Books matter. Not only in reading, but in writing and in life. They bring joy, creativity, conversation, exploration, and love into our classrooms. When students walk into our classrooms they have so ...
Blog
Making 10 to Subtract
As a part of the Operations & Algebraic Thinking standards, 1st grade students are expected to add and subtract within 20, building fluency within 10 using a variety of strategies. (The fluency ...
Using Prior Knowledge to Research
Research. A word that drives fear into many primary teachers’ hearts. How? When? With what? Researching in primary grades is so often students sharing random facts (or things they believe are facts). ...
Organizing Research in 1st & 2nd Grade
Independent research in 1st and 2nd Grade is not something that just magically happens. Organizing writing is not something that just happens automatically. Both of these skills have to be explicitly ...
Building Strong Relationships with Students
As teachers, safety - physical, emotion, and mental - is always our top priority. One of the most important ways we do this is through building strong relationships with students. Fostering strong ...
100th Day of School Math Centers
The 100th Day of School. A day for celebrating, reflecting, and ideally - a little bit of learning! Between a recent Winter Break, the 100th Day of School, and Valentine's Day, as a teacher I longed ...
Scaffolding Kindergarten Writers
Meeting with a group of kindergarten teachers about writing throughout the year, there is often a common feeling on “HELP! We are never going to be independent writers.” If this is you, take ...
Creating a Class Mission Statement
Every school, organization, or business has a common vision and mission. A vision of who are we? What do we believe? And a mission - How does each individual member of our community work towards a ...
The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading
Guided Reading offers students intentional reading instruction with texts that are just a little too hard. As a teacher, we coach and scaffold our readers all while pushing them forward in their ...
At-Home Book Bags
Students need access to books at home, and I don’t want to assume they have it. The volume of books read is the greatest predictor of student reading success (Allington). Knowing this, sending home ...
1st Grade Homework Alternatives
As teachers, we know how hard our students work each day. We spend hours reading, writing, doing math, exploring science, and so much more. Research shows that developing fine and gross motor skills, ...
Making 10 to Add
Making 10 to Add is an important skill for our primary learners. 10 becomes a benchmark number which makes addition and subtraction a mental process. Initially, though, Making 10 to Add can be a tough ...
