Andie seeks to know who people are within her teaching. From the junior high students who demonstrated how they lived amidst cultural and gang violence effectively to the culturally-diverse kindergartners who showed her new ways of living as readers and writers, Andie has learned how to teach from her students. She carries a committed focus to see, hear and know each learner as well as discover what creates the community of knowing in each class she is a part of. Reading and writing has served as an entrance into many educational conversations in her career with young and adult learners. Finding ways for learners to communicate what they know from life and the books they read has been a crucial path in her work within literacy. Andie serves as co-coordinator of the Reading Endorsement program and teaches literacy courses in the preservice and inservice programs at Lewis and Clark College. Ruth Shagoury and Andie wrote Starting with Comprehension Starting with Comprehension. She is a National Courage and Renewal facilitator, and she consistently brings Courage to Teach to the professionals with whom she works.

Conferring with a Child in the Silent Period (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham confers with Vita, an English language learner whose first language is Russian. Vita is in the silent period. Notice how Andie coaxes communication from Vita, and manages to convey a sense of delight at her work, an acknowledgment of Vita's importance in the classroom community, and some guidance for future writing. . . . more Classroom Gifts from Carlos: Helping Young Students Learn Academic Language and Routines Andie Cunningham Many students in Melissa's Head Start classroom discover academic language for the first time here. One of these students is Carlos. Quick to smile and make a joke, Carlos enjoys egging people to laugh and joke with him. He often tries to trick friends into giggling rather than paying attention during fire drills or trips to the bathroom. In much the same vein, if you were standing in the room with me during reading time, you likely would witness his invitation to other boys to read books and sing songs with him. . . . more Characters I Know Too Well Andie Cunningham A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of spending time with Chris Crutcher at a workshop in Portland, Oregon. While there, he told me about his many school visits across the country and the youths who regularly ask how he knows their story. While I sat listening to Chris talk that day, I realized again that I was not the only one to seek out these stories for truth telling to help me make sense of what can never truly make sense. I have seen many students seek out books that seemed out of the ordinary for their lives, but the better I came to know them as learners, the more I appreciated the logic of their book choices. Like many of the readers I know, I have found quiet strength and camaraderie in a variety of reading material, some of it connecting with painful experiences in my past. . . . more Every Language Counts: Adding Multilingual Counting Activities to Morning Meeting (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham Every year I have children who come from homes with many different first languages. In the past year alone, first languages included English, Spanish, Hmong, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Russian. One way I help welcome these different languages and cultures into our classroom community is by counting in different languages during the morning meeting. . . . more Drawing to Words: Conferring with Luis (VIDEO) In this four-minute video, Andie Cunningham confers with Luis during writing workshop. Luis is a six-year-old English language learner whose passion is drawing. . . . more Seven Minutes of Listening Andie Cunningham Four-year-old Isabele pulled out the large alphabet puzzle, a big 2' by 3' wooden one that so many preschool and primary classrooms have. With her right hand holding the letter X, she said, "See, they match." I looked at her and asked how she knew. Like all brilliant children, she ignored my unimportant question and led the way. . . . more New Books for Strategy Studies Andie Cunningham I love finding new texts for the classroom. When I read new-to-me books, I often imagine the faces of young learners from past classes reading with me. A time-tested favorite practice of mine is also to ask my sixth-grade daughter to read the text and see what she thinks. With each of these texts, she agreed: all classroom ready and perfect for strategy studies. . . . more Blogs for Aspiring Teen Writers Andie Cunningham My soon-to-be fifteen-year-old niece wants to be a writer. Since her birthday is just around the corner, I wondered if creating a list of young adult author blogs might be helpful to her. I feel spoiled by what I learn on blogs these days, and the idea of offering her a little window into the world of writing through the web cemented the idea. . . . more Choosing New Books for Comprehension Strategy Studies with Young Children Andie Cunningham and Ruth Shagoury The books I have chosen for reading comprehension have been amazing journeys that we've taken as a class. I thought I would use the books just to help to learn about comprehension, but they have b . . . more Best Practices for the Youngest Readers and Writers (CHOICE LITERACY CLUSTER) The purpose of this cluster is to help teachers reflect on best practices for teaching young readers and writers. With achievement pressure increasing for even our youngest students, this cluster helps teachers think about the best practices for reaching these young learners. . . . more Spacing Words: A Minilesson with Young Writers (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham In this three-minute video, Andie Cunningham reinforces the concept of spacing words with her kindergartners using her own writing and a brainstorming web. . . . more Preschool Letter Detectives Andie Cunningham "What is a letter? A mystery." Five-year-old Gabe's response to my question stunned me. I realized from listening and observing his teacher Melissa's gentle nudging and guiding that letters are at the heart of what's being studied by these wonderful preschool students. It was obvious that letters are a primary source of meaning making for these students. . . . more Helping Classroom Volunteers Become Better Listeners Andie Cunningham In my school, asking students questions when the answer is already known by the questioner was a common practice. Frustrated by these conversations, I decided to see what might happen if I brought some of what I learned as a Courage to Teach facilitator into my classroom. . . . more Introducing Bull's-Eyes and Waves Written Responses in Synthesis Work (VIDEO with TEMPLATES) Andie Cunningham My students find different ways to communicate their synthesis, but we found we needed a substantial way to hold on to our knowing and in some cases, further unpack and give definition to it. To help all of us create placeholders for what we know, and to offer my students appropriate tools for explaining what connections they are making, we use two tools, the bull's-eye and waves sheets, both created on 18" by 24" manila or white construction paper. . . . more In the Zone: Conferring with a Young English Language Learner (VIDEO) The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a concept developed by the Russian language researcher Lev Vygotsky nearly a century ago. The theory simply stated is there is a learning "zone" each child . . . more Creating Anchor Charts with Sticky Note Responses from Young Readers (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham Learners who focus on comprehension strategies rely on different tools. One of the most popular is the three by three inch sticky note. High school teachers like Cris Tovani and primary teachers such as Debbie Miller write about how they use these little notes in their comprehension work with students. But what adaptions do pre-school and kindergarten teachers need to make in order to use these tools as successfully as teachers who work with older students? . . . more Reading Comprehension Posters: What, Where, and Why (PHOTO ESSAY) Andie Cunningham Several years ago, I started creating permanent posters to use in my reading comprehension strategy work. My hope for the large posters was two-pronged. I wanted the posters to serve as a visual reference, a way for us to all narrow our focus over and over again when we turned to strategy work. The second hope was to show the children (and classroom visitors) how important the strategies were to all of our classwork... . . . more Understanding the "Silent Period" with English Language Learners Andie Cunningham and Ruth Shagoury If you have a new English language learner in your class who is not speaking, don't worry. According to language researcher Stephen Krashen, most new learners of English will go through a "silent period," where they are unwilling or unable to communicate orally... . . . more Webbing to Learn: A Writing Strategy to Chart Thinking with Young Learners (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham and Ruth Shagoury Teachers and teacher educators used to think that a web structure was too advanced for our youngest school learners, and reserved this work for more academically experienced students. A couple of years ago, we decided to see what would happen when primary grade students are invited to use webs to document their new understanding of texts. What we discovered was that webs can play a crucial role in comprehension work even with five- and six-year-olds... . . . more Spacing Words: A Mini-Lesson with Young Writers (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham In this two-minute video, Andie Cunningham reinforces the concept of spacing words with her kindergartners using her own writing and a brainstorming web. . . . more Every Language Counts: Adding Multilingual Counting Activities to Morning Meeting (VIDEO) Andie Cunningham Every year I have children who come from homes with many different first languages. In the past year alone, first languages included English, Spanish, Hmong, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Russian. One way I help welcome these different languages and cultures into our classroom community is by counting in different languages during the morning meeting. . . . more Honor Books: Helping Children and Families Build Bridges Between Home and School Andie Cunningham The students I teach come from home environments of limited resources, but their years of family and life experiences are rich. Many of these families only recently immigrated to America, so there is a wealth of languages and cultures to tap in these homes. . . . more The Art of Listening in Writing Conferences with English Language Learners Ruth Shagoury and Andie Cunningham Listening to individual children in active writers' workshops is especially challenging, and understanding the words of students who speak a different first language than yours can be downright daunting. Here are some tips for mastering the art of listening in conferences with English language learners... . . . more Reading Comprehension Posters: What, Where, and Why Andie Cunningham Several years ago, I started creating permanent posters to use in my reading comprehension strategy work. My hope for the large posters was two-pronged. I wanted the posters to serve as a visual reference, a way for us to all narrow our focus over and over again when we turned to strategy work. The second hope was to show the children (and classroom visitors) how important the strategies were to all of our classwork... . . . more