Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

03.07.14 On Planning for Reading, Part 2–Colleen Driggs on Maggie Johnson

In Part 2 of this slated-for-three-parts series on planning for reading lessons, ace reading teacher Colleen Driggs takes you through the lesson materials of fellow ace Maggie Johnson, explaining what’s so effective and how she does it.  It’s a bit like Georgia O’Keefe taking a few minutes to walk you through what’s so good about Mary…


02.03.13 Theme, defined. At last! At least almost.

Theme, I’ve always thought, is one of the most important concepts we (English and reading  teachers, I mean) teach and also one that almost no one can really define.  This should probably suggest that we don’t understand it very well either.  And this is cause for concern. We all talk about theme… but can we define…