Since its creation in 1996, National Poetry Month has reminded the public of the importance poetry plays in our culture and has become the biggest literacy celebration in America. Here are five fun ideas and resources to help you make celebrating National Poetry Month feel more like a party and less like a chore. 1. Read Alouds I love to bring poetry into the classroom for read alouds. Since they’re
Everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day! So you might as well wrap some meaningful learning into this fun theme. From reading to math to STEM, here are my top five fun ideas and resources for St. Patrick’s Day. These are guaranteed to get your students so engaged that they will forget they are practicing key skills. Fun Idea #1: Virtual Field Trip to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day Take
Read Across America Week is coming up! Beginning in 2019, the NEA decided to end its licensing agreement with Seuss Enterprises and focus on diversity. Read Across America Week is a wonderful time to run with this theme and introduce your learners to a wide range of diverse authors and books. I love Read Across America Week because it presents the opportunity to incorporate a ton of cross-curricular activities that
Small-group instruction is a highly effective way to close reading gaps with students once they get their arms around the foundations of reading. Strategy groups are small groups of students (4-6) who have gaps with a particular skill or strategy. Students in these groups are often reading at different levels, so it’s important to have a solid plan. In this post, I share ideas about how to successfully implement strategy
I created reading digital mini lessons for teachers who are always scrambling to find the materials they need in so many places. I thought, “What if teachers could have everything they need in ONE place with clear instructions broken down for each day?” Between the read alouds, question prep, anchor charts, student guided practice, and everything else, mini lessons took me so much time to prepare as a teacher. That
Teachers are some of the most creative people in the world. They come up with the most inventive, engaging, and exciting lessons, classrooms, and more. Cute and fun behavior management and reward systems are no exception. Teachers come up with adorable charts, token systems, prizes, and even the latest trend… Desk Pets. There is no doubt that these reward systems are super creative, fun, and motivating for students. But are
The beginning of the year is a crucial time to set expectations, develop relationships, and set the stage to grow a caring classroom community. One of my favorite ways to do this is through classroom read aloud books and discussions. These read aloud books can be sprinkled into your regular reading and social studies lessons to serve a double purpose! These are my seven favorite back to school read aloud
Behavior clip charts have been a staple in many classrooms as the primary behavior management tool for years. In my early days as a substitute teacher, I remember how helpful behavior charts were for me to manage behaviors as a guest teacher. However, early in my teaching career, I learned how harmful it is to use behavior clip charts. In this post, I talk about the reasons why behavior clip
Data Binders are a great way to incorporate student accountability and independence. In this post, I’m going to cover how to set up the Teacher Data Binder. I’ll keep this short and sweet because the majority of the data binder setup should be on the student side. After all, the goal is to get students involved so they are accountable and have ownership over their learning! You can read more
Teachers, you have enough on your plates! Why not hand off all you can to your students to promote independence?! Student data binders are a key tool that I used throughout my years of teaching to promote student success, accountability, and independence. In this post, I’m going to show you how to set up your student data binders. I know firsthand that the thought of teaching your students to track
