Related Articles
Mentor Texts for Writing Endings

One goal of many primary teachers is to help students finish their drafts with an ending other than “The End” (or “they lived happily ever after”). Katie DiCesare shows her first graders many alternative examples, and she begins early in the year.

Organizing Book Bins: Letting Kids Help and Plan

Katie DiCesare writes about how children can be enlisted to help in creating and organizing book bins in libraries. But in Katie's classroom, the process of matching books to children begins with "My Stack" – her pile of books that changes daily, linking individual children and texts of interest.

Getting the Most Out of Picture Books

If you are a fan of Mo Willems’ picture books (and who isn’t?), you’ll enjoy Katie DiCesare’s ideas for integrating his popular stories throughout the literacy curriculum. From read-alouds to mentor texts, these books are wonderful tools for engaging students.

Related Videos
More Productive Writing Share Sessions in First Grade

In this video from a first-grade classroom, Katie DiCesare demonstrates how she has made writing share time more productive by linking student work to recent lessons.

First-Grade Humor: Conferring with Jude

Katie DiCesare confers with first grader Jude. He is inspired to use humor in his writing by Captain Underpants.

Conferring with Sebastian

Katie DiCesare chats with first grader Sebastian in this one-minute conference, then shares her reflections on where Sebastian might go next in his reading.

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