Family Literacy Night this year was a camping theme. We had a great turn out and it was a lot of fun! Our family nights revolve around literacy and math activities, parent information, and a
I promised a while back to post about our superfun Literacy Night. We had a good turnout and the families who came seemed to really enjoy t...
Candy Land Game Night! This was the theme of our recent Family Literacy Night. I think Game Night has been one of my favorite themes that we have done! The Candy Land colors were great
Back to school ideas to teach your students about sentences and their parts. This color-coded resource is perfect for K-1 literacy centers.
Last year, (yes, it's been a whole year and I haven't blogged about this yet - give me a break, I got married :) our reading theme was Supe...
Around the World - Themed Family Literacy Night "Make and Take" with activities, games, and more! Everything you could possibly need to get started is included to help you make an unforgettable night of fun and reading for your school community. Perfect for librarians, reading specialists, teachers, principals - anyone you might know who might plan a literacy night for a school setting. Included: Planning pages Ideas for stations, activities, snacks, etc. Bookmarks Parent brochures Volunteer Badges Animated GIFs for marketing your night E-mail templates Announcement Posters "Trail Guide" for Students on the night Themed banner letters Station Posters ✔️ Low prep! Just print and go for the printable activities. ✔️ Great for any school setting ✔️ Activities are perfect for involving families with their child's efforts at reading at home!
This past week we held our Family Literacy Night. This event is such a fun night for our families! It takes a lot of pre-planning and work to pull it off, but it is
It's Saturday morning and I am absolutely beat. I've fitted my tush into the grooves in the couch and already zoned out to two episodes of ...
A gigantic list of spirit day ideas including literacy spirit days!
A blog about reading and writing, and sharing ideas about literacy and RTI for your classroom/ reading, writing, & RTI resources
Tips and ideas for planning a successful literacy night for families that will be remembered.
I've got one more summarizing idea to share with you! Did you see my other posts about writing summaries HERE and HERE?
Download this FREE Help Your Child Learn to Read reading tips brochure for your students' parents to support their child in learning to read.
The ultimate goal of literacy is to help students become life-long readers, so they can be educated citizens. The child's first and most...
We learned that all motion is either caused by two kinds of force. Pushing or pulling. I set out clay and let them explore by using the forc...
A few weeks ago, I asked teachers on my FB page for topics of interest. I wrote all of the topics down and pinned them on my office's bulletin board. My bulletin board is my "go to" place when I need a topic for a blog post. Today's topic, vocabulary games, is courtesy of my FB readers. Here are a few games I found that you might like to try: This site has elementary and middle school games. Middle School Vocabulary Activities Elementary and middle school vocabulary game. My all around favorite site that had MANY activities including this one: Click to visit the site. It is great! This vocabulary packet is aligned with 1st - 3rd Common Core Standards. Click
Are you looking for engaging vocabulary activities? These 10 Fun Vocabulary Activities are sure to be a hit in your classroom.
Teach with a fun camping theme! Here is a neat selection of over 30 camping theme lesson plans, activities, free downloads and more. Whether you are setting up a year long classroom decor scheme or just a unit - these camping classroom activities will work.
The ultimate goal of literacy is to help students become life-long readers, so they can be educated citizens. The child's first and most...
Make letter sounds the focus of pretend play in this fun literacy activity that lets kids create imaginary alphabet soup with everyday items.
Fantastically fun literacy games so kids can enjoy learning about the alphabet, phonics, letter recognition, rhyming activities, sight words and more.
It's that time of year again when we think about pumpkins, spiders, and bats. Did you know that bats are really our friends? They actually...
Like most of you, this year I am dipping my toes in the waters of close reading. Our district provided a professional development for close reading last year, but I left it as a "2" on the Marzano learning scale. Yikes! How was I going to teach it?! I've been scouring education sites, blogs, and Pinterest for more information on close reading, as well as hunting down resources, and finally ventured into teaching it last week. I was completely honest with my class and explained that although I wasn't a "4" on the learning scale, I would do my best to teach what I understood about close reading. I had already taught annotation (using this awesome freebie!) and my kiddos are getting better at it - one of my gals even annotated her math word problem today, without being asked to! Impressive! But now it was time to dig deeper. Luckily, today I got an email from We are Teachers with two fantastic FREE resources that are totally going to help me better understand close reading, help me teach close reading, and support students as they become close readers. The first is a handy and quick close reading guide for teachers. The second freebie, a close reading guide specifically for students. As you can imagine, this was immediately printed and copied. These will be going straight into our reading workshop binders as convenient references. I especially love the "Make your case" and "Prove it!"tips. Thank you We are Teachers for these great resources! Ok friends, I'd love any and all advice/resources/links/etc. on close reading!
How to Create Audio QR Kids using Seesaw
Jenga game cards are easily my favorite way to teach and reinforce basic math fact, phonics, or grammar practice.
This year was the first year that I participated in our annual Family Literacy & Math Night, and I do have to say it was a great success! I have some
Learn how to easily integrate science into reading and writing with meaningful literacy-based activities to best help your students master science.
Fantastic free LEGO printables for science, math, STEM, and building challenges. These LEGO sheets are perfect for the classroom or home.
Last night I set my alarm for an ambitious 7:30am so I could get into school and work all day in my classroom.....I woke up at 10:00. Oi {my...
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Disney's The BFG. I received compensation in return for my agreement to blog on behalf of this program. All opinions are 100% mine. The
Somewhere along the way, data became a four-letter word. I’m sure it all started back when lawmakers became more focused on test scores and less on students…and High Stakes Testing became the only thing that only mattered… but somewhere along the way, data became a word that was like nails on a chalkboard for teachers. […]
It's pretty natural for parents to ask teachers about how to help their child with reading. The question might come in different forms,...
Ah, the great debate...HOMEWORK! It's Kim here from For a Love of Teaching, and before I continue I must explain a little bit about myself. I'm no longer a classroom teacher. This past summer I accepted the position of Technology Facilitator at my school. However, I taught 3rd & 4th grade for 14 years where I assigned homework on a regular basis. So, I do feel that some homework is essential in establishing self-discipline and independent study skills in students. Homework tends to be a love/hate relationship for teachers, parents, and students. Parents either hate homework and complain about it, or they love it and beg for more. In my school district, we have a homework policy that helps clarify general expectations for students, parents, and teachers. It explains the reasons teachers may assign homework. It gives "suggested" minimum amounts of time students should spend on homework, and it provides ways parents can support their child's learning environment at home. When I taught in the classroom I always tried to follow the time chart. As a parent, I know how limited time at home in the afternoon can be. I knew that assigning the right kind and right amount of homework was important. I knew that homework needed to be based on the application of concepts learned in the classroom. I also knew that it needed to be goal oriented with timely feedback provided for students. When I taught 4th grade, I required nightly reading and students recorded their reading on a reading log that was checked daily. Students were also given a spiral review of weekly math (Math 4 Today) to complete that was given to students on Friday and due the next Friday. It was also essential that 4th grade students master multiplication facts 0-12 in order for them to be successful in math. For the first semester of school, students were required to practice memorizing multiplication facts at home. All three assignments we're goal oriented with reading and math goal charts were kept at student's desks, in their binders, and/or displayed in the classroom. Timely feedback was provided and rewards were given for successful completion at the end. As a teacher, I strongly believe that the love for reading starts early. I ALWAYS required nightly reading at home even when I gave breaks with weekly math homework. I encouraged it over holidays and highly recommended it during the summer months when our students were not in school. I always sent home this visual as a reminder to parents about how important reading is at home. You can download it for FREE in my store! I think the biggest issue with homework is that some teachers don't think about the objective of the homework assignment before giving it to students. I've seen this happen time and time again with my own children. I think, as teachers, we have to ask ourselves: 1) Is it meaningful? 2) Can it be completed independently? 3) Is it the right amount? How long will it take to complete? 4) Is it based on concepts learned in the classroom? 5) Is it manageable for the teacher and student? How do you feel about homework? Do you give it? If so, how much? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Happy Saturday Friends! Today is officially my first day of Spring Break! I wanted to share something I did with my students to motiv...
How do I know it's back to school time? My plants are dead. All of my plants that I grew so lovingly in the spring, watered all ...
37 fun language arts games and activities to teach kids in kingergarten through middle school the fundamentals of language and literature!
