Life is a series of stories. By definition, a story is a chain of events. In both formal and informal education, storytelling is an excellent teaching strategy. Think about it – teaching English, History, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Art and even Math can be enhanced by the use of stories. We’ve all told them, whether […]
reading
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, Uncategorized
English Teachers Should Have More than a Footnote
The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS) wants students to read in every discipline from elementary school through grade 12. The standards demand an increase in the reading of informational texts, the genre formally known as non-fiction. So where is the passage that concludes that English/Language Arts teachers will continue to teach fiction and literary non-fiction […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, School Improvement, Uncategorized
Written Text or Audiotext in the Classroom? We Should Have Both
I am passing out Brave New World to the 10th graders. “Is there an audiobook for this?” a student asks. “Why not just read the book?” I respond. “I can’t read this without help,” explains the student. “I’ll see,” I sigh. I admit that in the past I had been a little frustrated at these requests. I […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Shakespeare Doesn’t Have to be Scary! Six Tips to Help you Start Teaching Shakespeare and be Glad You Did!
In my first year of teaching, I wanted to teach a Shakespeare play, but was completely intimidated by where to start. I befriended the most veteran member of our English department, an actress, director and drama teacher, who gave me fantastic tips and assured me that I would love it and that students would, too. […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Elementary School, Featured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion
Creating Confident Readers Out of Struggling and Reluctant Readers
So, it’s directed reading time. I have my readers grouped according to ability and the groups are reading different books, which I have geared toward the students in the particular groups. I have a group who collectively love animals, so we are reading Trouble According to Humphrey. I have another group who are mostly boys […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Opinion
What Are We Accelerating in the Classroom?
As teachers we know how important it is to encourage reading in our classrooms, no matter what subject we teach. We equate reading success to lifelong success all around. As teachers we also know how incredibly busy our days are and how difficult it can be to meet children’s needs who either need daily remediation […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Reading Comprehension Strategies For Elementary Teachers
One of the most crucial skills that all students need to be able to steadily advance in school  is reading comprehension. So many skills are dependent on how well a student can not only read, but comprehend what they are reading. Everyday we continually expose students to math word problems, graphs, science and social studies […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Creating Lovers of Reading: Tips for Using a Self-Selected Reading System in Your Classroom
Students come to us with reading levels all over the spectrum. As a new teacher, one of the biggest challenges in my heterogeneous classes was assigning and monitoring their reading. While challenging students with complex texts is not only important but required, it is still essential that our students read and read and read even […]