Time-saving Educational resources for K-2 Teachers
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… Read More
Did you see the movie Zootopia? Well, there’s a famous scene at the DMV where a sloth takes fooooooreeeeever to help the main character, who is in a huge rush! Even the sloth’s laugh is super slow and the whole scene is really very funny. While it’s hilarious in a cartoon movie, when it happens in person, it’s anything but!… Read More
“Teacher, how do you spell (insert any word here)?” If you teach kindergarten or first grade, it’s a question you likely hear all. the. time! I know we wish we could clone ourselves during writing time so we could sit with each student and help them with their spelling, BUT of course we can’t. If we really could clone ourselves,… Read More
In my previous post, I discussed using pictures as a comprehension strategy using Eagle Eye. As I mentioned, the more advanced kids become at reading, the fewer pictures their books will have. So, it’s important to teach other self-monitoring reading comprehension strategies. I’ll share some easy lesson activities you can do to model and teach kids how to make sure… Read More
Can you believe he was picking his nose?? Not what you thought? Pictures are a huge help to beginning readers when monitoring comprehension! Even when decoding accurately, factors such as figures of speech and background experience can affect a student’s comprehension. Some kids can decode an encyclopedia (do they even have those anymore??), but if they aren’t monitoring their reading, they could be completely… Read More
I had a student my first year teaching who had a habit of waiting for help before making any attempts on his own. He would start a sentence, get to a tricky word. . . and just stop. As I sat by him one day while he read, he got stuck on a word and looked up at me. I… Read More
This book makes a great mentor text for a personal narrative genre writing unit! Kids can relate to Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe and use some of the strategies she uses to revise their writing workshop stories. Read this post for mini-lesson ideas, an anchor chart, and freebie for Show, not Tell! Great for kindergarten and first grade.
Getting kids to love writing can be difficult sometimes, especially if they are struggling writers. It’s normal to dislike something you’re not good at (or think you’re not good at). I dislike bowling because I have terrible aim and usually end up in the gutter. But, I’m sure if I had the patience took the time to learn some tips,… Read More
Writing is hard for many kids! If you run a writing workshop, you know how important it is to have kids writing independently. Yet, there are many challenges kids can have during this time that can lead to frustration and less-than-ideal work! Teachers face a huge challenge when kids aren’t able to work independently during writing workshop, too. If you… Read More
Do your students give up when they approach a long word? Even if it’s a word they can most likely decode, like rabbit or project, some kids get overwhelmed by word length and don’t even try. If they’re not taught how to decode these words, they may even start guessing rather than trying. When kids learn how to break apart… Read More