Looking for some great mentor texts for your February reader's workshop block? Struggling to get you
Looking for some great mentor texts for your February reader's workshop block? Struggling to get your kiddos to discuss their reading independently? This shares 6 + love-themed titles and activities and lesson ideas for your February reader's workshop.
This post introduces a year-long empathy project designed to develop students' discourse skills. It…
This post introduces a year-long empathy project designed to develop students' discourse skills. It outlines the fifth grade class project, identifies essential questions and the data points (WIDA/WAPT & Serravallo Conversation Progression). Empathy-themed books are identified, as well as ways to teach discourse.
Start A Fire
Mondrian & Math! It doesn't get any better than this combination in our 4th grade classroom.
How should you use math games at the beginning of the year?
Every year, without fail, I use math games to review skills and teach collaboration, discourse and social skills. YOU CAN TOO! I don't want to use games that teach new concepts because I want to watch my students interacting independently. If I have to step in to reteach new math concepts, I can't observe. I want to be able to see how Andrew interacts with others when he's losing. I want to know how Bella handles mistakes, or how Tom behaves when he trounces Emily.
How do I teach theme? I link similar themed books together, of course!
Looking for perseverance-themed kid lit? You need this post! It outlines lesson ideas, and recommends four fantastic fiction and narrative nonfiction books your kids will love. I promise!
Civil Rights Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives
Ask any kid about heroes, and he or she will rattle off names like Batman or Superman, or a list of professional football or hockey players' names. And yet every January when my team and I begin teaching our civil rights unit, my kids view King, Mandela, Gandhi, Helen Keller, and other activists with round eyes. Whenever we read a biography or picture book about these people, I can see my fifth graders mentally placing superhero capes over the shoulders of these activists.
Ex-Husbands, Control
Too often, we teachers grapple with issues we have no control over. We feel defeated, unsuccessful, and burned out when we forget about our circle of control.
Ex-Husbands, Control & Windmills: A Teacher's New Year Musings
Too often, we waste our energies fighting fights we can't win. What would happen if we remembered our circles of control?
A Summer Reading Series for Teachers
Looking for some pleasure reading titles? We’ve got 4 recommendations just for you, plus teacher fun freebies to accompany your fun!
Powers of 10 Posters
From WILD CHILD DESIGNS, these FREE posters are designed to review powers of tens and the vocabulary used when talking about them in your math class. They're perfect for student math journals or binders, or for your classroom wall! Enjoy!
Poetry & Descriptive Reading and Writing: .A Teacher's Story of How "Fluff" Led to Rigor
Do you your kids struggle with those "About the Text" questions on Fountas and Pinnell assessments? You know, the ones where they're asked to identify descriptive language in the passages? This post is FOR YOU! This creative approach might seem "fluffy" to some teachers, but I can assure you it's not. Found poetry created rigor in my classroom!
Teacher Shoes: The Story of a Teacher's Vow
Teacher fashions have sure changed through the years... thank God! Are you ready to giggle?
3 Ways to Keep Your Sanity for March is Reading Month
March is Reading Month and Read Across America shenanigans don't have to be stressful! 3 + ways to make your celebrations student-centered!
Teaching & Learning Gratitude: Book Suggestions For Thankfulness
Teaching and learning gratitude is not an easy feat. Explore three book suggestions for upper elementary and middle school students. Free resources and suggestions...as well as a $100 giveaway!
Love Letters & Brussel Sprouts: Exploring Odes and Point-of-View
Valentine’s Day can be a hard holiday to navigate with upper elementary kiddos... the hormones... the precarious friendships...the hurt feelings. Here’s an idea that’s fun, easy to implement and COMMON CORE ALIGNED!
Striving & Thriving: Remembering Purpose in the Reading Classroom
As we're bullied about on a day-to-day basis, it's so easy to forget our "why." Sometimes, we're reminded in unexpected ways.