Exciting lesson ideas, classroom strategies, book lists, videos, and reproducibles in a daily blog by teachers

Alycia

I live in

New York

I teach

3rd grade

I am

an almost-digital-native and Ms. Frizzle wannabe

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Experimenting with Exploding Soap: Volume, Density, Teamwork
Mother’s Day Gifts for the Artistically Challenged
Eight Books for Earth Day and Beyond
Browse all my posts

Tiffani

I live in

California

I teach

Kindergarten

I am

an alphabet singing and storybook reading enthusiast

Here are my most recent blog posts:

End-of-the-Year Countdown
Open House: A Time to Shine
From Caterpillars to Butterflies
Browse all my posts

Christy

I live in

New York

I teach

K-5

I am

a proud supporter of American public education and a tech integrationist

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Poetry Made Easy
Field Trip Apps
Fun With Flashlight Readers!
Browse all my posts

Beth

I live in

Michigan

I teach

3rd grade

I am

an enthusiastic teacher and techie, and a mom of three boys

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Math Workshop's Daily Schedule
Math Workshop: Group Rotation #3
Math Workshop: Group Rotation #2
Browse all my posts

Meghan

I live in

Alabama

I teach

4th grade

I am

an obsessive personality with a creative flair

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Fabulous Field Trips in Five Steps
A Book for Every Reader
Financial Literacy Finds: Teaching Money Skills to Students
Browse all my posts

Julie

I live in

Texas

I teach

PreK-5th

I am

a Literacy Coach, and lover of picture books

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Understanding Audience: Writing Book Reviews
Writing Sequels: A Primary Book Club Project
A Schoolwide Celebration of Poetry
Browse all my posts

Shari

I live in

Kansas

I teach

2nd grade

I am

an inquiring investigator of… my students’ brains, of course

Here are my most recent blog posts:

Top 10 Reasons to Use Authentic Learning
Using a Time Line as an Established Tool
Models, Music, and More on the Concept of Time
Browse all my posts
4

Using a Reader’s Notebook to Retell Stories in Sequence

By Julie Ballew on October 29, 2012

We are continuing our work in reader's notebooks in the primary grades. This post focuses on retelling using a simple chart: Beginning,...

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2

Making Connections to Make Meaning

By Julie Ballew on October 22, 2012

In this post, I’m excited to share some new entries with you from the Kindergarten classes at my school. This work of connecting,...

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0

A Closer Look at Characters

By Julie Ballew on October 15, 2012

This month, students in every grade level at my school are taking a closer look at characters. We use the reader’s notebook in a variety of...

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0

Family Fun Night (With a Halloween Twist)

By Julie Ballew on October 8, 2012

We are always looking for ways to involve the whole family in the learning process. One event that serves this purpose is our Halloween-...

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2

Using Strategy Rings to Track Student Conferences

By Julie Ballew on October 1, 2012

When I confer with students, I like to leave them with some tangible reminder of the strategy I just taught them. Strategy rings are a way...

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4

Focus Poetry: Create Poetry Pros in Less Than Ten Minutes a Day

By Julie Ballew on September 24, 2012

Focus Poetry, which is a form of shared reading, provides multiple opportunities to teach a wide variety of skills in a small amount of...

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4

Three Easy Ways to Help Students Build a Reading Identity

By Julie Ballew on September 17, 2012

We must help students see themselves as readers. We must help them build a reading identity. There are many ways to do this, but I’ll...

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4

Literacy Prompt Cards: Deepening Student Conversations From Day One

By Julie Ballew on September 10, 2012

Like many teachers, I am always looking for ways to help students have meaningful conversations about books. In many classrooms at my...

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0

Book of the Month -- Building a Schoolwide Reading Community

By Julie Ballew on August 30, 2012

As a literacy coach, one of my responsibilities is fostering a schoolwide reading community. One of my favorite projects is our Book of...

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