Since mid-March 2020, our world has moved at lightening pace. It seems that there is a moving target that changes on an hourly basis. "Prepare a few at-home enrichment activities" to "Plan 3 weeks of ...
Blog
Making Scantrons Work in Primary
Five falls ago our District rolled-out Common Assessments to all fifteen (14 at the time) of our elementary schools and included accompanying scantrons sheets with each one. Initially, our 1st grade ...
Opinion Writing Mentor Texts
Opinion Writing Mentor Texts offer students a 'real' perspective on a genre and give students professional authors to emulate. Making writing concrete is valuable, and mentor texts help us do ...
Reconsidering Seuss
Change can be hard. It can be necessary and uncomfortable. Sometimes we know we need to change but we’re not sure what that looks like. Our teacher worlds change all.the.time. As we learn more, watch ...
Celebrating BECAUSE Day: Opinion Writing
Oral Language matters. We want students speaking, share, and writing in complete sentences. When we give students opportunities to talk before writing, we are scaffolding their thinking and language. ...
Easy Teacher Lunches
Hi. I'm Catherine, and I struggle adulting. And food is hard. In the summer months, I am actually a great cook. But, during the school year, my teacher lunches consist of fruit and veggie trays, ...
Opinion Writing
Opinions are powerful. When we generate ideas for opinions, we ask ourselves – What do we know all about? What do I care about? What do I wish other people believed? How is my thinking different from ...
Inform/Explain Writing in Kindergarten
As adults, inform/explain writing is a majority of what we do. From responding to emails to sharing what is being learned in our classrooms to offering our families information about our daily ...
Making the Most of Word Walls
Language matters in every content-area and subject we teach. From social-emotional learning to science to requesting food in the Dinning Room, vocabulary is a critical part of communicating. Word ...
Weekly Lesson Planning Routine
Intentionally planning instruction matters. Building relationships with students matters. Communicating with families matters. It seems like everything we do in the classroom (and outside) matters, so ...
Graphic Novel Making Kit
This post is a different kind of one for me. It was inspired by a very special, young author and artist in my life who LOVES graphic novels. Preparing for her upcoming birthday, I created a ...
End of Year Classroom Auction
An end-of-year auction is a simple way to declutter your classroom space while offering students *treasures* to take home for playing school, learning over the summer, or be a keepsake of the ...