The Sustained Reader

Poetry “ThinkSheets” are designed to guide students in grades 5 through 8 through an analysis of selected elements of any poem she may pick up in class on any given day. Although your students will be reading different poems, they will all be focused on the same elements of poetry you want them to master. This approach to working with poetry allows for individual choice and enables students to self-select from a wide variety of poetry types written at varying levels of difficulty. For a m

A Google Slides presentation helps students review the terms "imagery, figurative language, literal language, and metaphor" and practice identifying examples of them in the poem"Catalogue" by Rosalie Moore. The lesson includes a starter activity to mentally prep students for the lesson, a copy of "Catalogue," a link to the Google Slides presentation, and a post-reading activity requiring students to apply what they've learned to a different poem of their choice. Because of the direct teaching

As every educator knows, classroom teaching may be the only profession where it’s harder NOT to show up to work! The Sustained Reader’s “Teaching with Rabbit Ears” bundles are specifically -- but not exclusively -- designed to provide substitute teachers with engaging and easy-to-implement lessons that ensure meaningful instruction continues in your absence. They are also perfect for those crazy days before holidays as well as that occasional day when you just want your students to hear a

In fall 2016, Scholastic, in conjunction with YouGov, conducted a survey to explore familyattitudes and behaviors around reading books for fun. Not surprisingly, 89% of kids aged 6 -17 said, “My favorite books are the ones that I have picked out myself.” The problem is that a lot of kids don’t really know how to choose a book. Increasingly, when I ask students, “What are your interests?”, they respond with an “I don’t know” or a shrug. I’ve even had students say, “What do you mean?”