In Focus: Writing Writing is a process. Writing with kids can be incredibly rewarding but it can also be painstaking and frustrating, for the writer and for the adult. For most writers, it's somewhere in-between. In this interactive tool — featuring writing samples from real kids — you'll find advice about instruction, guidance on assessment, classroom strategies, video, and more.
Go to interactive tool > Beginning-middle-end story maps, timelines, sequence sticks, story chains, and learning how to recognize and use transition words all give students practice in ordering events within a story. Understanding sequence helps kids with text comprehension and problem solving across all subjects. Discover more about how to integrate sequencing strategies into your classroom.
See story sequence strategy > See all writing strategies > Get an introduction to 6 + 1 Trait® Writing, customized rubrics, student self-assessment, and peer editing, with links to printable checklists and a peer editing lesson plan.
See article > See related video clip on Writing Self-Assessment > 
(from Stenhouse Publishers) "The words are all tangled up inside my head. I'm confused. I get tangled up in writing the words, and I stop." Find out why some children with learning disabilities struggle with writing and how instructional strategies that teach skills in handwriting, spelling, sentence formation, planning and revising, and self-regulation can help them become more confident writers.
See article > Response to Intervention (RTI) is a 3-tier framework designed to identify and help struggling learners, before they fail. The core elements of RTI include high-quality instruction in all classrooms; instruction and interventions matched to students' needs; data gathering to see how each student is progressing; and careful use of that data to shape day-to-day instruction. Visit our new Response to Intervention (RTI) resource page to learn more. Here's a selection of what you'll find:  |  |
Books & Authors Tanya Lee Stone writes a little bit of everything — science, history, biography, poetry, and fiction. She's written biographies about pioneering women in the NASA space program, Amelia Earhart, and Laura Ingalls Wilder; picture books about suffragettes and the artist Alexander Calder; and a series of books about animal camouflage. She throws herself into her research to provide context for the facts and to make her stories come alive. As Stone herself says, "A book isn't the end of information on a topic — a book is the beginning of a conversation."
Watch interview > Did you ever hear about Effa Manley, the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with players from the Negro Baseball League? Or Maria Merian, the passionate young 17th century scientist who changed the world's superstitions about butterflies? Meet these and other remarkable women in this new collection of picture book biographies.
See booklist > Related resource: KidLit bloggers celebrate Women's History Month
Ideas for Educators Are you a mapmaker? Poet or songwriter? Passionate about your community? Our new writing contest is inspired by civics, citizenship, and our communities. We want students to think and learn more about America's people, places, and ideals as they work on one of four prompts. The prompts incorporate a wide range of genres — and even some visual literacy. Entries are due by April 30th.
Learn more about Citizen Writer > Research suggests that "one size fits all" inquiry-based science activities may not be helping kids with weaker language and literacy skills. This study describes a second-grade science curriculum designed to individualize student instruction so that all students gain science knowledge and reading skills. This model incorporates flexible, skills-based grouping, leveled science texts, and explicit use of discussion and comprehension strategies.
See article > The Project Approach website is an excellent resource for teachers and homeschoolers looking for ideas to support a teaching and learning approach that guides students through in-depth studies of real-world topics. The site includes examples of real projects that center around things that kids are familiar with and curious about (like bugs, chairs, and school buses…), an educator's study guide, and blog where you can share your own thoughts and experiences.
Go to website >
Ideas for Parents Help your child begin to see the connection between what she does as a reader and what she can do as a scientist. Here are two simple ways you can encourage your child to put her prediction skills to work as a scientist. (From our new Literacy in the Sciences series; in English and Spanish).
Go to article > Subscribe to Growing Readers: Literacy in the Sciences > Now is the time when many preschools ask families to re-enroll for next year. For parents of 4 year olds with summer or early fall birthdays, the question looms: Should she stay or should she go, to kindergarten? Transitional kindergarten may be the answer for some families. Transitional kindergarten classes typically promote socialization skills, hands-on learning, center time and emergent literacy, but do so in a setting where the pacing may be slower and the room for developmental differences is greater. Some experts say it's what kindergarten used to be before it became more academically focused.
Read more in our blog, Sound It Out > | | In this PBS Kids program, ride the rails with Lomax (who has a special ability to hear tunes from very far away) and his friends as they crisscross the musical landscape of America on the Melody Hound Express Train. The program introduces kids to our nation's diverse musical heritage and encourages them to explore pitch, improvisation, and a variety of expressive song forms — including echo songs, call and response, and song tales. The website includes activities and lesson plans for parents and educators.
Watch Lomax online >
Research & News Bike riding and tree climbing are rites of passage for many kids. However, accidents resulting from falls are the most common cause of concussion and other types of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. Visit our sister site, BrainLineKids.org, to learn the basics about TBI, common sense prevention, and treatment if your child is injured. A child recovering from a TBI can have difficulty with attention, memory, speech and language, word-finding, and problem solving. Find out how teachers and parents can support a child with a TBI when he returns to school.
Visit BrainLineKids.org > | | A new policy brief from the Harvard Family Research Project and the National PTA highlights ways that data can be used to engage families and improve parent-teacher communication. The brief describes three key elements of a data system (access, understanding, and action) and cites six case studies demonstrating how early childhood programs and school districts are using data systems to improve family engagement. One example: a pre-K program in Colorado that uses children's drawings as data, allowing early childhood teachers and parents to track a child's developmental progress.
Download report (PDF) > | | A March 2011 report from the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative highlights problems nationwide with the licensing and preparation of teachers who work with young children. The report, Getting in Sync: Revamping Licensure and Preparation for Teachers in Pre-K, Kindergarten and the Early Grades, focuses on competency in these critical areas for PreK-3rd teacher training: the science of early-childhood development (including a focus on social-emotional growth), family engagement, and effective instruction in early science, early literacy, and the building blocks of mathematics.
Go to report >
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