Featured Contest

The Exquisite Prompt

K-12 students get a chance each month to flex their writing muscles with writing prompts inspired by top YA authors. This month's prompts feature Nikki Grimes and Natalie Babbitt. More »

Featured Strategy

Role, Audience, Format, Topic

RAFT is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about. By using this strategy, teachers encourage students to write creatively, to consider a topic from a different perspective, and to gain practice writing for different audiences.

Browse Classroom Strategies Library for more techniques to improve students' vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

Research and Reports

Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy

Carnegie Corporation recently published this report on the challenges of transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn. Because each content area requires specific background knowledge and modes of reasoning, adolescents often need special literacy support for reading in the academic disciplines. More »

Featured Partner

Newspaper Association of America Foundation

Newspaper In Education Week is celebrated annually during the first full school week of March. For 2010, the NAA Foundation has created a teacher's guide, aligned with national learning standards, that provides an opportunity to teach critical thinking through five subjects important to students' success as adults-financial literacy, information technology, character education, nutrition, and the environment. Lessons can be taught individually or as a unit.