Are you ready for FALL? Fall is by far my favorite season! Seriously… how can you go wrong with pumpkin picking, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin-smelling candles, and pumpkin pie? All. Wonderful. Things. I love pumpkin (can you tell?), but most of all, I love the changing leaves and the smell of autumn. Fall is in the air, and I can’t wait… View Post
With my small group pull-out sessions limited to half-hour increments, I’m always looking for quick, engaging reading and writing activities to reinforce literacy skills. I used to think dice games were only for teaching math and probability, but I’m starting to discover that there are ENDLESS possibilities for using dice with literacy. Are you looking for a few ideas? Well…… View Post
Author Studies are fun, engaging activities for students of all ages. They are perfect for reinforcing research skills and allowing students to discover new authors and books! Just think… wouldn’t this be the perfect end-of-the-year project to kick-off summer reading?! Each student could share book reviews or author book lists for their peers to take-home and use when picking out… View Post
How are you doing with teaching non-fiction, informational texts? Do you feel you have a good grasp on expository text structures? With the Common Core ELA standards, students are expected to be proficient in reading complex informational texts. State assessments are also becoming more non-fiction focused, to evaluate student abilities in navigating these complex texts. So what can we do… View Post
Break up the mid-winter slump and bring a Fluency Boot Camp into your classroom! What is a Fluency Boot Camp? No… you will not be shipping your students off (sorry), nor will students have to march around the room (your choice), but I can guarantee that your students’ brains will be sweating as they participate in the classroom fluency camp… View Post
