February is full of so many holidays and is such a short month. There are many great books to read aloud in your classroom this month, including Presidents Day read aloud books. You have that teach about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and favorite read alouds that teach us what an election is, what makes […]
World Read Aloud Day is right around the corner and read aloud day activities are a must! This is a day we celebrate reading, specifically, reading aloud to kids! This year is the 15th anniversary, so let’s “blow it up” big!! What is better than a day full of engaging reading activities? My 6 year […]
Valentineโs Day is just around the corner, and there are so many great Valentine’s Day books to read aloud in your classroom. There are so many warm stories that teach about kindness and love. Others that teach about friendship and classroom community, too. Letโs look at some favorite read alouds you can read in your […]
Every February 2nd, children wake up with one question, “Did the groundhog see his shadow?” It’s such a fun day that is rich in history and perfect for a groundhog day read aloud. I have vivid memories as a child of the excitement of the day as I watched the news to see what they […]
The holiday seasons brings so much excitement to the classroom. From family traditions being shared to memories being made with classroom elf, there are so many moments to take in! One of my favorite things to do is read aloud and the holiday season is filled with wonderful Christmas read alouds for kids! I have […]
Spending time to set up literacy centers in kindergarten truly helps build a solid literacy foundation. Literacy centers allow students to practice reading and writing skill at their own pace because they are easily differentiated. There are many options of how to run and set up literacy centers and I typically had 8 centers that […]
Creating and maintaining organized literacy centers can be the key to a smooth and productive classroom. For kindergarten and 1st grade teachers, having a system that helps students find what they need, stay focused, and follow clear directions is crucial. Letโs explore three simple tips for organizing literacy centers and keeping them manageable! *Amazon affiliate […]
My sweet teacher friend shared this story, and I immediately knew we needed it for this blog post as we talk about the importance of dictation activities for students! My daughter was in our playroom trying to write the word slide. She asked me, โMom, how do you spell the word slide?โ I was in […]
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 […]
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 […]
Teaching reading is truly a science. As we learn more about the Science of Reading research that is rising to the top, schools are beginning to adopt best teaching practices for teaching reading, including strategies for those struggling in reading. We are better equipped to support kids in reading. But even with our knowledge base […]
Sound walls are a great change that many teachers are making in their literacy classrooms. Why? Sound walls are a great visual for students of how phonemes and letters or letter patterns are used to write words. Giving each student their own personal sound wall is a valuable tool in the classroom. Letโs dive into […]
Have you heard the chant โwhen two vowels go walking, the first one does the talkingโ? It is commonly used to help teach vowel teams. I remember teaching my students this refrain during reading small groups. A few of my students were struggling with words like peach, read, and pie. I donโt remember where I […]
There are so many different tools and resources to use in your reading small groups that help your students with their reading skills. One of my favorite tools is using reading comprehension passages with questions to help my students work on their comprehension skills. Letโs chat about reading comprehension passages with questions and how to […]
An easy to follow guide for teaching open and closed syllables. Recently, my friend’s daughter was reading on the couch as she was prepping dinner in the kitchen. She came and asked, โMommy, what does the word โcat erโ mean?โ I didnโt understand what she was asking so I asked her to repeat the word. […]
See my 4 must-have science of reading small group materials in the post below. Do you have favorite tools for baking? Or maybe favorite tools for a sport? I love to bake and have some that definitely make baking a lot easier. I love using my KitchenAid mixer when baking. It is so nice to […]
Read this post to get 7 must-try alphabet activities for kindergarten and 1st grade! I donโt think I realized how much learning occurs with the alphabet until after my third year of teaching. I donโt remember doing a lot of alphabet activities in my elementary years other than saying the alphabet. That was the knowledge […]
It’s September and school has settled in, your routines are becoming solidified, and it air starts to get cooler. I truly love to welcome September into the classroom because the pace of our day seems to find its rhythm, especially with fall read alouds. We are busy with centers as we get ready for reading […]
