Rainbow annotating a text is a fantastic way to improve your student’s reading comprehension and retention during close reading. By marking up the pages with colorful notes, they can actively engage with the material and make it more meaningful to them. This is especially important […]

Many of us Super Teachers have had Word Walls in our classrooms for years and years now. I have had one since forever! However, I have never found the Word Wall to be truly interactive for my students. Have you? Of course, we practiced our […]

It’s that time of year again and as teachers we are torn between soaking up the last days of summer vacay and prepping our classrooms and resources for another school year!  Let it be a great one! To help you get your year off on […]

These last couple weeks of school are just flying by with all the hustle and bustle of our End of Year celebrations. I am so very proud of all that my firsties have accomplished this school year. The end of the year brings such a […]

It’s that time of year…. The end of the school year! 9 months ago, we all hoped it would fly by… …and here we are again… another school year under our belt! I hope yours was FABULOUS! We have so much to celebrate! Not that […]

Students read nonfiction to LEARN and to become experts on one topic of study. Most importantly, they celebrate what they have learned by sharing it with others. Students love to read nonfiction text almost as much as they love to learn about ocean life. However, […]

As primary teachers, we spend most of our time teaching our children to READ, and READ some more.  This is not always an easy task.  We take on this responsibility and are continuously searching for the right strategies and tools that will provide our young […]

Why not take your Word Work one step further? I have disguised Read to Self as a bit more… Word Work… and my firsties don’t seem to mind. Yours won’t either. It’s a Win-Win!  Read on! Read to Self Word Study Assignments In addition to […]

Now that you have your Word Study routines in place it is now time to consider how you will assess your students and evaluate their growth. I have some simple solutions for you! Assessing Each Sort At the end of each sort/unit I administer a […]

As part of our Daily 5 routine my students follow a “Must Do” and “Can Do” list.   In addition to my students’ Word Work during our Daily 5, one of their “Must Do” items is to Read to Self. During this time the children […]