If you teach kindergarten through 2nd grade, you know that guided reading is an essential component of literacy instruction. The way I’ve conducted guided reading has changed over the years and some people aren’t fond of the term guided reading, but small-group reading instruction is essential in order to differentiate and meet your students’ needs in reading. Planning for guided reading used to be very time-consuming. I found myself trying to find resources from different places in order to fill the gaps my students had. And sometimes I'd plan a lesson, then notice something else my kids needed while reading, so I'd want to teach that skill but didn't have a resource on hand to help. So I created guided reading warm-ups to help get my kids’ brains ready for reading, remind them of important phonics skills and reading strategies, and have everything I needed for any necessary skills that popped up during small-group ... read more
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Stretching Words Out: Emergent Writing Strategy
It can be daunting for emergent writers to stretch out words, especially long words. Many kindergarten students are very artistic and can add details to their pictures, but when asked to add words, they sometimes hesitate or say they don't know how to, even if they do have some letter-sound knowledge. Writing Warm-Ups To get kids to see that they are able to write some words, I started doing writing "warm-ups" at the beginning of our independent writing sessions, and it has helped many of my students become more risk-takers with spelling. First, kids need to understand what saying a word slowly is. If you tell a student to stretch out a word, they may not understand what you mean. However, if you remind them of Dory in Finding Nemo and show them a clip of her "speaking whale," they'll be sure to quickly learn how to say a word slowly (and they'll likely not want to stop)! Here's an adorable clip: Dory Speaking ... read more
Christmas Classroom Activities to Keep Students Engaged
The holiday season is a time for family, friends, and fun. But teachers know it can also be a time of pure chaos! If you're looking for ways to keep your students engaged in this busy and exciting month, here is a round-up of my Christmas classroom resources and activities that are sure to spread the holiday cheer! Now, although I'm sharing Christmas classroom activities in this post, I do think it's important to be inclusive of other holidays as well. Find out ahead of time which holidays your students celebrate, if any, and research them before planning. Ask your students to share about their holidays and traditions, read books, and make virtual visits to learn about other celebrations! And if you prefer not to have holiday-themed activities, two great theme options are snowmen or animals in winter. Here are Christmas classroom activities that will keep your students engaged throughout the season: the 12 Days of ... read more
Teaching Kindergarten Writing? Look Out for These 6 Mistakes!
I recently got the chance to sub in a kindergarten classroom. I love getting back in the classroom and spending time with the kids. And, best of all, I got to spend some time doing one of my favorite things... teaching kindergarten writing! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… teaching writing is not easy. And, with anything that’s challenging, we’ll undoubtedly make mistakes along the way. We all make mistakes and sometimes we can learn a lot from those mistakes. This is definitely one of the cases! That’s why today, I’m sharing some mistakes I learned not to make when teaching writing. You may be making them, too, so I'll give you some tips on what you can do instead! If you’re struggling to teach writing, make sure to read this Beginner’s Guide to Writing Workshops in Kindergarten and First Grade. And, check out 6 Critical Steps to Launching a Smooth Writing workshop in Your Classroom. Here are ... read more
Why a Speech-to-Print Approach to learning Letters is Best (and How to do it!)
If you're anything like me and LOVE watching true crime documentaries, you may have noticed how far science and technology have come in the last 30 years. With DNA, GPS, and cameras everywhere, it's amazing people still do some of the crazy stuff I see on TV! Just as the world of investigation has completely changed in the past 50 years, the same thing is happening in the world of teaching literacy. As we learn more about the brain and how it interprets the written word, we need to shift how we teach young children to read. Instead of teaching starting with the letter symbol, we now know that the science of reading (SOR) backs up a speech-to-print, or sound-to-letter, approach. One of the most basic tenets of teaching is building on what kids already know. When kids come to us in a kindergarten classroom, they already have language and sound knowledge. They've heard all ... read more
11 Tips for Oral Storytelling Practice in Kindergarten and First Grade
Even if children cannot yet write, they can still learn to tell stories. This is why oral storytelling practice is such a valuable tool for our emergent writers! Learning to tell stories with detail will help your students write with detail later on. Yet, with all the rich benefits, oral storytelling is often a skill that's skipped or not done enough in kindergarten and first grade. But we're going to change that! Let me share some easy ways you can incorporate oral storytelling practice into your curriculum. Make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a FREE story sequencing and retelling activity! And if you’re looking for more strategies for supporting struggling writers, check out this post! And if you’re new to the Writers Workshop model, read A Beginner's Guide to Writing Workshop in Kindergarten & First Grade. When I tell you the skill of oral storytelling is chock full of benefits, I am not kidding. ... read more
5 Tips to Support Emergent Writers in the Drawing Stage
Teaching writing can be hard, especially in Kindergarten! I often see the initial focus of writing workshops placed on text as opposed to spending the necessary time supporting emergent writers in the drawing stage. I think this can be one of the things that makes teaching writing to these littles so hard. If you’re new to writing workshops, make sure to read this Beginner’s Guide to Writing Workshops in Kindergarten and First Grade. And, check out 6 Steps to Launching a Smooth Writing Workshop in Your Classroom to make sure your writing workshop gets off on the right foot. Too often, the early focus in writing workshops is placed on text. Students are rushed into writing words without taking the appropriate time to learn about storytelling through pictures. It’s important to me to never rush these emerging writers through this drawing stage. They may be 5, 6, or possibly even 4, and they’re all at different ... read more
6 Critical Steps to Launching a Smooth Writing Workshop in Your Classroom
If you’ve been here before, you know I LOVE teaching writing. I think there are so many benefits to incorporating a writing workshop into your kindergarten or first-grade classroom! If you are not familiar with the writing workshop model, it is a method of teaching writing that consists of four main components: Mini-Lesson, where you teach and model a strategyIndependent writing time, when kids put the strategy into practiceSharing timeConferring, where you get to talk with students about their writing and provide targeted instruction, either 1:1 or in small groups The goal of the writing workshop model is to expose children to different genres, and teach them how to compose a writing piece in each genre, all while learning about the writing process. Very cool, right? If you’re new to writing workshop, make sure to read this Beginner’s Guide to Writing Workshops in Kindergarten and First Grade. And, ... read more
15 Read Alouds For The Beginning Of The Year
It's almost that time again. Time to head back into the classroom and prepare for a new year! One of my favorite things to get ready for the year is to look for a new back-to-school read-aloud or two. Read-Alouds are essential at the beginning of the year. They are a great way to have students practice coming to the carpet, being a patient listener, and knowing when and how to ask questions. By choosing great books, you can explore so many concepts: growth mindset, first-week jitters, behaviors and expectations. Today I wanted to share 15 books that are perfect for the beginning of the year. These are books I haven't shared before, but you may also want to check out my posts on Picture books for Phonemic Awareness and Growth Mindset with Rosie's Glasses. Click on any of the titles to view the read-aloud on Youtube! For links to purchase the books, visit my Amazon storefront here, where you can find all of my recommended ... read more
How To Set Up Your New Classroom Stress-Free
I absolutely loved setting up my classroom! I know I may be in the minority on this, but I was the one calling the office every day to check if the rooms are done, then going in any free moment to organize every millimeter. By October, it's all a mess but I enjoy making a beautiful, organized space even if it's fleeting. Whether you're like me OR you prefer spending as little time as possible prepping your room before school starts, OR you're moving into a new classroom, here are some tips to help you set up your classroom stress-free! And if you're a new teacher, make sure to read this comprehensive post on organizing your classroom and grab the free beginning of the year checklist. Step One: Plan Out Spaces When you first walk into your new room, it can be overwhelming with everything that needs to be done and you may not know where to even start. I highly recommend planning out how you will use the space first and ... read more
A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Workshop in Kindergarten & First Grade
In terms of both support and resources, writing seems to take a back seat to reading in many districts. Some teachers are given curriculum that's either overwhelming, not developmentally appropriate or nothing at all. So, today I want to go through each component of the Writing Workshop in detail to help you implement it in your classroom. There are many benefits to incorporating Writing Workshop into your classroom, especially in Kindergarten and First Grade! If you are not familiar with this model, Writing Workshop is a method of teaching writing that consists of four main components; a mini-lesson, independent writing time, and sharing, as well as conferring with students about their writing. Its goal is to expose children to different genres, and teach them how to compose a writing piece in each genre, while learning about the writing process. It's a very flexible system that you can use with the resources you have. This ... read more
End Of The Year Student Gift Ideas
It's almost that time of the year. I'm sure many of you have already started counting down the days! While the end of the year is an exciting time for students, it can be a LOT of work for teachers. Between organizing, packing, writing report cards, and classroom management, we still make time to celebrate our students. You don't have to spend a whole lot on end-of-year gifts for your students! But, I know many teachers like to send their students off with a small gift so today, I want to share ten inexpensive end-of-year gift ideas for your students. 1. printable bookmark One inexpensive/no-cost gift idea is to give your students a bookmark to encourage summer reading. I have a free set of ocean-themed bookmarks here! I also have some cute colorful punny bookmarks that match some of my EOY student awards. And of course, what goes better with a bookmark than a BOOK! Scholastic has books for under two dollars ... read more