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 read alouds. You can talk about what an election is, who candidates are, and how a president becomes elected. Using […]
Most of us, as teachers, read 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 strategies. Today […]
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 […]
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 strands. Fluency, the ability to read smoothly and accurately […]
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. We are better equipped to support kids in reading. But even with our knowledge base growing, one thing still remains–we still have […]
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 a copy of their own sound wall is a valuable tool in the classroom. Let’s […]
Planning a reading small group can feel like a big task. It is incredibly important, and there are many pieces to consider, but it doesn’t have to be hard! Having a science of reading small group lesson template at your fingertips makes everything easier! I have been there–the end of a long day, cleaning up […]
A Kindergarten schedule is always jam-packed. I know it felt this way in first grade, too, but it was just a different level of “jam-packed” in Kindergarten. Not only are you constantly teaching them how to do school, but you also have so many core curriculum pieces to squeeze in. Among them were kindergarten reading […]
December is often a busy time not just in the classroom, but in our personal lives as well. That coupled with the holiday excitement that the students bring to school each day, it can feel overwhelming to manage everyone and everything. I found over the years that when I bring the holiday fun into the […]
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 to help my students work on their comprehension skills. Let’s chat about reading comprehension passages with questions and how to use them […]
Recently, my friend’s daughter was reading on the couch as she was prepping dinner in the kitchen. She came and asked, “Mommy, what does the word “cat er” mean?” I didn’t understand what she was asking so I asked her to repeat the word. She said, “cat er”. “In my book it says, “My mom […]
Alphabet arcs…you’ve probably seen them if you are a primary teacher. But do you know how to use them? Do you know why so many people think they are a valuable tool? I remember during my first year of teaching, a had a small group set of alphabet arcs. But I really didn’t know how […]
When it comes to work work, how prepared do you feel? I don’t know about you, but I felt like when my students and I had everything we needed for word work time (whether it was a whole group lesson, small group lesson, or literacy center), I was way less stressed. You’d probably feel the […]
Are you looking for an exciting and engaging way to introduce math concepts to your Kindergarten, first grade, or second grade class? Look no further than math games with cards! Not only are these games fun and entertaining, but they also help children develop essential math skills. Number recognition, counting, and basic operations are easily […]
When you hear the phrases RTI, intervention activities, and reading intervention support, how do you feel? What comes to mind? I know when I was in my early years in the classroom, it hurt my brain. Managing RTI and intervention activities were just going to send me over the edge some years, but I really […]
