One constant for me—no matter what grade level I am teaching—is having my students create portfolios for themselves. There is nothing more rewarding for students (and their...
It can be overwhelming trying to figure out which Common Core State Standard literacy strands your students need the most work with. There are so many different places to...
If you happened to have read my last post you know I gave some tips and tricks for goal setting and professional planning. I mentioned this follow-up post would be sharing...
If you’re like me, I learned how to plan lessons using a day-to-day, period-by-period schedule. Lessons were chunked into 40-50-minute segments on Monday through Friday...
In January, I began an ongoing monthly post describing a “thinking routine” Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding and Independence for All Learners
The New York Times Best Seller Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, is a book that students love, but every teacher should read also to remind us why we became teachers. ...
A fun way for you to get to know your elementary students better and help them get to know each other is by having them create a book jacket cover and table of contents about...
The buttery popcorn, the delicious candy, the big screen... who doesn't love a movie? The answer used to be, “I don’t!”, when one of my favorite student literature circle...
As previously discussed, the four foundational centers (Teacher Led Center, Vocabulary, Reading Together and Writer’s Craft) are appropriate for any classroom. There are...
In a previous post, I have shared how I incorporate the DOK and Revised Bloom's Taxonomy into my 'shared reading lesson plans' and my 'unit plans.' In this post, I will...
Last year I wrote a blog post about creating a classroom environment where students can be immersed in literacy experiences. One of the elements I briefly touched on as a...
July is the month that marks the middle of summer for many teachers. Last month school had just ended and next month school will begin again. Before you think about heading...