By the end of second grade, most of your students have hopefully built a strong foundation in phonics. They’ve worked through open and closed syllables, silent e words, and vowel teams just to name a…
Practicing multisyllabic words can feel dry if the kids aren’t engaged. And when it feels boring, they usually won’t put in their best effort. With simple, engaging activities, you can give students plenty of multisyllabic…
If you’ve ever listened to a student read aloud and try to decode a multisyllabic word, you recognize the pause, the sigh, and then either a wild guess or a skip. It’s not that they…
One of the biggest challenges at the start of the year is figuring out how to get every student engaged with reading. Especially when some of them claim they don’t like to read. That’s why…
The first weeks of school are packed with routines, relationship-building, and getting your class settled. But they’re also a great time to start laying the foundation for purposeful vocabulary instruction. Instead of waiting for things…
It’s May. You’re tired. Your students are tired. The days are longer, the routines are looser, and no matter how great your lesson plans are, it feels like everyone is checked out for summer. The…
Even the best students get testing anxiety. They want to do well, so they get in their own heads whenever they have to take a test. This is one reason why state-mandated tests aren’t a…
I cannot stand when I hear of teachers being forced to use a curriculum from front to back, as is. Because if you’re like me, you’ve used curriculum that feels rigid or overwhelming, or just…
The start of the school year can be filled with excitement, nerves, and endless to-do lists. To set the tone for a great year ahead, here are five things you should do during back-to-school season. …
When kids are reading, it's not just about reciting words. It's about understanding how those words come together to create meaning. For our readers, comprehending the structure of a sentence is a crucial skill that…