Hey Reader, I have been meeting my students this week - you too? September is here, and if your classroom is anything like mine, there’s a LOT happening right now! Amidst all of the back-to-school frenzy, one thing can be easy - word work. Teach this routine once, and practice essential word skills all year long - sight words/heart words, vocabulary, spelling words.... Color by Code is a simple way to turn word-work practice into something students can do with minimal teacher direction. And...
20 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Last week in Tuesday Tips, I shared a simple prompt I use when I want students to take their thinking a little deeper: “Say more about that.” I especially love this strategy during science discussions. For example: Teacher: If an ice cube melts, does it still weigh the same? Student: Yes, the liquid weighs the same as the ice cube. Teacher: Say more about that. Of course, that answer is correct, but if you follow up, you might learn whether the student understands conservation of...
23 days ago • 1 min read
One final reminder, Reader. Over the month of August you have been helping me know what you need so that I can send you tips and resources that are useful. Your inbox is a precious place, and I want to be helpful! And tomorrow I will draw the name of one lucky winner for a $25 gift certficate to Amazon for one of you. Here is your final chance to enter. Just click the answer and you will be automatically entered in the drawing! What is your favorite subject to teach? Primary ELA Primary Math...
27 days ago • 1 min read
Hey, Reader, The beginning of the year is such an important time for setting expectations. But sometimes, especially in kindergarten, it feels like herding cats. Kids come in with the expectation that you will hop up to meet their every need in the moment they want it. "Teacher, teacher!" Ugh. That just hurts my ears. Which is why I focus on preventing that problem as soon as school begins. The Key is Ignorance - Yours! When a student starts shouting and waving their arm wildly, it is so...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey, Reader, I like to start the year by setting expectations, and I imagine that you do too. As I am building routines and procedures, I also want to communicate that this is a classroom of thinkers. Here’s one of my favorite ways to get students to push their thinking a little further. A student answers a question during a math discussion. “I think the answer is 3/4 because…” Or during a discussion about a text: “I think the character was angry because she felt left out.” If I want that...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Happy August, Reader, I am busy setting up for kindergarten this year, and I have been helping my teacher bestie set up her upper grade classroom too. Which got me thinking about what is most useful in those very different situations. That's why I am sending out TWO free resources today - one for primary teachers and one for intermediate. If you teach primary.... I have a free Editable Color by Code resource for you! I was frustrated with other resources that were not editable, and did not...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Are you back, yet? We start soon, so I went in to set up my classroom yesterday. Phew! That is always a day that is equally exciting and exhausting! My June self was not kind to my August self..... As I was setting up the Imagination Station, putting out the blocks, and organizing my reading corner, I naturally started thinking about all the things I'd like to add to my classroom. Are you shopping for the classroom right now, too? It is always so expensive, and this year feels...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, I love August. Out of all the months, it feels like the one with the most promise and possibility. Who knows what the year will bring? I just don't love setting up my classroom. I've been doing that this week, and all that possibility can get expensive. So, I decided to choose five of my favorite intermediate back-to-school resources and put them on sale for only $1.00. These are the resources other teachers are grabbing right now, and I hope they will become favorites in your...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, My first teaching job was in a small school with predominantly Spanish speaking students. Since I am bilingual, the district assumed I would be able to teach them English. Boy, were they wrong! I had no idea what I was doing. I had lots of enthusiasm...and very few strategies. So I started to learn, and read and try things in my classroom. And then I got a new job, where all the students were native English speakers. But that didn't mean that they had strong vocabularies. So, I...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read