Topic: Lucy Calkins

As we move into the summer months, many kids will have a lot of hours to fill. As teachers, we have a lot of power to make sure that at least some of kids’ time this summer is taken up with reading.

The whole class, teacher included, is feeling it: the approach of summer, marked by warmer days and possibly by shorter attention spans.

Helping students to reflect on all they’ve accomplished in a way that celebrates the leaps they’ve made and highlights what they’d still like to tackle will set them up for the strongest finish to the school year.

It’s a wonderful feeling when a new teaching resource arrives, along with it a sense of rejuvenation, creativity, and thoughtful anticipation about how one’s teaching will shift for the better.

In a recent series of short video interviews, Lucy Calkins and her TCRWP coauthors discussed the guiding principles they had in mind while creating the forthcoming Units of Study in Phonics. Watch the videos below to discover the why the authors paid particular attention to transfer and engagement.

For many teachers and students, the summer months are a chance to change pace, to dig in to projects of personal interest, and just…breathe. But for many kids, summer is also a time when learning grinds to a halt.

At this week's TCRWP Twitter Chat, phonics gurus and co-authors Natalie Louis and Rachel Rothman will lead a discussion previewing this exciting new series.

At this week’s TCRWP Twitter chat, Katy Wischow and Audra Robb will lead a discussion on recharging your workshops after testing. If you or your students are experiencing post-testing slump, don’t miss our experts chatting about how to combat that in fresh, exciting ways.

I'm hearing from lots of people whose schools are launching or preparing to launch Units of Study in reading, writing or phonics—and I’ve been getting many requests for advice on how to make sure the work is successful. Here are my thoughts.

Lucy Calkins and her colleagues have developed a new Units of Study for Phonics for K-1 that will release early this summer. This new resource will help early educators provide an accessible introduction to phonics.

If you read aloud regularly to your students, you know: there is no time in the day quite like read aloud time. A good read aloud can bring a group together like nothing else, can provide a foundation of camaraderie, trust, and respect in a classroom.

Introducing TCRWP Office Hours: Live Online Conversations with Lucy Calkins and her Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Colleagues

All students, those that gravitate toward nonfiction and those that don’t, need opportunities to engage with nonfiction not just during nonfiction reading units, but all year long.

Engaging students in lines of inquiry and independent projects of their choosing is a way to teach into transferable skills and to give students practice with the kind of learning that is lifelong.

In the upper grades, students don’t often move up reading levels as quickly as they do when they are younger. But that said, it’s still important to take note when a student has been in the same level for what seems like too long.

At this week’s TCRWP Twitter chat, Janet Steinberg, Research and Data Manager for the TCRWP, and staff developer Rhea Royster will lead a chat on what is most important in helping students in grades 3-8 prepare for tests.

If you work with students with learning disabilities, do not miss this week’s TCRWP Twitter chat. Colleen Cruz— a powerhouse of information on working with youngsters who need extra support to learn best— will facilitate that chat.

Because learning progressions are progressive and precise, they are an invaluable tool for teaching and for assessment.