Five Ideas for Read Across America Week
Read Across America Week is coming up! Beginning in 2019, the NEA decided to end its licensing agreement with Seuss Enterprises and focus on diversity. Read Across America Week is a wonderful time to run with this theme and introduce your learners to a wide range of diverse authors and books. I love Read Across America Week because it presents the opportunity to incorporate a ton of cross-curricular activities that
How to Implement Strategy Groups Successfully
Small-group instruction is a highly effective way to close reading gaps with students once they get their arms around the foundations of reading. Strategy groups are small groups of students (4-6) who have gaps with a particular skill or strategy. Students in these groups are often reading at different levels, so it’s important to have a solid plan. In this post, I share ideas about how to successfully implement strategy
Four Amazing Valentine’s Day Teaching Ideas
Valentine’s Day is one of the most exciting holidays for elementary-aged students. Who doesn’t love all of the thoughtful cards and delicious sweets? Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to harness this excitement and do a variety of meaningful and exciting activities. Here are my top four Valentine’s Day teaching ideas and resources. Valentine’s Day Teaching Idea #1: Virtual Field Trip to Rome Take your students to Rome to learn
Four Ideas for Teaching About Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is one of those fun holidays that teachers can easily create engaging cross-curricular lessons around to make a fun day of learning. Here are four ideas for teaching about Groundhog Day and incorporating Groundhog Day into your lessons on February 2nd. 1. Take a Virtual Field Trip to Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania for Groundhog Day What could be a better way to introduce your students to this celebration when you
Embrace Black History Month in the Classroom
Why Should I Embrace Black History Month in My Classroom? Incorporating Black History Month into the classroom can be a controversial topic. Some teachers believe that a specific focus on a minority culture is unnecessary because diversity should be incorporated throughout the year. Others, whether intentionally or unintentionally, choose to avoid incorporating diversity altogether. In this post, I talk about my own journey to understanding the importance of incorporating Black
How to Teach Theme in Elementary School
Analyzing the theme of a story is a higher-level skill that requires critical thinking. The theme of a story is the lesson or message we can learn and apply to our own lives. Typically, themes are not stated explicitly. Readers have to analyze how the character responds to the plot events to determine what the character learned. Readers then generalize this lesson to determine how they can apply it to
How to Teach Character Development
Analyzing characters is a key reading literature skill that will help your students develop a love for literature. When we learn to analyze characters, we are learning to understand others’ experiences and to relate better to the characters we read about. Here are some tips for how to teach your students about character analysis and character development. Learn to Identify Character Traits This is a tricky concept for many students.
Pre Holiday Break Activities to Keep Your Students Engaged and Learning
The holiday season is a time of extreme excitement. The weeks leading up to holiday break are always a struggle for teachers. Kids have trouble focusing and are full of energy. The best thing you can do is use your students’ energy in a positive way by incorporating more engaging, collaborative, and cross-curricular activities into your day. Here are my top 5 engaging pre-holiday break activities. Take a Virtual Field
Read Alouds for Teaching Holidays Around the World
The winter holiday season is a great time to incorporate social studies concepts by exploring culture and diversity around the world. Read-alouds incorporating different holidays around the world are perfect for developing a sense of inclusion and diversity while exploring various cultures.
How to Incorporate Diversity into the Holiday Season with Holidays Around the World
Here are some ideas and resources for incorporating diversity into the holiday season with holidays around the world.
