Structured literacy is evidence-based instruction requires clear, direct teaching, sequential lessons, continuous assessment, and multimodal techniques to engage various parts of the reading brain. ...
Blog
Help Phonics Skills ‘Stick’ with Word Collections!
As my first-grade friends are becoming reading pros, I've found that my kids, especially my sweet and lows, struggle with our weekly phonics skills. Of course, we spiral review these skills in guided ...
Cyber Monday & A (Brief) Return to 5th Grade!
Hi friends! Today was awarded "Our Best Day So Far" by my 1st grade friends, and it really was amazing. We received our first postcards from around the United States, started decorating our classroom ...
A Thanksgiving Directed Draw
Happy Thanksgiving break, friends! Today I'm sharing our first venture into in-class art: watercolor paintings. Enjoy the mess and adorable pictures. :) It terms of supplies, there is a ...
Digital Publishing: Creating Books on the iPad
Today was our first venture into Digital Publishing, so I wanted to stop by and share our experiences with it in 1st grade. Per Common Core, students are expected to "With guidance and support ...
{Freebie} Subtraction Word Problem Mini-Book
Over the past few weeks, I have been taming our reading block to make sure I have time for guided math everyday. I typically meet with my lowest friends, and it is such valuable time together. Right ...
Guided Reading: 1st Grade Style
Guided Reading: 1st grade Style Guided Reading offers students intentional reading instruction with texts that are just a little too hard! From lesson planning to benchmarking students to word work ...
Field Trip with Ease
Hey, friends! Today we ventured to the Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard, and it was a BREEZE. So, I wanted to share some things that made our day go oh-so-smoothly. First, I will admit, I had 17 ...
Number Lines: An Easy Storage Idea
Entering the 2nd quarter of the year, we are knee-deep in addition and subtraction. We've spent time learning about dozens of different strategies for solving math problems - visualizing, drawing, ...
Differentiating Your Classroom with Color
Hi, friends! I'm stopping by to share how I've stepped up my differentiating-game this year. My new team is fabulous at finding just-right learning materials for our 1st grade friends, and we have ...
Fall Break Goodness
Today marked my 9th, and final, consecutive nap for the week which can mean only one thing, fall break is coming to an end. It has been a wonderful week of doing things I love (outside of school) and ...
1st Grade Reading Logs: Goal Setting for At-Home Reading
The best way for students to grow as readers is to spend more time reading and listening to reading. As teachers we know how important reading at home is. If our students read 20 minutes every ...