"I didn't do my reading homework last night," one of my second-grade students said to me, sheepishly. Before I jumped to conclusions, I decided to probe for more details. "I don't have any books at home." Well. That's a pretty legit reason. I had been asking my students to read every night and … [Read more...] about Take Home Book Bags – The What and Why
Reading
Building a Community of Readers
As a child, my friends and I would talk about the books that we were reading while we ate our PB&J at the lunch table and on the bumpy bus rides home. Something tells me I wasn't your typical kid though. So, how do we get our students to discuss books? To share their favorites? To reveal why … [Read more...] about Building a Community of Readers
A Teacher’s Summer
What does a teacher's summer look like? Many use this time to become better teachers! Crazy, right? Here are some of my plans for these warm months. 1. Read! Kids Books Summer is a great time for me to get a jump start on chapter books that my 5th graders might be interested in during the … [Read more...] about A Teacher’s Summer
Poetry Notebooks
Poetry is a wonderful way for students to build fluency and accuracy while reading. I was a little upset when they pulled it out of our second grade curriculum. I knew I wanted to incorporate it into our classroom, even if I wasn't explicitly teaching it to my students. I decided to have my … [Read more...] about Poetry Notebooks
The Westing Game
Many of my fondest memories of elementary school occurred in my fifth grade classroom. Not only did my teacher constantly expect our best effort, but she made learning fun. When I was moved to fifth grade a few years ago, my goal was to emulate her teaching strategies. Not a day goes by where I … [Read more...] about The Westing Game
Flat Stanley goes on an Adventure!
Have you ever gone on an adventure with Flat Stanley?? It was one of my students' favorite activities in second grade! We would read the original novel by Jeff Brown (there's a whole series) together. It is a wonderful story about a a young boy who is flattened (but unharmed) by a … [Read more...] about Flat Stanley goes on an Adventure!