Coaching Call: Nonfiction Reading Strategies, Assessment, and More!

A call with Constance!

More and more, I’m realizing that the conversations we have one-on-one generally mean more to us than any learning we could gather from a day of professional development or by reading a professional book.

It’s the same with our students,right? The reason we confer with them — often about the same topics we teach as whole-class lessons — is that ideas sound different when they are spoken in a one-on-one. We receive information differently. And we build relationships.

This is why I’ve changed our monthly Q&A to a coaching call format. Because I love speaking into the needs of your classrooms and helping teachers think through the pebbles in their instructional shoes that are bothering them at the moment.

There are a few ways to interact with this new feature.

• You can listen. Below is an *unedited* audio link. Listen to it while you drive or walk the dog or do the dishes.

• Watch. I’m also including a video of our conversation so you can see us and you can see the resources I’m sharing in real time, too.

• Use the resources. There are a couple big benefits for MWC members, and one of them is that I am sharing all the resources that I create and gather for my guests with you.

• Submit! MWC members are the only people invited to submit a specific classroom question so that you might be picked for a free coaching call that will appear in this feature! The form is always open! Let me know how I can help!

• You can also always sign up for your own coaching call! I open up new slots on the first of each month, and there are multiple tiers of support. Check out my offerings and schedule here!

Alright!?! Shall we! I am so excited for your to hear my conversation with Constance, a teacher in Shangai, who feels confident about teaching fiction reading strategies but less so about nonfiction reading strategies. In this conversation, we touch on how to prioritize nonfiction reading skills, what strategies to teach (and how to find them), and how to assess students in this kind of unit!

Since this is our first go, the paywall is down this month so that everyone can enjoy! (You can also feel free to share widely with friends and colleagues!)

This Month’s Coaching Call

This Month’s Resources

As I shared with Constance, this is how I think about teaching multiple strategies for a single skill. It’s a lot like braiding — I’m adding in different strands slowly over time, and then offering students increased choice about which strategy they want to use with which text.

And here is the six-strategy slide deck I created for Constance. Of course, one strategy per skill isn’t enough. But it IS a start, and can model for you (and your students) how simple nonfiction strategies can be!

I’d love to hear your feedback on this particular call as well as this new format! (My hope is that it will more easily fit into your VERY busy lives!)

If you’re interested in submitting your own question, please do it here! Or sign up for a longer session on your own, with a grade-level team, or department!

And PS — our monthly chat has moved because Substack has changed how we chat! You can now find it in your chats in Substack or here!