Honoring Student Identity

The focus of this week's Big Fresh is honoring student identity. Cathy Mere joins the podcast for a conversation about uplifting student voices and using mentor texts to help kids discover the stories they can write.

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Each week Choice Literacy shares the Big Fresh newsletter with a round-up of features around a key topic in literacy education. You can find the November 20, 2020 issue here. 

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Cathy Mere joined the podcast for a conversation about raising student voices and helping kids discover stories that uplift their identities rather than pleasing teachers. Find Cathy on Twitter at @CathyMere and on her blog Reflect and Refine.

Raising Student Voices: A Booklist: Helping students find and raise their voices so that they can someday change the world is one of the most important things we do. Cathy Mere shares some of her favorite mentor texts for this essential work.

Building Reading Identities Across the Year: The start of the school year is often all about building reader identities in classrooms. And then November comes, and many of the activities that help students celebrate their reading histories and preferences are forgotten. Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share ways teachers can continue to help students define, refine, and expand their reading identities all year long.

A Writing Workshop Tool that Builds Agency and Independence: Tammy Mulligan returns to teaching first grade and immediately creates agency and independence during writing workshop. Tammy explains how her students are setting their own goals as writers. 

Stephanie Affinito Website: Stephanie Affinito explores the power of old-school notes and cards in coaching.