Classroom literacy practices that emphasize student identities
Identity Questions
Ask questions that connect identity and content to help students make connections between themes, characters or concepts in the text and their own lives.
Shout Outs
Giving students a way to express gratitude towards one another can help build community, appreciation and kindness in your classroom.
Choice Boards
Choice boards add a new dimension to your classroom, offering an alternative to standard assessments and empowering students to choose how they show mastery of a topic.
Gamifying Vocab
Bring game night to the classroom with vocabulary-building games that will energize students and guide them in reviewing key terms.
WRAP Protocol
WRAP allows students to learn in collaboration with their peers, creating a community that works together to boost writing skills.
Affix & Root Vocab Routine
Teach your kids to become word detectives with this quick vocabulary routine! Teach them to use word parts to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Annotating with Checklists
Provide students with a framework for annotating a text to boost engagement and encourage reflection.
Department instructional systems and structures that meet individual needs
Small Group Instruction
Small group instruction targets and focuses instruction, enriching student learning and closing learning gaps.
Small Group Discussions
Small group discussions are a great way for everyone to practice essential speaking and listening skills that translate across all subject areas.
Read It Your Way
Read It Your Way is a series of three change ideas that work together to foster students’ love for and ownership of independent reading.
Bright Spots
March 13, 2023
Discover the success and community of K035, a Brooklyn public school that excels in classroom engagement, cultural awareness, and relationships.
February 14, 2023
Meet Jennifer Tejada, a standout Special Education teacher at K347. Discover how she engages and excites her students with interesting lessons in our exclusive interview.
December 6, 2022
The teachers at X242 are successfully implementing small group instruction that centers on students’ identities and cultures to improve learning gains, as evidenced by improved Panorama survey results and iReady screener data.
December 5, 2022
K162 has significantly improved student attendance by strengthening parent outreach, creating a dedicated attendance team, tracking reasons for absences, and creating incentives for improved attendance.
December 1, 2022
The team at MS108 has successfully completed phase 1 of their small group instruction plan by mastering different co-teaching models and routines.
June 29, 2022
Pre-pandemic, student feelings towards classroom belonging, relationships and trust in middle school were hard enough topics to address; now they are critical as our students rebuild their social muscles and re-engage with teachers and classrooms.
June 7, 2022
K035 stood out as a positive outlier in almost every domain in our Winter 2022 Panorama Survey data. Watch our interviews with leaders and teachers to learn how they build an environment that prioritizes student voice, social-emotional learning, and cultural responsiveness.
March 2, 2022
In the Fall 2021 Panorama survey, students rated this school highly in the areas of rigor and teacher-student relationships. We decided to visit and interview the teachers and principal leading this amazing work and share our findings with the network.
February 11, 2022
Lou Grippo from K162 is a positive outlier for valuing of subject in the Fall 2021 Panorama student survey. 100% of his students responded positively to this indicator. Watch this interview to hear more about the practices Mr. Grippo embodies.
February 4, 2022
Watch our interview with Principal William Gladstone as our Network Leader Jacobē Bell asks him about his school’s cultural awareness practices and their special change idea. Building off of their cultural awareness work, the 108 team is now testing a change idea that focuses on literacy skills.
January 6, 2022
We invite you to join us on this journey, as we share what we are learning in our NSI. We highlight three key learnings we are taking from the first year of our work, that we hope you can apply to yours.