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 ...
Blog
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 ...
Talking Numbers Video
Getting students talking numbers is a critical part of building number sense and fluency in young mathematicians. It's the perfect avenue for generating a pool of ideas, encouraging students to ...
Hosting A Reading Celebration
1st Grade is the most magical of places. It truly is a home for transformation and growth like no other. In 1st grade, students come to you, many times, reading only pictures and then, in May, they ...
The Invisible Boy
Looping with my class this year, I’ve really had the opportunity to invest in and get to know my students. With extra time to see them as people, not just learners, we – as a class – coined this ...
Building Your Classroom Library
In the Scholastic Principal and Administrator’s Report (2018), they found that the average United States classroom contains 254 books with 31% of classroom libraries containing fewer than 50 ...
Managing Math Centers
From planning leveled guided-math lessons, to guided reading groups, to writer’s workshop, to Daily 5 choices, to math centers, as primary teachers we can be planning and preparing for over 36 ...
