Language Arts in the Elementary Classroom
In kindergarten and first grade you are building foundational skills in all subjects. Your reading and writing block will include things like phonics, grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Read more about our favorite ways to teach these skills (and more!) in these blog posts.
How Phonics Supports the Science of Reading
The Science of Reading has gained a lot of popularity over the last few years. The tricky thing is there is no definition for the term. In the most non-specific terms, you will probably ever see in the realm of education, the science of reading refers to research that experts have conducted on how we learn to read. So in theory, the science of reading should be combining all reading best practices together.
135 Short Vowel Words You Need for Teaching Beginning Readers
When you’re planning phonics instruction for your students, it is important to select words they will encounter regularly that are also decodable. Here is a list of short vowel words to pull from when creating your phonics activities.
Phonics vs Phonemic Awareness and Why Both Are Important
If you went to college to become an elementary school teacher, you undoubtedly took a course or seven on reading instruction to learn about things like the alphabetic principle, phonics vs phonemic awareness, and more. Literacy Foundations, Phonological and Orthographic Principles in Reading, Literacy Assessment and Instruction, and Reading and Language Arts across the Curriculum are just a few of the required classes at my alma mater today.
2 Wiley Blevins Phonics Books You’ll Want to Pick Up Today
In my quest to further my knowledge of phonics one name kept showing up. Whether it was in teacher Facebook groups, reputable teacher websites, course lists, or simply in bookstores, the same name was everywhere. That name is Wiley Blevins.
How You Can Actually Use Resources You Own to Create Seesaw Activities
Chances are you have used technology with your students in your classroom, but you may not have relied heavily on it. In today’s classroom with virtual learning, distance learning, and hybrid models, that likely isn’t the case anymore. A popular platform with many lower elementary classrooms is Seesaw. The great news is you can digitize many of your existing resources to be used directly as Seesaw activities!
Why You’ve Been Using Clip Cards Wrong and How to Fix It
I’m not sure how long clip cards have been around, but I would imagine they have been here a while. And I don’t think they are going anywhere. They can be versatile and academic, but did you also know they can easily be self-checking? We’ll get to that in a minute though. First, let’s talk about why you should be using clip cards in the first place.
3 Digital Phonics Activities Your Kindergartners Will Be Excited About
Since phonics focuses on foundational skills, chances are your students will be spending a lot of time practicing or reviewing phonics skills. So that means you need a lot of phonics activities! This can be done in a variety of ways whether they are working with the whole class, in a small group, or even independently.
A More Helpful Way To Practice Phonics with Word Building
How often are you giving your students the chance to review and practice phonics skills to truly master them? If you are a kindergarten or first-grade teacher, chances are probably not enough. Are your students regularly completing word building activities? Do you play phonics games with your students? Do you recite songs to practice phonics skills?
How Are File Folder Games Different Than Your Regular Centers?
File folder games have been around forever. Or at least it seems that way! They certainly have been in classrooms for decades and I don’t see them leaving anytime soon. If you’ve never heard of file folder games, the name is fairly self-explanatory. They are a game that is played inside a file folder.
Alphatales Books Are One of the Best Ways to Introduce Letters and Sounds
The AlphaTales books are a collection of stories that I found to be so much fun and gave my students an incredible introduction to the alphabet.
How to Differentiate Rhyming Words Practice for Your Students
Differentiation needs to happen a lot of the time, but certainly not all of the time. There is no way you could do that for each student all day long (and if you can, let me know where you got those superpowers!) Let’s look at differentiating rhyming words practice in your classroom.
10 Rhyming Books Your Kindergartners Will Love
A simple, engaging way to incorporate rhyming into your daily lessons is through read alouds. Captivating trade books can pull in even your most reluctant learners! Countless books include rhyming as part of the book’s cadence. Check out a few of these rhyming books – you may already have some of them in your classroom library!
4 Rhyming Games That Can Help Your Students Learn While Having Fun
No one said that learning couldn’t be fun! Rhyming games are a great motivational tool for many students. If you don’t feel comfortable including games in your day-to-day center rotations or small group instruction, they are still a great go-to for indoor recess or parent volunteers.
How to Engage Your Students with a Simple Rhyming Chant
Today I want to share a super fun game that you can use to practice rhyming. This game would be great for your morning meeting or those little bits of time when you’re waiting to go to specials. To play this game, you only need your thinking cap and the ability to remember this fun rhyming chant! You could also use an anchor chart or pocket chart if you wanted to have the chant for the game “live” somewhere for the students to reference, but that is totally optional.
The Fundamentals of Rhyming and Why It Is Important
At the core of rhyming, students are breaking down words to find commonality in their sounds. This skill requires students to segment words and focus on each letter sound carefully. Not only does this help students read words, but it also helps them write words.
How to Start a Successful Stamping Center
A stamping center can alleviate the stress of planning ANOTHER station for your students each week and provide your students engaging, fun, and meaningful practice.
11 Ways to Build a Classroom Library on a Budget
If you’re working on building up your classroom library, here are some tips to stretch your budget and fill your bookcases!
12 Books to Use in Your Elementary Classroom to Discuss September 11th
Many early elementary teachers question what is appropriate to share with their students about September 11th. Here are some things to think about when preparing for talking with your students.
Ease Student Anxiety the First Week of School with 4 Popular Story Books
Student anxiety is often experienced during the first week of school. Sharing picture books is one way to help students acclimate more quickly to the classroom.
Take a Closer Look at Purposeful Close Reading Today
Close reading involves reading short pieces of text multiple times. As your students become more familiar with the text, they will begin to analyze the content and author's purpose through text-based questions and discussion. This reading activity gained popularity in...