4 Great Ideas for Teaching with a Fantastic VSLA Mentor Text
VSLA Virginia Readers’ Choice: Empowering Students to Vote for Their Favorite Books Every year, students across Virginia have the exciting opportunity to cast their votes for their favorite books as part of the Virginia Readers’ Choice (VRC) Award. Organized by the Virginia State Literacy Association (VSLA) and supported by the Virginia Association of School Librarians […]
7 Fantastic Activities for Engaging Your Students in the Study of Historical Figures
Biography or Narrative Nonfiction I’m excited to share seven fantastic activities for engaging your students in the study of historical figures with narrative nonfiction. But, first, what is the difference between biography and narrative nonfiction? As I see it, a biography encompasses a person’s entire life whereas narrative nonfiction highlights and details a small moment […]
6 Beautiful Winter Read Alouds for Teaching 7 Elements of Author’s Craft
A teacher reads one of 6 beautiful winter read alouds for teaching 7 elements of author’s craft to captivated students.
Teaching Vocabulary with Mentor Texts
Teaching vocabulary is essential for reading comprehension, and using mentor texts to model is a great idea. With mentor texts, we can work on so many skills. In this post, I’ll share how I teach vocabulary in upper elementary. We’ve all heard about the science of reading, right? If you haven’t, you should probably start […]
Inspiring Students to Think Creatively About Renewable Energy
In my experience, children love to make a difference. One year, something of value (I think really high end headphones, but I’m having a hard time remembering) went missing from the ESOL teacher’s class and three boys in my class held a bake sale to raise money to replace them. Think about it. Alex’s Lemonade […]
How to Build Community During Back to School Using How to Read a Book
As much as I have been (and am) enjoying my summer, I’m getting excited about returning to my physical classroom in a few short weeks after teaching from home for over a year. The gears in my mind are turning and my creative juices are flowing. Recently, I was Googling great books to start the […]
Teaching Character Traits and Motives with Brave Irene
I have loved the book, Brave Irene by William Steig, since I first embarked on my teaching career in 1987. It was first published in 1986 – the year I graduated from college! One reason I love the book so much is because I have been able to read it with kindergartners, fifth graders, and […]
Exploring Figurative Language with Lotus and Feather
Why should we teach figurative language? When using figurative language, authors are able to convey complex and abstract ideas. In addition, when students read figurative language, they are able to visualize what they’re reading which improves comprehension. Lotus and Feather by Ji-li Jhang is filled with numerous beautiful similes. When using this text to teach […]