Word walls can be a powerful tool in any classroom. Several years ago I made the switch to an interactive word wall and never looked back. Let me tell you why. My first year of teaching I created this huge word wall display that took up an entire wall. I think I put less than 10 words up on it… Read More
Interactive Word Walls
7 Books for Teaching Kids How to Tell Time
Teaching kids how to tell time can be tricky! Incorporating literature into your math block is a great way to keep students engaged. Here are some great children’s books you can use to help teach kids how to tell time. I hope you can find the best book to teach time concepts. A Second, A Minute, a Week with Days… Read More
6 Vocabulary Games for Any Word List
Vocabulary instruction is so critical in today’s classroom! A strong foundation in vocabulary will help students to become better readers and writers. In part 5 of my vocabulary series, I am sharing some of my favorite vocabulary games to help maximize learning. In my previous posts, I have walked though Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary words. They are:… Read More
4 Activities for Applying Vocabulary Words in Writing
Hey there! Welcome back to part 4 of my vocabulary series where we are focusing on creating meaningful vocabulary instruction. In this series, I am walking though Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary. They are: Describe and Explain Restate and Explain in their OWN words. Create a Drawing Enrich and Explain their Knowledge (synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, etc…) Collaborate with… Read More
Vocabulary Words: Exploring Synonyms & Antonyms
Hey there! Welcome back to part 3 of my vocabulary series where we are focusing on creating meaningful vocabulary instruction. In this series, I am walking though Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary. They are: Describe and Explain Restate and Explain in their OWN words. Create a Drawing Enrich and Explain their Knowledge (synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, etc…) Collaborate with… Read More
Vocabulary Pictures to Enhance Student Learning
Hey there! Welcome back to part 2 of my vocabulary series where we are focusing on creating effective instruction through meaningful vocabulary activities, including creating vocabulary pictures. In part one of this series, I introduced Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary. They are: Describe and explain Restate and Explain in their OWN words. Create a Drawing. Enrich and Expand… Read More
Vocabulary Activities to Introduce & Explore New Words
If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I am a huge advocate for teaching vocabulary for your kids in the classroom. Vocabulary holds a strong relationship with comprehension. It plays an important roll in helping students learn to read as well as reading to learn. Effective instruction through vocabulary activities is essential. Students need both direct and… Read More
Online Student Assessments Made Easy
Hey there, friend! I don’t know about you but I’m tired of spending hours upon hours on student assessments and analyzing data. Let’s not forget about all the paperwork that goes along with that. Then you have to keep up with said paperwork to take to parent conferences and RTI meetings. IT IS A LOT OF WORK! What if I told… Read More
How to Use Student Mailboxes to Control the Paper Chaos
I’m always looking for ways to make my job in the classroom easier. Today I’m sharing a quick classroom organization tip to help control the paper chaos. Let’s talk about student mailboxes. I have never had a set of nice student mailboxes. They can be very expensive and it was something I never wanted to invest in. This classroom organization… Read More
Subtraction Strategies: 4 Methods for Teaching Two-Digit Subtraction
Second grade is a very important year when it comes to fact fluency. This is the time when they are learning to become familiar with two-digit addition and subtraction facts. In my previous post, I shared four addition strategies that I focus on Today, I’ll be sharing four subtraction strategies used for introducing 2-digit subtraction. Just like introducing 2-digit addition,… Read More
