News and Events

The seven strengths focus on social and emotional growth and well-being. They are critical to helping kids become super readers, but they extend far beyond academics; they help children to become powerful and compassionate individuals. When we create classrooms based on the seven strengths, we teach...

Hope: Thinking optimistically and believing that today's efforts will produce good things in the future for yourself and the world The final of our seven strengths is hope . Our social-emotional arch of the strengths begins with affirming the self ( Belonging and Curiosity ), understanding and...

Confidence: Thinking independently and expressing ideas with assurance "I can't read." Perhaps you've heard a child utter these exact words or a similar statement. When the child is three, we can reassure them that they have plenty of time to learn, not to worry, and keep on enjoying being read to...

Friendship: Having close, trusting relationships and personal connections to others; learning to interact in positive, productive ways While it may seem obvious to state that friendship matters, decades of research by Robert Selman has shown the incredible importance of friendship and how close...

Belonging: identifying as a valued, represented member of a larger community Belonging to a group is a basic human need, as important as nourishment and shelter, which stresses the absolute importance of creating a classroom culture and environment where every child is (not just feels) welcomed...

As National Family Literacy Month closes, we've been thinking a lot about why school and parent partnerships matter . Obviously, kids spend a significant amount of time trying to improve reading skills during school hours. In fact, the average American child spends about 1,000 hours of instructional...

Whether you are a parent reading at home with your young child or a teacher trying to engage a 12th-grade class, picture books matter. Picture books' tactlessness, their glossy covers, and bright pictures beg to be opened, to be read, but also to be experienced. Years after my father read to me...

At the National Council for the Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention in Houston, TX, NCTE members Ernest Morrell and Donalyn Miller spoke to more than 600 new attendees at the First Timers' Welcome on Friday, November 16. Dr. Morrell encouraged the participants to "Be relentless. Be courageous. Be...

I remember, very clearly still, my childhood bedroom, a warm and tidy little space with light yellow walls and a bed with a blue and green floral comforter. I remember many happy evenings in this room, reading with my dad before I fell asleep. I can recall the excitement I felt at the kickoff of...

Over a century ago, American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer J ohn Dewey stated, "We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience."He emphasized the importance of educators pausing to reflect on their practice, asking questions about practices that were...