There were eight of us gathered together early Wednesday morning: 8th grade teachers of History, English, PE, Math, Science, Spanish, a para educator and a counselor. Our task? Analyzing data from last year’s SBAC scores. To three in the group, this was an impossible task. Immediately the environment became toxic. “Maybe you like data, Jennifer, […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies
Carpet Time For Young Learners
In my multi-level, elementary classroom carpet time is one of the most important times of our day. Carpet time allows me to see my kids demonstrate whatever concepts we are working on and allows positive learning interaction between my students. I design my carpet time around language arts and math. My language arts concentration is […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Read Alouds – Not Just For Young Kids
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][bctt tweet=”Reading aloud is still an important part of language arts for older students as well as younger ones. “]Reading aloud to upper elementary and middle school kids allows them to hear […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
Math Talk – Fostering Mathematical Thinking
The two most powerful learning techniques that I used with my math classes were Think Aloud and Math Talk. I used Think Aloud, which is teacher directed, with the entire class slowly transitioning them into Math Talk for their group work. My Think Aloud Procedure I would begin with a problem that many of my […]
Posted inCommon Core, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School
Creating Utopia: How Kids See The World
This month, my students are learning to see the differences in the world. They’re reading The Giver, a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in the 1990s. The Giver relates the story of Jonas, a 12 year-old boy living in a community of sameness, a community in which there is no color, no differences, no […]
Posted inFeatured
Why I Read To Eighth Graders
They have to read on their own. You should be assigning reading and having them read it, not reading it all to them. That’s spoon-feeding. I have heard this for the past thirteen years I’ve been teaching. When I taught high school English, I would read The Odyssey aloud to my ninth graders, The Great Gatsby to my […]
Posted inHigh School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy, Uncategorized
Close and Critical Reading: So What?
This is the final post in the Close and Critical Reading (CCR) Series. If you want to catch up: The first post defines what CCR is and why all teachers should be using it to instruct their students in reading. The second post discusses the importance of teaching summary. The third post examines why it is important […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Making Connections in Reading
Readers process text in many ways to make sense of what they are reading. There are proven strategies strong readers use to help comprehend and process text. For the first six weeks of school my fourth graders have been practicing making connections. This skill involves using the text in the story or article to connect to your […]