Spring 2025 Newsletter
It takes more than a good question to have a good discussion
Teachers want more engaging curriculum, researchers at RAND found, drawing on nationally representative survey data from over 6K teachers. Amber Pratt, a veteran elementary school teacher in North Carolina, is familiar with the daily challenge of engaging all students in discussion. “There are students who could go an entire school day and say nothing,” she says, “They’re just more shy or...may have some language barriers or lack of confidence.”
MORE partnered with Dr. Rhonda Bondie (Hunter College) to integrate equitable discussion routines and strategies into the MORE lessons, increasing access to discussion by giving students more information about how the discussion should go and what they are expected to have done by the end of it.
New in research: Yes, MORE works for English-language learners too!
In a recent study, Dr. Jackie Relyea and colleagues at the Harvard READS Lab studied the impact of MORE on English-language learners (ELs). They found that MORE benefits both ELs and their English-proficient (EP) peers, with MORE ELs sometimes outperforming the EPs in the control group. Young English learners thrive in language- and content-rich classrooms, where they can develop key literacy skills as they build content knowledge together with their peers.
Teacher tip: See all voices with the Show and Share routine
Shhhhh... Show and shares always start silently, protecting time for students to think about a question and draft an initial response. Students are then asked to share their thinking with their partner or their small group or maybe even the whole class. (Make sure students write BIG AND BOLD on their paper or whiteboard!)
While students are looking for similarities and differences across responses or noticing and wondering about another person’s idea, teachers can look for good examples to lift up for the whole class to hear, as well as common misconceptions.
In the classroom example, students show and share an initial answer to the question, “How many bones are in an adult human body?” Then, they look around the room for the lowest guess, the highest guess, and the most common guess.
Thanks for sharing the MORE love!
“One of our veteran teachers, new to third grade, loves the program. She loves the vocabulary and the students’ digital activities. This teacher is recognized at the district and state level every year (for the past seven years) for exceeding growth in math and reading. She does not miss a MORE lesson in her classroom.”
—2025 MORE Teacher Leader
Did you know that MORE is just one part of the READS Lab?
Part of what drives us is to make the literacy world a better place. We revised our mission statement to better reflect the work we do. Check it out on readslab.org.