a dash of creativity, a pinch of fun, and a whole lot of learning!
Have you ever created a beautiful anchor chart that your students were in awe of for a whole…30 seconds? I’m going to guess that if your students are like my students, they only referred back to that anchor chart with coaching or reminders from you. This scenario with charts is one I know all too well. Although I’ve known what…
Read More
…The teachers have nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of bulletin boards, classroom set-ups, and flexible seating danced in their heads. That sounds about right as we head into the busy back-to-school season! Teachers everywhere are busy setting up their classrooms and turning their four walls into a magical learning environment that inspires and welcomes their students. Part…
Read More
In my imaginary, perfect dream world, I have four students in my classroom. During our reading time, I do a quick whole-group mini-lesson. Then, I spend the remaining time working one-on-one. I see every single student every day. There is no lack of time. (After all, I have only four students.) I roam freely from child to child, individualizing my…
Read More
I have always assigned nightly reading. Why? I don’t assign nightly reading because I want to give students “reading homework.” I don’t assign nightly reading because we’re trying to win a pizza party if we meet a school-wide goal of four billion minutes. I assign nightly reading because I wish to instill a habit and a love of literacy in…
Read More
The Energy Change Look around your classroom. It’s not as bright and shiny as it was the first week of school, is it? Things might be falling off the wall. That bulletin board border that you so carefully put up in August is now bent and ripped in the corner. The lamination on your posters and centers are covered in…
Read More
Text evidence skills are important, but how do you even begin to TEACH text evidence skills to primary readers? In this blog post, I’ll share the activities, lessons, and ideas I use to get my little readers into the habit of using and citing text evidence as they read- even in kindergarten! (Yes, you read that correctly! I’m going to…
Read More
Valentine’s Day is almost here! I wanted to pop onto the blog today and share an a-DOH-able little gift tag freebie with you! (Do you see what I did there? Ha!) My almost-two-year-old son, Sawyer, has his little daycare Valentine’s Day party tomorrow. Since his little friends are toddlers, I wanted him to pass out Valentine’s Day gifts that were…
Read More
