Why should we use an interactive reading notebook and how do we get the most out of it without the mess and the wasted time?
Forty percent of my students failed the plot assessment. I stared wide-eyed at the grade book with a lump in my throat, fighting back the tears. I had taught the story elements to these 3rd graders all week. What happened? After some reflection, I realized I had made a fatal
These incredible mentor texts are full of sensory language. Your students will love visualizing with these great choices! This sensory language book list includes the reading levels of some of the titles for your convenience while planning. These are not intended to limit choices. I certainly would not rule out
Visualizing can be difficult to explain and measure with our third graders since it all happens inside the brain. Often, we try to get these thoughts on paper by having students draw what they “see” while reading, but visualizing is much more than that. It’s a form of inferring. Readers
There are so many great plot structure mentor texts out there! It was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to these. In an effort to keep the post short, I am only including brief information and suggestions for each book. For more information about the books, click on the titles
Teaching poetry to upper elementary students hasn’t always come easy for me. To be honest, I had no idea how to tackle poetry with my third graders when I first started teaching. I knew I needed to gather quality mentor texts for poetry to fully immerse my students in the
Distance learning/virtual teaching means bringing your reading interactive notebook to the digital realm. I have been getting a lot of questions about how to gradually build their notebooks with you throughout the year rather than assigning the entire reading interactive notebook at once. Luckily, Google Slides™ has an add-on feature
This is an old post that has been updated to reflect changes at the beginning of the year due to social distancing during in-person and synchronous teaching. The first day of school is usually full of excitement and smiles. It also sets the tone for the entire year. This year
Starting the year with rich and engaging read alouds sets the tone for the rest of the year. These incredible back to school books will help you ease nerves, ignite excitement, build community, and promote a growth mindset. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Back to School Books
You’ve been thrown into the deep end of distance learning and have been doing an excellent job of learning how to swim, even if you feel like you’re still drowning. Out of all the challenges presented by distance learning, I think differentiation may be the biggest beast. Nevertheless, it’s an
