This article explores the factors behind the success of a reading workshop at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine. In the workshop, teachers start by being honest with students about what they do as readers. They acknowledge the guilt many of them grew up with--the feeling that there's a proper, rigorous way to read and that…

Have writing skills taken a backseat in your classroom? They have in many schools, even though the need for good writers is growing. A professional writer and teacher shows how you can help your students take their first steps in developing writing skills. (Editor/RK)

A series of short articles describing the involvement of parents in the educational process. (MB)

Describes how an elementary teacher developed a daily writer's workshop. Suggestions for finding time to write include reducing use of workbooks and skillsheets, looking for redundancy in curriculum programs, concentrating on writing for a shortened period of the school year, and creating time-saving instructional strategies. (SM)

Describes how elementary teachers can set up meaningful guidelines to enhance the productivity of writing workshops. Writing workshops accommodate the idiosyncratic nature of individual writing and learning processes. They provide a highly structured environment with clear rules and procedures. The article explains how to establish classroom…

The in-service teacher workshop described here offers solid, practical training at your pace. No need to stay after school, no need to pay a fee. Just read Instructor's professors-in-print each month, carry out the assignments at the end of each article, and send them to the authors for review. (Editor/RK)

Why are puppets unique educational resources? How can teachers take advantage of this inexpensive, simple, effective teaching medium? Explores those qualities in puppets which make them so useful for instruction. (Author/RK)

A teacher-researcher provides ideas for creating a writer's workshop and encouraging written expression. Suggestions include letting the children create the room arrangement, providing a variety of writing tools, establishing a predictable writing time, becoming partners with students in the writing process, and encouraging students to be active…

Article describes how elementary teachers can create a writing workshop environment that encourages students to write. It discusses how to set the tone and conduct effective conferences. It suggests teachers act as facilitators and listeners and establish workshop procedures. It recommends teachers initially ignore errors and respond to content.…

Teachers sometimes try every intervention strategy they can think of to help struggling readers. However, some teachers still feel that they are not getting through. This article presents the reading strategies offered by two literacy researchers Michael Pressley and Nell K. Duke, of Michigan State University.

Children learn to edit their own writing. (Editor/RK)

Presents guidelines used by a first-grade teacher to teach students to write fictional stories based on things they know and using children's literature as models. Describes the benefits of writing workshops and outlines a method for teaching techniques that professional writers use. (SM)

Describes a workshop for solving conflicts and exercises pertinent to the workshop's objective of getting students to know and cooperate with each other in the classroom. (RK)

Examines how technology can support elementary school writer's workshops, noting the nature of the writer's workshop and exploring how word processing and desktop publishing programs can help nurture developing writers. The article presents several ways teachers can use computers in writer's workshops (drafting and revising, writing mechanics,…