You are there! You have finally trained your little learners well in literacy centers, you have gathered the best decodable readers, you know where your kids stand with their phonics skills, and you are *almost* ready to sit down at the small group table. Except one thing–how do you begin the precious time together? Every […]
My friend recently shared this story with me, and I couldn’t help but share it as we discuss background knowledge on the blog! “I was recently reading a book and asked me a question about the word operation. The book was talking about a student who needed to solve a math problem at school and […]
When it comes to creating a classroom where all readers thrive, your reading small group time is one of the most powerful tools in your day. It’s the perfect opportunity to deliver explicit, targeted instruction based on your students’ needs. But if managing this block feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. Between prepping materials, keeping the […]
Teaching phonics rules can sometimes feel like a tricky puzzle—especially when letters like G have more than one sound–hard g soft g. As teachers, we know that helping our students become strong, confident readers means having solid phonics instruction. But what about when we, ourselves, didn’t have a strong phonics foundation? Making sense of those […]
As elementary teachers, we know how hard our students work all year long to grow as readers. We celebrate their progress and feel proud of how far they’ve come. But then summer hits—and we’ve all seen how easily that progress can slide if students aren’t regularly engaging with engaging summer reading activities. Here’s the good […]
The end of the school year can feel like a roller coaster—fun, wild, and just a little chaotic. Excitement is high, schedules get weird, and students are feeling all the feelings. That’s why having solid end of year classroom management strategies in place is key to finishing strong without losing your sanity. Today the team and I are […]
Now that the dust has settled on those new reading curriculums, many teachers are starting to notice something. There are still reading gaps. After all the challenges of teaching through Covid—and now with a shiny new curriculum in many of your hands—it’s clear that some of our students still need more support. Even with great […]
Assessing reading comprehension in kindergarten through second grade is crucial for understanding student progress and guiding instruction. By using a mix of informal and formal assessments, teachers can gather valuable insights into students’ understanding while keeping the process engaging and stress-free. In this post, we’ll explore different types of reading comprehension assessments and how to use them […]
St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th every year! It’s the perfect time to grab a St. Patrick’s Day read aloud for your classroom. There are many read alouds that are great to help teach about the holiday and students are sure to be engaged as they listen to silly stories of leprechauns, non fiction books […]
Read aloud lessons with read aloud strategies are one of the most magical moments in a classroom. They allow teachers to model fluency, introduce new vocabulary, and model the pure joy of reading rich stories. However, keeping little learners engaged during read alouds can sometimes feel like herding cats, especially in this tech world with […]
There’s just something magical about snow activities for kids! The way it seems to just appear on the ground when we awake, the soft blanket we can jump in, and so many more aspects that make it seem magical! We don’t get a lot of snow in Texas, but when we do the kids’ faces […]
Teaching phonics skills like the hard C and soft C sounds can be a thrilling journey for young learners as they unlock more phonics skills. Just think–now the word “circle” makes sense! It can feel tricky to teach, so let’s dive into an explicit explanation of how to teach each of these phonics skills. I also will […]
Election Day is right around the corner and there are so many good books for you to read aloud in your classroom. You can teach so much to your students about election day through different election day read alouds. You can talk about what an election is, who candidates are, and how a president becomes […]
Most of us, as teachers, really enjoy reading aloud to our students. We love it! They love it! It’s a win! The science of reading research has shown us how children learn to read and the best practices for teaching reading. Reading aloud to kids is a powerful tool that aligns well with these evidence-based […]
Are you looking for engaging activities to help your growing readers understand the concept of comparing and contrasting characters in books? Look no further! In this blog post, we’ll explore some fun and creative activities to make this important literacy skill come alive in your classroom. Plus, I have a free download of an event […]
When I was in the classroom, reading assessments looked like this: a large DRA box, a stack of running records that were to be carefully analyzed, leveled texts with lots of wear and tear, and maybe some checklists. But now that we know what we know, thanks to the science of reading research, we can […]
Introducing poetry to young learners can be an enjoyable and enriching experience. It fosters creativity, language development, and a love for writing. Sometimes, it can feel tricky to know where to begin when it comes to teaching poetry. With engaging activities and strategies for teaching poetry elements to our young writers, it doesn’t have to […]
Develop fluency with these fun, fluency activities for kids! As teachers, one of our primary goals is to equip our young learners with the foundational skills they need to become proficient readers. As we dig into the Science of Reading research more and more, we see this in Scarborough’s Reading Rope through the word recognition […]
