There are SO many special events and holidays to celebrate during the month of February, but make sure that you don't miss the opportunity to share the magic of picture and chapter book read aloud experiences with your students on World Read Aloud Day ! The first Wednesday of February is designated as World Read Aloud Day by Lit World , a global organization dedicated to sharing books aloud with children at home and in classrooms around the world and promoting it as the best instructional practice for developing lifelong learners.   An engaging book, a dynamic reader, and an attentive group of listeners forges a path to understanding the world, developing vocabulary, exploring new ideas, and building empathy for others through the language of stories.  Listening to your rhythm and cadence as you read aloud, laughing at your different character voices, stopping to make predictions about what will happen next, and discussing the story plot all contribute to making read alo......

Hello Friends! It's been a few months since I last wrote here, what with my daughter's wedding, my family's Christmas holiday, spending time with my grandson, and preparing for the February arrival of his baby sister!   Life has been busy, but today I really need to write about the importance of KINDNESS and share some favorite picture books to help you promote caring in your classroom and throughout your community....

Make Building Compound Word Knowledge A Team Effort! If you've been following me for a while, you know that I made a major career shift last fall.  Even though I had retired from my district elementary teaching position after 33 years of service, I started working in a part-time middle school academic tutor position.  Three days a week I did my best to help at-risk 7th and 8th grade readers improve their skills and confidence.  At first, I was at a loss as to how to earn their trust and convince them to use our time together wisely, but using learning games to grab their interest and "make it fun" proved to be the key!...

SEASONAL BOOK REVIEWS  YOUR STUDENTS WILL LOVE Way back when I was teaching first grade, I always included one or two "book commercials" in our opening and closing class circle times.  These were short previews of new stories that I had added to our classroom library book bins that included a peek at one of my favorite illustrations, a summary of the plot, and a description of my favorite character.  My purpose in conducting these "book commercials" was to build excitement and interest in my young readers, and encourage them to try new genres or types of books. Once I had modeled the practice, I would ask for volunteers to come up to our "share chair" to talk about the books they were reading and tell the rest of the group if they should read them too. ...

5 Word Morphology Activities for  Primary Grade Students Incorporating word morphology lessons into your literacy instruction is guaranteed to increase student engagement, build their vocabulary, boost understanding of word meaning, and improve decoding skills!  The materials and lessons featured in this post were developed for one of my annual observation lessons with my second graders, and have stood the test of time and tweaking over the years!  I promise you that they are kid-tested and teacher approved!...

Greetings! If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that combining songs with stories is at the heart of the lessons I plan for  my students and the resources I create!   Integrating music into literacy instruction helps build phonemic awareness and reading fluency skills in all ages of readers! It is also loads of FUN! ...

Hello Friends! Welcome to our blog hop featuring... WINTER MENTOR TEXTS FOR THE CONTENT AREAS   Using mentor texts to teach important content area skills just got a whole lot easier for you!  Ten educator-authors from The Reading Crew are excited to bring you ideas, resources, and freebies that will help you integrate literacy into your Science, Math, and Social Studies lessons!  We understand that teaching is really hard right now, and hope to make your job easier in the days ahead! If you study the effect of weather on nature in your classroom, then this blog post is just what you need to help your primary grade students understand how different animals hibernate, adapt , or migrate during the winter months!  I just love using picture books to teach important, scientific, content area vocabulary, and I hope you will too!...

Hey there long lost friends and followers! It has been MANY months since I made the time to write and share here, and in honor of the EIGHTH anniversary of this blog space and my TpT shop I am dropping in to promise that I am going to do better in the months ahead. It has honestly been three of the most difficult months in my 30-year educational career, and in keeping with my current mantra of self-care and personal happiness first  I have renewed my vow of spending more time in my creative happy place! The picture above was snapped by my friend Kelly Harvill from Speaking of Images this summer.  It was an impromptu moment on a morning that my daughter and I were hanging out with some of our best teacherpreneur friends.  The joy and spontaneity captured in this photo has sadly dissipated a bit due to the weight and the work of this school year so far, and I desperately need to change that. And so, I will begin with a SALE to show my appreciation for YOU.....the fellow ed......

Hello Friends! While my reading intervention classroom will be in a new space with a new decor theme this year, the materials I use to help my striving readers develop confidence and fluency while having fun will not change! USE POETRY TO ENGAGE READERS AND BUILD FLUENCY SKILLS Thematic original poems and songs that piggyback off of familiar folk tunes are two of my favorite types of texts to use with my students during any time of the school year.  They are short, rhymed, rhythmic, and repetitive.  They are also full of sight words and a variety of vowel patterns!  In short, they help us practice a variety of important reading skills while having fun! This resource that I created exclusively for this blog hop sponsored by The Reading Crew features four poems about one of my favorite subjects......GNOMES!  They are formatted into a  mini-booklet with coloring pages that your students will love reading over and over again in a large group, small group, with a par......

This blog post was previously published over at Minds in Bloom as a guest feature about five years ago.  It is no longer active on the site, so I thought I would re-share it here!  It highlights one of my favorite lessons that integrates S.T.E.A.M. and literacy learning!  Enjoy! CASTLES UNDER CONSTRUCTION:   FULL  S.T.E.A.M.  AHEAD! ...

Welcome to the Winter Mentor Text Blog Hop! I am so glad you are here to gather great literacy lesson plans and fabulous free resources as you read through the variety of winter mentor text posts.  The posts in this link-up were written by some of my favorite teacher-authors from The Reading Crew . In this post, I will be sharing ideas about how to use Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett to teach theme. This Caldecott Honor book is simply and beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen.  It tells the story of how one little girl and her thoughtful, generous actions change the landscape and disposition of her entire town.  Annabelle is the main character in Extra Yarn , and the quietly powerful story of how she shares her talent of knitting with others is a great springboard for classroom discussions about the themes of kindness and the importance of doing good deeds for others. TEACHING THEME WITH EXTRA YARN...

My love for poetry is no secret in my classroom, and my students know that I will always find time to rhyme during our reading lessons. Reading poetry aloud builds student phonemic awareness and rhyming skills by helping them hear the repetitive, familiar vowel sound patterns. It also builds their syllabication skills by allowing them to hear the rhythm and pattern of the poetry sentences or stanzas. Reading fluency and accuracy improves every time they re-read a poem either with the whole class, in a small group, with a partner, or at home for practice with a family member. This post will guide you on how to host weekly poetry studies in your classroom, and provide mentor texts, ideas, and additional resources to help you do it well!...

RING IN 2021 WITH   DOLLAR DEALS AND STORE SALE! Hello Friends! It is time to bid goodbye to the old and ring in the new with a Teachers Pay Teachers Dollar Deal Sale sponsored by Shelly Rhees and her Focused TpT Sellers group!  Cheers to helping you purchase what you need for the months ahead!...

Greetings Friends! This short and sweet blog post is to make sure you know about the upcoming TpT Cyber Sale 2020! This Monday, November 30th and Tuesday, Dec. 1st, you can save 25% on all resources!  Make sure you use the promo code CYBER20 at checkout!...

Welcome! It is the end of my remote teaching day, and I am coming up for air to make sure you know about the upcoming TpT sitewide sale in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week 2020!   ...

Every  porcine wonder was a piglet. Most begin and spend most of their life in a barn on a farm in the mud eating slops from a trough. Except for one.   She was destined for a not-so-ordinary life.   A life lived with a lovely couple in a cozy house in a quaint neighborhood with unlimited access to hot buttered toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. ...

HAPPY SPRING! Welcome to the  Spring Blooming Readers Linky! This blog hop features creative posts and  resource freebies from members of  The Reading Crew   !   We have collaborated this month to bring you some of our best literacy tips for your  teaching your favorite skills. ...

Comparing and contrasting across texts is an important skill for our students. In this post, you'll find ideas for teaching compare and contrast using the book, Tops and Bottoms . I just love this tale, and my students do too. It's the perfect mentor text. ...

"Soup is good food," my friends.... For me, it brings warmth, comfort, and flashbacks to many childhood meals. Bean soup with corn muffins made by my mother.  Pasta Fagioli with lots of parmesan cheese on top made by my grandmother. Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches made by my father.   Soup is easy to make.   Soup smells delicious and triggers happy memories. Soup soothes a stressed soul, a crowded mind, and a tired body.   Soup can be shared by many. As the Campbell's commercial used to remind us.... "Soup is "Mmm!  Mmm!  Good!" For these reasons and more, soup makes a great staff luncheon choice when your colleagues need a big  morale boost!  Read on to find fun ideas on how to host one! ...

Greetings of the season my friends! This post is an updated one that I actually wrote four years ago in December as the sun rose over Bonita Beach in southwest Florida.....a place that my own family has called "home" for the holidays for eighteen years now. Many of my siblings wake up slowly each morning when we gather there, warming their hands around a mug of coffee or cocoa, with books open on their laps.  We were fortunate to be "raised as readers" by our Mom and Dad, and I am here today to share a creative way to help other teachers and parents encourage children to make time to honor and enjoy reading magic at home! Today's idea was inspired by a unique Nordic picture book and an Icelandic tradition that I recently learned about!  I hope that you'll find that it is an easy one to adapt for use at home during this holiday, and then implement in your classroom either before or after your winter break! HOW TO HOST A BOOK FLOOD! ...