Teaching Unscripted

The case for taking a balanced and deliberate approach to technology use in the classroom. Screens should never take the place of high-quality teaching; they should enrich it, based on student need.

As students in grades 3-5 encounter more complex concepts, there can be a tendency for instruction to shift toward rules, procedures, and memorization. Yet, without context, mathematics can quickly lose its meaning. One of the most powerful, and often underutilized, ways to provide this context is through children’s literature.

Feeling stuck between mandates and meaningful teaching? Join Heinemann authors Ellin Oliver Keene, Cris Tovani, Debbie Miller, Anne Goudvis, and Steph Harvey for a multi-event webinar to explore how to bring comprehension, thinking, and engagement back to literacy instruction.

Learn how to use habit stacking to get more reading in. Think about your routines and how you might pair one old habit with a new one. Strategies for teaching students how to also find time in their day to enjoy reading.

From inconsistent instruction to growing intervention or uneven results, these patterns could point to gaps in your core math program. See what effective math materials do differently.

Students are much more likely to learn words when they see them in context as opposed to encountering them in isolation. Kelly Gallagher outlines five ways to build vocabulary beyond test-prep and vocabulary lists.

Explore how nonfiction decodables support phonics development, build background knowledge, and help beginning readers apply skills in meaningful contexts.

Approaching SEL through the MTSS framework starts with strong Tier 1 instruction, ensuring all students have consistent opportunities to learn, practice, and apply essential skills. Watch the video for activity suggestions for each tier and goal.

The ways that we teach whole-class novels are often ineffective and alienating. Kate Roberts outlines how time, teaching methods, transfer, and text complexity are barriers to effectively teaching whole-class novels.

A Teacher's Guide to Using AI professional learning companion and book study guide offers a shared structure for educators to read, reflect, and talk together thoughtfully about how AI is showing up in schools and what thoughtful, human-centered responses can look like.

How to become a teacher who understands how to use and help shape the curriculum, not just being handed one.

A list of 12 Heinemann professional books about the teaching profession, including personal reflection, literacy, and math.

Digital devices have changed the ways we read, which isn't always a bad thing (consider: Kindle and BookTok). While recent data suggests a decline in people who read, we believe that new technologies can, and should, facilitate reader engagement.

Learn how reading comprehension instruction supports meaning making, knowledge building, and academic success within a comprehensive approach to literacy.

Kids need to be explicitly taught how to comprehend multimodal texts, and how to create a mental model of the information or story, no matter the format presented.

Penny Kittle recounts her early experiences with loving books, and questions how we impart the same joy onto students. If students choose what to read most of the time, and we support them as readers, we can shift pretending to read to a passion for reading in almost every teenager.

Ways you can celebrate Pride Month in the classroom, from themed read-alouds and journaling; celebrate students' uniqueness through creative expression; and draw on your community. By Scott Sundstrom, author of forthcoming Creating Safe and Welcoming Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students.

Learn how Do The Math and Transition to Algebra can help your students rebuild foundational understanding and move from unfinished learning to algebra readiness.