Literacy

Professional Development

How to Teach Determining Importance in Reading

Use these activities and ideas to help your readers understand determining importance. “No, we don’t need that,” is a phrase I found myself saying a lot to my kids when we leave the house. They are in a phase of wanting to take all their toys and things with us when we leave the house […]

6 Books to Teach Making Inferences {with a FREEBIE}

One of the reading comprehension strategies that I love teaching is making inferences. What I’ve learned from being in the classroom (and from my own kiddos) is that kids already make inferences all day long. We just have to bring this abstract idea into a more concrete concept that they can practice in reading. For […]

How to Introduce the Visualization Reading Strategy

Have you ever read a book, turned the page and saw the picture, and thought “That’s not at all what I was picturing in my mind?” This has happened to me so many times! That’s visualizing. When you use the words in a story or book to make a picture in your mind, you are […]

How to Create Interactive Read Aloud Lesson Plans in 3 Simple Steps

One of my favorite times of the day in the classroom was when we had our interactive read aloud! I loved having my students close to me on the carpet, their eyes and minds focused on the book we were reading. I loved picking out a book with vivid pictures and characters I thought they […]

How To Teach Making Connections {Books and Activities}

I search my students’ faces until I see it – that lightbulb moment when they’ve grasped another reading comprehension strategy. That moment when sweet “Jane” understood why making connections to our books help her grow as a reader. Simple making connections activities and strong read alouds helped her blossom as a reader. These are the […]

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