through the most difficult race conversations. Kay not only makes the case that high school classrooms are one of the best places to have those conversations, but he also offers a method for getting them right. 

Shawna Coppola and Trevor Bryan

We recently had the opportunity to put Shawna Coppola (Writing, Redefined) and Trevor Bryan (The Art of Comprehension) together in person, and instead of us interviewing them, we decided to step back and capture a discussion between them.  What resulted was a great conversation about how their individual experiences complement one another, the role of visual arts in communication, and the importance of exploration and inquiry to engage students. 

Amy Stewart: Close Reading in the Primary Grades

Reading aloud from her new book Little Readers, Big Thinkers, Amy Stewart shows how close reading can teach even the youngest students new ways to enjoy texts, think about them critically, and share that thinking with peers and adults.

Katie Egan Cunningham

Children come to school to become better readers, writers, and thinkers, but they also walk into classrooms hoping to be happy. In her new book START WITH JOY, Katie Egan Cunningham argues that happiness must be as much of a priority in teaching as proficiency or achievement.  This episode of Teacher’s Corner features Katie’s conversation with Stenhouse’s Faye LaCasse, taped on location in downtown Baltimore, MD. Start With Joy:  Designing LIteracy Learning for Student Happiness is avail...

Jennifer Fletcher

If you’ve ever heard students ask in your English class “When am I ever going to need this again?” Jennifer Fletcher has just the answer.  Teaching Literature Rhetorically helps your students develop transferable literacy skills that allow them to succeed not just in their English language arts classes, but, more importantly, their future lives in college, career, and beyond.

Gail Boushey and Allison Behne

Gail and Allison share how their insights gained from working with hundreds of teachers and students informed the new edition of The CAFE Book.  Check out TheDailyCAFE.com for even more great teaching.          

Jeff Anderson and Whitney La Rocca on Patterns of Power

Jeff Anderson and Whitney La Rocca sat down with us recently to answer questions that came in from Patterns of Power Facebook Community members. If you already use these resources for your grammar instruction, you might learn some helpful, new tips. And if you’re less familiar with Jeff and Whitney’s work—listen in to find how you can use it to bridge the gap between your reading and writing instruction.

Kassia Wedekind and Allison Hintz

Kassia Wedekind and Allison Hintz share what they’ve learned from a recent project they worked on together about the importance of listening in the classroom.  They’ll share their stories, their research, tips and tools to help your students become better listeners, as well as ways teachers can become better listeners too.

The Teacher's Toolkit for Independent Reading

Longtime friends and colleagues Gravity Goldberg and Renee Houser reflect on the journey that led them to create the Teacher's Toolkit for Independent Reading, a comprehensive collection of resources for grades 3, 4, and 5 that will give teachers everything they need to confer with confidence.  

Graham Fletcher and Tracy Zager

Our latest episode of Teacher's Corner features a fantastic conversation between Graham Fletcher and Tracy Zager about the development of the Fact Fluency Toolkit, available in 2020.

Trevor Bryan: The Art of Comprehension

Today’s Teachers Corner features Trevor reading the Introduction from The Art of Comprehension. In The Art of Comprehension, Trevor introduces his signature method for enhancing students’ understanding and thinking about all texts—both written and visual. By using what he calls “access lenses” (such as faces, body language, sound/silence) you can prompt all your students to become active explorers and meaning-makers, which in turn can make your classroom more student-centered.  To learn ...

Teachers Corner, Episode 2

Today’s Teachers Corner features Trevor reading the Introduction from The Art of Comprehension. In The Art of Comprehension, Trevor introduces his signature method for enhancing students’ understanding and thinking about all texts—both written and visual. By using what he calls “access lenses” (such as faces, body language, sound/silence) you can prompt all your students to become active explorers and meaning-makers, which in turn can make your classroom more student-centered.  To learn ...

Teachers' Corner

Using number talks in your math instruction will not only create number sense, but also transform how a teacher teaches and a student learns.  This episode features Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys sharing how what they learned about writing Making Number Talk Matter and Digging Deeper can help you in your math instruction. 

Mentoring New Teachers, Episode 6

Welcome to the final episode of this season of our Mentoring New Teachers podcast!  In this episode, I offer Laura some advice about how to incorporate strategies for helping her students learn and retain sight words into her instructional routine. As many teachers who work with our youngest students know, it can be enormously difficult to balance phonics work and word play with opportunities to listen to and read connected text--not to mention everything else that teachers must juggle wit...

Mentoring New Teachers, Episode 4

In our fourth episode, Laura shares with me how her mid-year literacy assessments led her to conclude that she needs to invest more time in helping her kindergarten students to practice decoding and encoding words. We discuss how to do this by modifying some of what she already does with her students, and I also suggest some ways to incorporate additional multisensory work with letters and sounds to help students create even more neural pathways in the brain than they’ve already created over...

Mentoring New Teachers, Episode 5

Mentoring New Teachers, Episode 4

Laura shares how her mid-year literacy assessments led her to conclude that she needs to invest more time in helping her kindergarten students to practice decoding and encoding words. We discuss how to do this by modifying some of what she already does with her students, and I also suggest some ways to incorporate additional multisensory work with letters and sounds to help students create even more neural pathways in the brain than they’ve already created over the past several months. Fin...

Terry Thompson, Paula Bourque, Matt Kay, and Brett Eberly

In our premiere episode, Terry Thompson, Paula Bourque, Brett Eberly, and Matthew R. Kay discuss how they prepare their classrooms for success at the start of the school year. 

Mentoring New Teachers, Episode 3

Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers with Lisa Lucas

All of us feel overwhelmed at times, and research shows educators  especially are stressed-out these days.  So, how do you deal with it?  Better yet, how do you rise above it?  In this episode, we talk with Lisa Lucas, teacher-educator and author of the new book Practicing Presence: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers about the stress teachers face today, her experience with "overwhelm", and why you may not want to begin your research in the self-help section of the book store.