Choice Literacy e-Guides are designed to help teachers, mentors, and workshop leaders collaborate and build skills in focused areas of interest. Each guide contents a short series of workshops, activities, lessons, or writing exercises. The suggestions in the guide can be adapted for every format from stand-alone workshops to a year-long inquiry with a teaching team. Mentors, study group leaders, and coaches who are looking for thoughtful planning tools for professional development will return often to this section of the site.

The materials in the guides are flexible, practical, and enjoyable. Though many can be tried alone by a teacher, they usually work best with a partner or in a workshop or study group setting. The activities foster writing, observation, assessment, and reflection with colleagues in a way that builds community and a deeper understanding of and respect for students.

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Opinion Exchange (E-GUIDE) An "Opinion Exchange" is a wonderful activity for a study group session or faculty meeting to explore beliefs and build community around an area of interest. The activity also fosters awareness of diversity in the group and multiple points of view in a non-threatening way... . . . more Designing Comprehension Constructors: Helping Adolescent Learners Develop Reading Strategies (E-GUIDE) Comprehension instruction has value and lasting impact when teachers know how to design lessons, activities, and materials that match the needs of their students. Prefab worksheets or generic activities and routines often won't work, because students, texts, and tasks are always changing. "Comprehension Constructor" is a term coined by Cris Tovani (Stenhouse, 2000) to describe the graphic organizers she uses to assist adolescent readers as they make sense of texts. Cris tailors these organizers to the needs of students as they emerge, linked to specific reading assignments. . . . more Planning for K-3 Author Studies (eGUIDE) "Planning for K-3 Author Studies" is an eGuide designed for use by teachers working alone or with partners. The guide includes grids for monthly and year-long plans, suggested authors and activities, and strategies for collaborating with colleagues during author studies... . . . more Two-Column Notes (E-GUIDE) It's hard to know who to credit for the incredibly useful two-column note tool. While two-column notes are definitely a kissing cousin to the Cornell Note-Taking System, in recent years the tool's popularity has grown with teachers because of the work of the Denver Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC) in reading strategy instruction. . . . more What's Valued? Exploring Different Values in Evaluation (E-GUIDE) This series of four activities is designed for use in workshops or mentoring sessions, with a goal of helping everyone ferret out their school community's history, beliefs, and goals in evaluation of students. It's a useful workshop series for times when a school or district is thinking about revising its report card or assessment system, or concerns are expressed among staff that there is too much variation in evaluation standards or grades across the school or district. . . . more Over, Under, and Beyond Words: Alternative Strategies for Observing Talk in Classrooms (E-GUIDE) In the book Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning, Peter Johnston writes about the importance of teacher talk with students. He notes, "Teachers have very different ways of . . . more Above the Fold: Creating Individual Professional Development Plans (E-GUIDE) This eGuide includes a six-step process for creating individual professional development plans. The process can be completed by teachers or administrators working alone to devise these plans. But ideally, the steps should be completed with a partner or group of colleagues. The more everyone in the school community knows about the learning agenda of their peers, the better. . . . more The Dog Ate My Study Group Plans! Four Instant (and Fun and Reflective) No-Prep Teacher Workshops (E-GUIDE) If you're leading a workshop today and you've got nothing prepared, here are some activities guaranteed to interest virtually any group of colleagues and spark some lively discussion. These are the ones we pull out in those rare situations when (for whatever reason) we haven't had time to prepare anything... . . . more Puzzle Kids: Observing and Analyzing Challenging Students (E-GUIDE) Puzzle kids. Students on the bubble. Children in danger of falling through the cracks. Every teacher can instantly think of students who fit these terms, and can just as quickly identify one or two or three in his or her classroom. They are the students we worry and wonder about, and never seem to have enough time to ponder... . . . more Writing to Reflect: Quotes for Quick Writing, Reflection, and Discussion (E-GUIDE) We've found quotes are wonderful catalysts for writing about learning, change, and professional development. Putting pen to paper forces anyone to think through issues and ideas with a greater depth. By focusing with colleagues on the same quote and writing about it, we find common ground and a starting point for exploring differences in how we view curriculum, students, and our strengths or needs as educators... . . . more