I wanted to share today about a twenty minute lesson I did that was super effective--and reviewed two key writing skills we worked on earlier this year. These are: 1. I can combine two sentences into one improved sentence. 2. I can add details to simple sentences to make them more interesting and descriptive. Improving and Combining Sentences to Improve Our Writing We are starting ... Read the Post
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Meaningful Activities for the End of the School Year
As we move toward the end of the school year, sometimes it's hard to keep focused on the important work we do! I know lots of teachers do end-of-year countdowns and so on...but to be honest, I am a pretty big fan of teaching to the end--but I'm not a fool! I like to incorporate engaging activities where students might not even realize they are working hard and applying everything they ... Read the Post
Using Math Sorts to Improve Instruction
I've been getting so many questions about how I use my math concept sorts in my class, so I thought I'd make it easy by sharing some of my thoughts with you here. "How do you work these sorts into your planning and curriculum?" That's easy...I use them in a few main ways. 1. As a full class warm up BEFORE teaching a skill. This helps me see what they know and what they ... Read the Post
Responding to Reading Prompts: Gradual Release Model
I often hear teachers stressing out about how they can get everything they need ready for all their book groups, standards-based grading, and so on. Sometimes I think we work WAY too hard--and I always work to try to do best quality instruction without driving myself into the ground. The easiest way I do this is that I have a bank of resources ready to go--and I use the gradual ... Read the Post
Spring Bulletin Board Project: Writing, Culture Building, Creativity
Every year I try to break us out of our long Wisconsin winters by taking an hour or so of class time to create a spring bulletin board that brightens our spirits! Today I thought I'd share a little bit about what we do--and why we do it! I so often hear people say, "We don't have time for cute projects anymore." I certainly agree that I do LESS than I used to--but I ... Read the Post
Helping Students Fall In Love With Books: A Reading Intervention
One group of students who I think we often ignore is those students who are solid readers, are compliant--but aren't "engaged readers". We know that students learn to read by READING, so if they aren't reading at home and aren't challenging themselves at school, their progress will be impacted. Getting Students Talking About Books This is exactly what I have been going through with one ... Read the Post
Reading interventions, “Ready Freddy”, and chapter book strategies!
Fourth grade reading is tough. Many students have "unlocked" the key to reading...they can read most of the words and can track ever-increasing storylines. As teachers, we can provide countless texts for them, coach them, model for them, and know that they will continue to become more sophisticated as readers. Unfortunately, there are still some students who haven't made this jump. It ... Read the Post
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