Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?
It’s October and Halloween is probably on the minds of most of your students. Your students are starting to get comfortable and their true personalities are emerging. Combine these two and it’s time to grab your copy of Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall and share it with your students! Here are some of my favorite activities to use with this… Read More
Do you dread reading some of the writing pieces your students have written because each and every sentence starts the same way? Do you find yourself reading something like this: “Then Sam and Jane walked slowly over to the door. Then Sam reached out for the doorknob. Then as Sam twisted the knob, the door started creaking. Then Sam and… Read More
I like to do a mini monster unit before the Halloween craze begins! One of my favorite stories to read is I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll. Today I want to share some of my favorite activities to use with this story. If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about a boy named Ethan who has a monster named Gabe…. Read More
I have been asked to share some of the ways I organize my weekly spelling practice. I prefer to incorporate spelling practice into our Word Work rotation during our Daily 5 block (you can read more about our weekly routine here). In order to do this, things need to be organized so the students can access and use the materials independently…. Read More
Mr. Popper’s Penguins was written decades ago, but the story still captures the hearts of readers today. If you aren’t familiar, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is about a house painter who reads and daydreams about the polar regions in his spare time. One day he receives a penguin at his home. What follows is an adventure with a group of very… Read More
Years ago our school was using Everyday Math. One of our routines was Name Collection Boxes. If you aren’t familiar, this is an opportunity for students to represent and read numbers in different ways. I had a group of second graders who struggled with number sense, so I used this number names game to help during our intervention block. NUMBER… Read More
