When I was in the classroom, I organized my writing instruction into units of study. Focusing on one unit at a time helps students become better writers. Rather than skipping around from topic to topic, students get to dig into one genre for eight weeks. This helps them truly master the skills and strategies of each genre. You can read more about ... Continue Reading
Finally, a Fact Fluency Program that Will Make Your Kids Love Math
You know that fact fluency is important. Fact fluency is the ability to recall the answers to math facts quickly and accurately without thinking about the problem. It typically occurs after repeated practice when facts are committed to long-term memory. To be considered fluent, students should be able to solve math facts without counting on ... Continue Reading
5 Things You Can Stop Doing Right Now and Still Be a Great Teacher
Teachers have a lot on their plates. Lesson planning, grading, communication with families, paperwork, committees, meetings . . . And you feel like you have to "do it all" if you want to be a great teacher. There’s a common myth that teachers must work around the clock. And that there's never enough time to finish your to-do list, much less take ... Continue Reading
4 Simple Ways to Make Grammar More Fun
What is your least favorite subject to teach? If you’re like most teachers, it’s probably grammar. No matter what you do, it’s hard to get your students excited about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. And what even is a dangling preposition? There are so many rules to memorize. And don’t get me started on the exceptions to the rules. You know the ... Continue Reading
5 Math Mini Lesson Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
Math workshop is my favorite way to teach math because it makes differentiation easy and keeps kids engaged. Math workshop has four components: the math mini lesson, student centers, small group instruction, and sharing time. Today we are going to take a closer look at mini lessons. You can read more about math workshop here. The mini ... Continue Reading
Simple Tips to Plan a Fun and Engaging ELA Schedule
One of the most difficult tasks of any new year school year is planning your classroom schedule. Creating a schedule that fits all the core subjects, specials, push-ins and pull-outs, school initiatives (like character education), lunch, and recess, and still has a little bit of flex time built in for fun activities, classroom birthdays, and things ... Continue Reading
Our Third Grade Math Curriculum is Here (and You’re Going to Love it!)
This is a super-exciting post for me to write! For years, you have been asking me for a math curriculum. And for years I’ve been smiling, nodding my head, and saying, “Mmmhmm. That’s an interesting idea. My team and I will take it under advisement.” Internally, I wasn’t really considering it though. I was stuck in a silent debate with myself. ... Continue Reading
3 Reasons You and Your Students Will Love Math Workshop
The start of a new school year is a great time to change things up in the classroom. But you don't want to change things just to change them. Rather, you want to make changes that will contribute to effective learning and help keep students engaged. Not only does it make school more fun, but it also cuts down on behavior problems. One great change ... Continue Reading
Top 40 Must-Haves For the Classroom
I’ve always been a sucker for Top 40 lists. It probably dates back to my days listening to Casey Kasem and the “American Top 40” countdown on the radio. I was always so excited to see what the most popular song was each week. Now that I’m celebrating my fortieth birthday, it seemed like a good time to create a Top 40 of my own. I know ... Continue Reading
Planning Your Best Back to School Ever!
I know that some of you on the east coast are just settling into summer vacation. I hope you enjoy every minute. But believe it or not, many teachers in the western U.S. are already planning for back to school. Here in Arizona, we start school later this month!?! Back to school season brings up a range of emotions: happiness, excitement, ... Continue Reading
Grab these FREE 60 writing prompts for grades 2-5.