Parents reading aloud to their child or children every day is one of the most important things they can do. As teachers, we know that it supports students in growing into proficient readers and learners. One of my favorite quotes is from Emilie Buchwald who said, “Children are made readers
Books! Glorious books! While we want our kids reading a variety of great literature to themselves, there are also books we hoard to use as read alouds and mentor texts. How do we keep these books separate but also accessible? Read below to get proven classroom book organization ideas for
There are so many books available at our fingertips now more than ever. With the help of Amazon, Barnes and Noble, small bookstores, and local libraries, thousands of children’s books are a click or just a short drive away. There are so many books to choose from that it can
Do you love elementary read alouds as much as I do? There are two moments I anticipate with excitement every year in my classroom: When Charlie Bucket finally gets his Golden Ticket and the class cheers wildly (because they always do) and when Charlotte dies and even my toughest little
This is the tale of how a 3rd grade teacher who once hated teaching paragraph writing (spoiler alert: it was me) used a simple system called Paragraph of the Week to transform her reluctant writers into excited authors and rapidly improved student writing. For real. It can be really challenging
Raise your hand if you dread teaching main idea and details to your elementary students. I think it’s one of the trickiest things for kids to grasp. However, teaching main idea and details is simple once you have a solid understanding of the literacy concept and a systematic approach to
I was so tired of hearing a collective groan from my students wshen it was time for writing. I thought there had to be simple solutions out there for how to motivate students to write. Where I saw the struggle, frustration, and dislike for writing emerge from my students was when
I often get asked for advice on creating a classroom library checkout system. Teachers invest a lot of their own personal time and money into accumulating books and setting up a class library. While they want those books in the hands of their students, they have just cause to be
The classroom library plays a very important role in elementary classrooms. There are so many different ways to organize it. It can feel daunting! Read below to get some helpful classroom library organization ideas to help you set up your classroom library in a way that truly works! 7 Classroom
Understanding a character’s words and actions will help to support a student’s overall comprehension of a text. Being able to visualize and summarize character traits are prerequisites to higher levels of comprehension, such as synthesizing information, making inferences, and forming opinions. This Charlotte’s Web packet will help to strengthen those
You likely already know that graphic organizers are great tools for improving reading comprehension and writing skills. However, you may not be as familiar with how they can be used as powerful evaluation tools. Using graphic organizer for assessment is one of the best ways to offer a differentiated assessment.
If you are an elementary teacher looking for tips and ideas for teaching genres to elementary students, you found the right place! As teachers, we want our students to read and experience a wide variety of literary genres and to fall in love with reading. Oftentimes, however, it is hard
