Reading Resolutions?

Reading Resolutions?

Consider a reading resolution for this year! I might suggest to you to make reading nonfiction to/with your children a priority. By nonfiction here I mean an informational text that might be on a specific topic such as dinosaurs, pets, Mexico (the list is endless)....
Got Fluency?

Got Fluency?

Anyone get a fluency reading score coming home from school for their school-age child recently? You may have recently received a report that gives a single number which represents the number of words your child read in one minute. Anyone wondering why we are timing...
Power of Pictures

Power of Pictures

I was recently co-teaching in a middle school classroom where the teacher reminded his students that looking at pictures is not a bad thing. I thought it very insightful of him to anticipate that his students might feel this way. They may think that lingering over...

Keep Reading and Writing Positive

Have you ever said anything remotely like this, “If you continue to do —–, then you will have to go read in your room.” As a classroom teacher who wants to make learning an enjoyable experience, I pledged long ago to never put the words “have to” in front...
Peanut Butter and Jelly

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Reading and writing go together like peanut butter and jelly. They complement each other and make the other stronger.  Teachers who use best practice in their classrooms know this and incorporate writing daily with their reading instruction. Consider yourself. When...
What Do You Notice?

What Do You Notice?

That is an engaging question that I am going to start using more in my classroom instruction. Brilliantly simple and so powerful! I recently read a blog posted on the importance of this question to preclude ‘What are you wondering?’ because naturally we have to notice...
Lifting the Curtain

Lifting the Curtain

I recently read an article on how important it is for teachers to read and write alongside our students. We work to make both processes seem natural and something they will do for the rest of their lives and not just inside of a classroom. I am always thinking aloud...
Why I Read and Write

Why I Read and Write

I have a bad day. I read. I have a great day. I read. And everywhere in between… I read. If I can have a opportunity to encourage reading I will take it! Stories have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I loved how stories could take me to a...
Work at Play

Work at Play

Here is a great website: http://ht.ly/9A5ww Currently you will find a study on this website that now gives us evidence for something most of us already knew anyway. Playing with your young children will pay off in future years. This study focused on toddlers and the...