This post contains affiliate links. Have you ever been part of a book club? A number of years ago (pre-kids and gray hair), my sister taught kindergarten and I taught first and second grade. Though both of us had started our careers with older learners, we loved our young students – and we constantly sought out ways to improve our teaching. But we also knew that our content knowledge was…
12 Books for Veterans Day
This post contains affiliate links. I grew up near a large naval base. Many of my friends had dads who served in the navy – dads who were “out to sea” at least half the year. I remember how excited they were when the deployment was nearing its end! I have a huge amount of respect for those who serve in the military and for the families that keep things…
Free editable fall spelling game! (grades 1-5)
Check out this fun editable spelling game – perfect for fall! I know how hard it is to spice up spelling practice … so I created this simple fall spelling game. The game cards are the same, but you can type your own words into the spelling word cards! The game is cute, but not too cute, so you can use it for kids in (late) first grade through fifth…
Children’s books with alliteration
Teach students how to have fun with figurative language by reading aloud these books with alliteration! This post contains affiliate links. What is alliteration? Alliteration is the purposeful repetition of the intiial sound – most often a consonant or consonant cluster – in two or more words of a phrase. For example: He spluttered and splashed. Why is it important to teach our students about alliteration? Alliteration is important to…
Free alliteration activities for kids (grades 2-5)
If you’re looking for alliteration activities, you’re in the right spot! I promised more activities for older learners, and today’s game fits the bill! Plus, it comes in four different levels – so you can use it with learners in grades 2-5! What is alliteration? Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of many or most of the words in a sentence. Peter Piper picked a…
Christopher Columbus children’s books
This post contains affiliate links. In my first year of teaching, I taught a combined class of third, fourth, and fifth graders. In an attempt to teach critical thinking, I gave my fifth graders articles and books that were up front about Christopher Columbus and some of his not so heroic behavior. Just recently I had the opportunity to visit with one of my former students, and at 28 he still…
15 Strong picture books for grades 3-5
This post contains affiliate links. Picture books? In grades 3-5? You bet! Many teachers find strong picture books to use as interactive read alouds – and you can, too. In fact, I wrote a post all about how using picture books to build comprehension in the intermediate grades – you can read it here. Today I’m sharing 15 strong picture books that you can use in your third, fourth, or…
How to teach kids to have thoughtful discussions about books
Do 3rd to 5th grade teachers have time to read aloud to their students? Last week I talked about the importance of interactive read alouds with kids in the intermediate grades. One reader let me know that “this method of teaching is quite common and not something new.” While I agree that discussing books with our students is nothing new (and I’m positive that some teachers do it often and…
Check out this fun way to teach reading comprehension in grades 3-5!
This post will show you a fun way to build reading comprehension in grades 3, 4, and 5! When you think about teaching reading comprehension in the intermediate grades, what comes to mind? Worksheets? Graphic organizers? Reading comprehension passages? I’ve used all of the above when building reading comprehension, but today I’m sharing something simpler and, frankly, more fun. Picture books. Yes, picture books! You’ll be amazed at how a…
4 Ways to boost reading comprehension
Learn how to boost reading comprehension in today’s video blog post! It’s time for another video blog post! This time we dive into comprehension. Watch the video to learn: How to use think alouds to improve students’ understanding of a text How to ask the right questions How to teach students to monitor their comprehension How to choose appropriate reading response activities Useful links: Teaching with interactive read alouds How…
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