In our diverse culture, students bring their own culture to the reading experience. We can help students better understand the characters in the fiction they are reading by asking them to consider the perspectives a character might have rather than looking at the issues or problems from their own background or cultural perspective. Some questions [...]

Research indicates that there are two instructional strategies that, when done well, can boost students’ reading abilities: Sustained silent reading and direct vocabulary instruction. Yet, says Robert Marzano, no schools or districts in the United States have created programs that combine the two. The strategies, observes Marzano, are silver bullets “just sitting out there.”

One of the complaints I hear from teachers is having to spend a substantial amount of time each year preparing students to take state assessment instruments. My stance is is that this is not necessary. We can take a few good lessons from how the coaches of Olympic athletes prepare their protegees for that all [...]