How to Quickly Assess if Students Understand a Math Skill
In this age of testing, you’re probably thinking, oh great, more math assessments. But hear me out. When you’re trying to find out if a kid knows a math skill, it doesn’t have to be…
Helping Kids Read Independently so They Don’t Interrupt Literacy Small Groups
Don’t want to do a lot of prep for things you want kids to do during reading small groups? Assign one thing. To read. That’s it. Sometimes they can do an independent reading task that…
Easy Things to Assign For Substitute Teacher Lesson Plans
One of the reasons it’s difficult to take days off as a teacher is because of the time it takes to come up with sub plans. Planning for a substitute means you need to have…
Exploring Reading Genres so Kids Will Fall in Love with Books
Part of falling in love with books is finding the kinds of books you'd like to read. I personally go through genre phases, and I'm currently on a romantic comedy kick. But I also like…
How to Get Kids to Read Independently
Let's talk about how to get kids to do real independent reading. Independent reading is an important part of the literacy block. Kids need time to read on their own so they can apply the…
Start the School Year By Teaching Multisyllabic Words
Let's talk about starting the school year by teaching multisyllabic words in the upper grades. When I say upper grades, I'm including third grade, because sometimes it's that weird year where it's not primary, but…
How to Create Math Kits to Organize and Store Your Math Manipulatives and Tools
Let's talk about how to create math kits as a way to organize and store your math manipulatives and tools. Individual math kits are a great way to store and organize those manipulatives or tools…
How to Make Meet the Teacher Simple and Enjoyable
Meet the Teacher (night or day), whichever your school organizes, is something that can make back to school hectic. And it can be stressful, not just for the teachers. But for families as well. It…
3 Things to Do the First Week of School
The first week of school is exciting but it can also be stressful and challenging. Before rushing into the curriculum, here are three things that you should do that first week of school to set…
3 End of the School Year Activities That Will Keep Kids Engaged
It can be difficult to keep kids engaged at the end of the school year. Most of the required skills have been taught for the year. So now what? Here are some ideas for keeping…