Category: Teaching Tips
The Power of Daily Routines in Reading Classrooms
Having a daily routine can be beneficial for elementary students in many ways. For example, incorporating a daily independent reading routine can help build reading stamina that helps students persevere through complex texts. Experts agree that 10 to 30 minutes of reading every day, depending on age, exposes children to millions of words and helps…
120 Minute Literacy Block Schedule
The sample 120 minute literacy block schedule below is designed to help teachers, literacy coaches, and school leaders plan for effective literacy block time management. The two literacy block schedules below are for Grades 2-3 and Grades 4-5. If you’d like to see a full set of literacy block schedules, you can learn about them…
Pins for Reading Teachers
We made these Pins for you, so you can pin, share, and spread good ideas for reading instruction. But we know there are some Negative Nellies out there… If a principal tells you, “Pinterest is not the place to get ideas,” then they’ve totally misunderstood the value of collaboration! Pinterest is the online equivalent of…
Guided Reading Resources
Without the right guided reading resources, it can be a headache. Heck, even with the right guided reading resources it can be overwhelming! But it doesn’t have to be. It can be simple, easy to plan for, and effective to execute. That’s why we’re excited to share these guided reading resources with you! The video…
Best Main Idea (Animated Reading Comprehension)
When we say animated reading comprehension, we’re not talking about cartoons or watching YouTube. We are talking about an animated text that: drives fluency, builds schema, sets a purpose for reading, and scaffolds reading comprehension. The activity Best Main Idea is an example of animated reading comprehension, and in this post, you’ll find a few tips…
Literacy Block Schedules
Literacy block schedules are critical, and as a reading teacher, you know that better than anyone! With all the strands of literacy and reading skills that must be addressed, even a good literacy block schedule struggles to fit it all in! That’s why we’re sharing these literacy block schedules with you to use in your…
Scaffolding Students During Open-Ended Questions
This is the second post for scaffolding students during open-ended questions. And you can read part 1 here: 3 Ways to Use Open-Ended Questions. You know very well that scaffolding is not about giving students answers. But what is it? How can it be done in ways that promote thinking and comprehension? Scaffolding is coaching…
Open-Ended Questions: 3 Ways to Get Results
Open-Ended Questions: 3 Ways to Get Results is part 1 in a three-part series on Open-Ended Questions. You can read part 2 here: Scaffolding Students in Open-Ended Questions. In the reading comprehension warm-ups, you’ll find a variety of tasks, and one of the most beneficial tasks for learning is open-ended questions. In this post, I’ll…
Four Schedules for Literacy Block
In addition to our free word study warm-ups and our ever-growing bank of comprehension warm-ups, I wanted to give you four ways you can plan a daily spiral review into your literacy block. These schedules will help you whether you have 45 minutes or 2 hours to plan for literacy block. But first, a word…
Scaffolding the Word Sorts (Spelling 1 Tutorial #3)
Scaffolding the Word Sorts (Spelling 1 Tutorial) If you’re moving into the spelling units, you will find a very challenging activity: timed and open word sorts. These word work activities show in the days marked as “spiral review”. Here’s what you need to know to help your students. Challenges in the Spiral Reviews The timed…
Spelling Warm-Ups with Taps and Claps
Spelling Warm-Ups Activity: Taps and ClapsIntegrate multi-modal learning easily with this challenging spelling warm-ups activity.Taps and Claps is a multi-modal spelling activity that boosts spelling and reading fluency. The spelling warm-ups in our Spelling 1 unit are the easiest way to have total active participation and multi-sensory spelling instruction! Don’t believe me? Curious? Passionate about helping your…
8 Ways to Use Word Study to Support Reading Comprehension
Word study kills reading comprehension. Plain and simple. But there are ways to use word study to save reading comprehension…and that’s what I’m going to show you in this post. Plus there are a few teaching bonuses along the way! If you teach in upper elementary or middle school, you know you don’t have time…
