If most of your reading assessments ask for a claim plus three pieces of evidence, some of your readers may never show up in the grade book. In part two of our S6E5 Schoolutions conversation, Angela Lathem-Ballard returns to show why. She teaches fifth- and sixth-grade humanities at the Center for Teaching and Learning in rural Maine, and she explains inductive and deductive reasoning the way she does with her students. Start with the evidence and build toward an idea. Or start with the idea and hunt for evidence that supports or complicates it. Good readers and writers switch between both all day. Angela refuses to label kids as one kind of thinker. She asks a student who notices patterns, "What are you noticing across these moments?" She asks a student who opens with a polished claim, "What in the text led you there?" Teachers, instructional leaders, and education coaches will leave with assessment questions that support inclusive teaching and equity in any reading block. She also walks through a simple system for student engagement in writing workshop. Every student keeps a writing-in-process folder. The left pocket holds brainstorms, heart maps, and drafts set aside to rest. The right pocket holds pieces worth revising. At the start of class, each writer decides which pocket to pull from based on their energy that day. One folder gives kids a daily decision about their own process, and it pulls in students who usually tune out. This one works for new teachers, mentor teachers, and homeschoolers writing with kids at the kitchen table. 💫Check out part one where Angela shares her four roles, her daily schedule, and the story of the grieving fifth grader whose poem won a national contest. Three questions to carry with you: 1. If most of your assessments ask for a claim plus three pieces of evidence, which student's understanding never shows up in the grade book? 2. Do your students hear "What are you noticing across these moments?" or "What in the text led you there?" more often, and who gets left out? 3. How many decisions about their own writing process do your students make in a week? Coming Next Week: Jennifer Serravallo returns for a two-part conversation about her new Heinemann resource, Whole Book Comprehension, launching in November 2026 for grades 1 through 6. Jen shows how to close the gap between short, testable reading passages and understanding an entire book, with a research-backed approach you can use in your classroom the next morning. Picture the student who spots three small details in a novel, connects them, and still freezes when the prompt says "state your claim." I partner with teachers and leadership teams to write assessments that catch that student. Together we design two or three ways for kids to show what they understand, then plan lessons that teach the reasoning moves they're missing. Start at oliviawahl.com under the Coaching and Consulting tab. Chapters: 0:00 Three questions to carry with you 1:10 Welcome back, Angela 2:00 Inductive and deductive reasoning, in kid language 3:15 Why readers switch between both 4:00 Don't turn "inductive thinker" into a label 4:50 Writing isn't a straight line to publishing 6:00 Two folders and the left-pocket "safe" 7:00 Picking a pocket at the start of class 8:00 Why kids tune out when work feels fake 8:40 What claim-plus-three-evidence misses 9:15 Questions that reveal pattern-noticing readers 10:00 "I can't explain it this way" vs. "I don't understand" 10:45 Teenagers learning to switch reasoning modes 11:40 Thank you, Angela 12:30 Next week: Jennifer Serravallo and Whole Book Comprehension Schoolutions is the podcast for educators and caregivers who are ready to grow alongside their children. Each episode delivers research-backed strategies rooted in the five practices of expert teachers from my upcoming book: Forever Getting Better: 5 Essential Practices for Reclaiming Teacher Expertise, so every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. I hope to have the book in your hands by June of 2027. #Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #ForeverGettingBetter #5PracticesOfExpertTeachers #CuriosityDriven #EvidenceBasedClassroomReadyStrategies #OliviaWahlCoachingConsulting #InductiveReasoning #DeductiveReasoning #WritingWorkshop #ReadingWorkshop #LiteraryAnalysis #StudentAgency #StudentChoice #InclusiveTeaching #TeacherCoaching #InstructionalCoaching #MiddleSchoolELA #WholeBookComprehension #JenniferSerravallo #teacherpodcast When teachers, coaches, administrators, and families grow together, schools change. Students get engaged, get support, and get the chance to thrive. When teachers, coaches, administrators, and families grow together, schools change. Students get engaged, get support, and get the chance to thrive.
