Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?
The beginning of the year is a time best spent on teaching expectations and procedures to set the tone for the rest of the year. One of the expectations we work on is listening skills. Two books that I use to help are Listen Buddy by Helen Lester and Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow. Here are… Read More
When students do not know the difference between tattling and reporting, it can eat up instructional time and frustrate even the most experienced teacher. I like to spend a good chunk of time at the beginning of the year teaching and using examples to illustrate the difference. Today I want to share some ideas for using the book, A Bad… Read More
Even though Stuart Little was originally published many decades ago, this story of friendship, family, and adventure still captures the hearts of readers today! This story is a great read aloud for a second grade classroom, but third and fourth graders can tackle this book during reading groups. Today I’m here to share some Stuart Little activities you can… Read More
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson is one of my favorite read alouds to start the school year! Not only does this book provide teachable moments about friendship, but students relate to it and love the surprise ending. Here are some of my favorite activities and resources to pair with this book. About Enemy Pie It was the perfect summer. That… Read More
I think most teachers would prefer a world where all students were intrinsically motivated, but it just isn’t an every day reality. Many of us dig deep into our pockets and find extrinsic rewards to help change certain student behaviors. Guilty! Once I started adding up those little rewards, I knew there had to be a better way. I started… Read More
After receiving a request, two more measurement activities have been added to the Monster Measurement Madness pack. First up is a set of Monster Portraits. There are twelve monster cards. Each monster’s portrait gives a length and a width (obviously not drawn to size). Students must calculate the perimeter, or distance around the entire portrait and record the measurement. Here’s… Read More
