Let's face it. Teaching vocabulary can be just plain redundent and boring unless you have a deep repertoire of teaching options. As teachers, we have to mix things up and keep learning fresh and fun. But how?? Certainly, it's not by having kids look up definitions in the dictionary, so let's ...
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Developing a Concept of Word in Emergent Readers
At this time of year in kindergarten, teachers begin to see students develop a concept of word and move on the reading continuum. One of the biggest changes we see kindergarten is this transformation from non-reader to reader. Today, I'm going to share a review of how concept of word develops and ...
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Using Twas the Night Before Christmas as a Mentor Text
There are many different versions of the tale, Twas the Night Before Christmas. Since I'm a huge Jan Brett fan, I thought I'd share her version of this story and a few things you can do with it.
Compare and Contrast
So did you know there are nearly 20 pages of books listed with this title! There was ...
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Two Must Have Books For Teaching Perseverance
Kids struggle with things all the time. Pushing through when things are tough doesn't come easy to kids who struggle. It takes practice. In this post, I'll share books that help build perseverance.
Thank You Mr. Falker:
The first choice for me is Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. In fact, I ...
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Celebrate the Holidays with Gingerbread Fun
One of the nicest ways to include every child in your classroom is with thematic teaching. I love the warm smell of gingerbread and making gingerbread houses has been a tradition for many years. Each year when I taught in the regular classroom, we enjoyed decorating candy houses and taking them to ...
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How to Teach Characterization in Less Time!
I love a good book with a great character. Don't you? Characters can grab kids' attention, help them connect to the story, and even make kids laugh. Some of my favorite books are my favorites because of the memorable characters. Have you read the Jamie O'Rourke or Strega Nona books by Tomie dePaola? ...
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