Shari Frost has enjoyed a rich and varied professional life as an educator. She has served as a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, a staff developer, and an instructor at the university level. Shari taught grades kindergarten through fifth in the Chicago Public Schools for more than 25 years. Her classroom has been featured in instructional videos by the National Council of Teachers of English, Celebration Press, Scott Foresman, the State of Illinois, the CTELL Project and the Annenberg Teaching Reading K-2 video series.

Currently, Shari is the director of the Literacy Partners Project, a collaboration between National-Louis University and the Chicago Public Schools. In this role, she works directly with teachers and children in classrooms to support the improvement of literacy instruction. She also supports and provides professional development for the literacy coaches in this project.

Shari is an active member in professional organizations including National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, and the state level affiliates. She is a frequent presenter at conferences sponsored by these organizations. Her writing for Choice Literacy will focus on the literacy instruction for primary students, challenging assumptions, and teacher change.

Great Little Books for Professional Book Clubs Sharon Frost What made this book club such a success? Was it the steaming cups of gourmet coffee? The fresh bagels? Tracie's warm and friendly smile? While these all may have been contributing factors, I think the key to this book club's success was the book selection. . . . more Creating a Culture of Literacy Shari Frost How do sports fans develop that undying devotion and fanaticism? Can it be replicated? Is it possible for students to have the same level of enthusiasm for reading and writing? What can we do to make students want to name their dogs after authors or book characters? . . . more Giving Up the Whole-Class Novel Shari Frost Edie stomped into the coach's office lugging a 15-gallon Rubbermaid storage tub. She dumped the contents out onto a table. Out rolled penguin beanie babies, penguin posters, a DVD of The March of the Penguins, some informational books on penguins, penguin stickers, penguin magnets, penguin notepads, and more! She teared up . . . more Ready-to-Go Readers' Theater Books Shari Frost Fluency is not all about rate. There are three other components. The component that isn't getting nearly enough attention is prosody - using appropriate tone, pitch, and phrasing to communicate meaning. The preceding definition can be summarized by the old informal phrase, "reading with expression." Prosody is an excellent window into a student's comprehension of text. . . . more Out of the Closet and into the Classroom: Bookroom Management Tips for Literacy Coaches Shari Frost Literacy coaches seldom have neutral feelings about their school's literacy closet or bookroom. They either love it or hate it. They love it at the beginning of the school year when everything is neat, well-organized, and dust-free. They love it when things aren't going so well out there. At such times, the literacy closet becomes a place of refuge; there's always something to do there. They hate it when they are trying to find a particular set of books to use in a classroom; even though the books haven't been checked out, they aren't on the shelf either. . . . more I Do So Like Green Eggs and Ham Shari Frost I decided that I didn't like the Kindle (a digital reader) before I had even tried it. Then one day, a Kindle arrived in the mail. It came with a note that said, "Keep an open mind." . . . more Making the Case for Literacy Coaches Shari Frost It's that time of year. School districts are examining their budgets for the upcoming school year. Due to the troubled economy, many of them are finding that they are not going to have the money that they need to move forward with all of the currently existing programs. Some school districts may also need to fund newly mandated programs such as tier two and tier three support for Response to Intervention. This, of course, forces them to make cuts, and everyone who is not directly connected to a classroom full of children is fair game. Literacy coaches are usually expensive. Most coaches have years of experience and hold advanced degrees - putting them at the top of the salary range. . . . more Making Time for Play Shari Frost Five-year-old Kennedy started kindergarten this fall. She has regaled me with stories of the other kindergartners' antics, her favorite offerings from the school cafeteria, her teacher's read aloud book choices, and her upcoming plans for show-and-tell. When I asked about playtime in kindergarten, she looked at me incredulously and announced, "We don't play in kindergarten." My heart sank, although I really wasn't surprised. Kindergarten teachers are under more and more pressure to ensure that all of their students enter first grade as readers. The current demands of the kindergarten curriculum and increased testing requirements have squeezed playtime out of the schedule. So instead of housekeeping corners, blocks corners, puppet theaters, paint easels, and dress-up centers, many kindergarten classrooms now have textbooks, desks, and chairs. . . . more Eight Tips for Building Relationships: A Tale of Two Literacy Coaches Shari Frost I stopped by Monroe School to see the literacy coach, Kate, before the school day began. I was in her office for about five minutes when second grade teacher, Leah, burst into the office sobbing. Apparently, a co-worker had insulted her in the committee meeting. Kate listened sympathetically, offering tissues and chocolate. She didn't agree, disagree, or even attempt to give any advice. She asked questions like, "What are you going to do to let Yolanda know how you feel? Do you have any ideas about how you are going to resolve this and get on with your good working relationship with Yolanda?" Leah eventually pulled herself together, thanked Kate for listening, and returned to the meeting. . . . more Building a Professional Library from Scratch Shari Frost Almost everything about Emily's new coaching position was perfect. The school was one of those charming, old, traditional brick buildings with lots of character: high ceilings, hardwood floors, wide corridors, built-in bookshelves, and lots of closets. The teachers were friendly and eager for Emily's support. The principal was smart and collaborative. Best of all, Emily got a full classroom for her office. The only problem - the professional library was a rag-tag collection of teacher's editions from current and discarded reading and language art series, current and old district curriculum guides, outdated undergraduate teacher education textbooks, and a handful of current professional books. Poor Emily was crestfallen! . . . more Ready for Guided Reading? Shari Frost The kindergartners at Kate's school are caught in a familiar dilemma. Teachers are feeling pressure to start reading with children sooner than ever. When I was a novice teacher in the late 70's, first graders traditionally spent the first six weeks of the school year on "reading readiness." Now everyone seems to believe that all children should leave kindergarten reading. Most of the published reading programs culminate with actual, direct reading instruction rather than pre-reading at the kindergarten level. The instructional materials for kindergarten include leveled books. . . . more Books for Phonics Instruction - Accomplishing More Than Just Sounding Out Words Shari Frost I do become concerned when phonics is given so much emphasis that Lemekia gets the impression that reading is only about sounding out the words and getting them right. There is a world of reading beyond decodable books. I'd like Lemekia to learn to utilize all of the cueing systems appropriately, efficiently, and effectively, enabling her to read books that require their use and to have the strategies necessary to deal with words that are not phonetically regular . . . more Back to the Classroom Shari Frost The evening before the last literacy coaching network meeting of the year, I opened my email and found a message from Lydia. She said that she was thinking about skipping tomorrow's meeting because she had decided to accept a classroom position. She was not going to be a literacy coach in the upcoming school year. I wrote back and encouraged her to attend. I told her that most coaches had moments (sometimes entire weeks) when they considered going back to classroom teaching. I said that I would like her to talk to everyone about her decision and the process that she went through in making it. I also thought that it was important for everyone to get a chance to say good-bye and wish her well in her new position. . . . more Troubleshooting Coaching Cycles Shari Frost While everyone agreed that coaching cycles made their work more efficient and productive, some of the coaches experienced some difficulty along the way. We didn't expect to flawlessly execute a coaching cycle on the first attempt, but the bumps in the road were disappointing. We talked through the pitfalls and came up with some ideas to make our next attempts at coaching cycles run more smoothly . . . more Multicultural Books for Beginning Readers Shari Frost "Why isn't there an African American Henry and Mudge?" asked a teacher in the audience of a session on multicultural children's literature. I reminded her of a previous slide stating that only .03% of all of children's books published during the previous year featured African Americans. She retorted, "Well, at least 50 of them should have been the 'Henry-and-Mudge-Frog-and-Toad' kind of books. Children who are just starting to read need to have books about their own kind of experiences. . . . more Rethinking Writing Centers - Winter Follow-Up Shari Frost During the 2006-2007 school year, I began a conversation with the literacy coaches in our network about classroom writing centers. I had noticed that most students were distracted by all of the "cool tools" in the writing centers and were doing very little, if any, actual writing. After a couple of brainstorming sessions with the coaches, we settled upon a two-pronged approach. . . . more From Page to Screen: My Top Ten Film Adaptations of Children's Books Shari Frost What does it take to make a "one in ten" film adaptation of a children's book? Why do so many film makers go wrong? . . . more Technological Innovations in Books: Good or Bad Idea? Shari Frost "I found the perfect Christmas present for Mom," said my son's voice from the cell phone. My daughter immediately got up and took the cell phone into another room. But not before I heard him say, "It is a way for her to take 200 books with her wherever she goes. It's called a Kindle." Take 200 books with me wherever I go? Why would I ever want to carry around so many books? What could it possibly be -- some kind of monster suitcase on wheels? . . . more Whatever Happened to Mrs. Wishy Washy? Shari Frost I noticed a basket in an isolated corner of the primary wing in a school. I wondered what was inside of it. When I got close enough to get a good look, I couldn't believe my eyes. The basket was filled with abandoned big books in various stages of disrepair. As I knelt down to get a better look at the basket's contents, I tried to recall the last time I had seen a teacher engage a class in the shared reading of a big book. Had it been weeks? Had it possibly even been months? . . . more Rethinking Writing Centers Shari Frost Every classroom has one. The children absolutely love them. The teachers invest considerable thought, effort, and resources into outfitting and organizing them. There was only one problem. No one was actually writing in the writing centers. It was driving me crazy! . . . more Read Alouds for the First Day of School Shari Frost I ran into Janine at the bookstore last week. She said that she was looking for a new book to read aloud on the first day of school. Janine has been a primary grade teacher for about ten years now. She sheepishly admitted that she usually just grabs one of those back-to-school books featuring a familiar book character. I started to think that if I were still teaching first grade, I'd probably still be starting each year with the very same books, just as Janine had been doing. What's new out there for the first day of school read aloud? What are other teachers reading? Do they use the same book every year, or do they switch books from one year to the next? . . . more Summer Reading for Teachers Shari Frost I was intrigued by Franki Sibberson's idea for summer reading. Instead of giving her students a required summer reading list, she invites them to work on a "written plan for summer reading." Ideas for the plan come from sources such as peer recommendations, favorite series, and favorite authors. I think we, as reading teachers, can apply Franki's idea to our own summer reading. . . . more More Than Listening Centers: Using Audio Books in Literacy Instruction Shari Frost A lanky boy in a hooded sweatshirt was sprawled across a beanbag chair in the back of the classroom. He was staring intently at the book in his hands. "Uh-oh," I thought, as I noticed the tiny earbuds tucked into his ears. "He is not reading at all. He's listening to music." Soon his teacher appeared and gently pulled the hood off his head. He took the earbuds out of his ears, clicked the tape off, and he and his teacher engaged in a quiet conversation. The teacher went on to another student, and he put the earbuds back in. I wondered what was going on. . . . more Worth a Thousand Words: Teaching with Wordless Picture Books Shari Frost Wordless picture books are a wonderful instructional tool for teachers to use with students of any age. A few years ago when the American Library Association annouched their annual awards, we celebrated in our coaches' meeting by giving each coach a copy of the Caldecott award winning book Flotsam by David Wiesner. This was David Wiesner's third Caldecott award, the second for a wordless picture book. After the ooh-ing and ah-ing, the literacy coaches immediately began talking about how they planned to use the book. . . . more Open Book Clubs Shari Frost Open Book Clubs extend an invitation to read and discuss a featured book to all students at the appropriate grade levels for the book. A teacher selects the book and date for the discussion. The librarian gives a book talk on the featured book to each of the appropriate classes during its regularly scheduled library period. She then puts the book on display in the school library along with a sign-up sheet on a clipboard. Students may sign up to read and discuss the book. Open Book Club discussions are limited to at most eight students; if a book attracts a larger audience than this, additional book club discussion sessions are scheduled. The list of interested students is divided into groups (usually by grade level), and each group is notified if its discussion date is now different from the date on the original sign-up sheet. . . . more Books That Touch the Heart Shari Frost The literacy coaches began talking all at once about the books that always make them cry. So I began making a list. The list contains "all of the usual suspects" and some surprising choices. The coaches all agreed that they were going to go into classrooms the following week and model that it is okay to cry while reading aloud to a class. Here is our list of tearjerkers. Get an extra box of tissue and enjoy... . . . more The Other Buddy: How Partnership Programs Help Older Readers Shari Frost "Hey! Watch where you're going!" shouted a well-groomed, confident-looking boy. "Sorry," muttered his assailant. The third graders were entering the classroom to read with their first-grade reading buddies. The "assailant" was a disheveled boy. He was one of the shortest students in the class. His clothes were rumpled, and he needed a haircut. He bumped into his classmate because he was deeply engrossed in the book that he had selected to read to his buddy. He hadn't noticed that the line had momentarily paused... . . . more Beyond Electronic Worksheets Shari Frost Gail, a first-grade teacher, was not satisfied with her use of the classroom computers. She said, "So many people worked hard to get those computers into our classrooms and keep them updated. After all those bake sales and silent auctions, I know that I have to use them. I really want to use them - but how? My use of the classroom computers is absolutely the worst part of my instructional program." Gail had been using the computers as a literacy center choice. . . . more Just Because They Can Doesn't Mean They Should: Choosing Age-Appropriate Books for Literature Circles Shari Frost "Whatever you are doing tomorrow, cancel it! You have got to come and see Jan's literature circles." That was the message that Patty, a literacy coach, left on my voicemail. She had been working with Jan, a third-grade teacher, for about six weeks to help her get literature circles started in her class. Intrigued, I rearranged my morning appointments so I could be in Jan's classroom the next day... . . . more Time for Reading Shari Frost How much time do your students spend actually reading text during the literacy block? This question came up during a meeting of elementary classroom teachers. These teachers are required to provide 2-3 hours of literacy instruction each day. Some teachers thought their students were reading for 45 minutes. Some teachers thought their students were reading for an hour! Eventually, they admitted that they just didn't know... . . . more Chapter Book Read Alouds in the Primary Classroom Shari Frost Some of my all-time favorite books are picture books. However, I learned from many years of teaching first grade that something magical takes place when a class shares the experience of journeying through a chapter book together. How could I convince this group of urban teachers to surrender some of their read-aloud time to a chapter book? . . . more