Picture book lesson plans and activities for busy teachers
For many years I’ve said that our biggest untapped resource for really improving student literacy is to engage families in reading. I’ve tried many different strategies throughout the years with mixed results. Recently, though, I dug into the research and found the start to some answers that i believe may be helpful. Summary of Strategies Home Reading Survey Book in… Read More
Are you trying to get into a routine for your Spanish dictado? Here I explain quickly what my weekly dictado schedule is like. It’s fast and easy, and your kids will be keeping you accountable for that schedule in no time. This schedule along with my other tips and tricks are what make my dictado so successful in my classroom!… Read More
Just about anyone you talk to in bilingual education whether it’s bilingual, dual language, dual immersion, etc., agree that dictado is a powerful way of teaching Spanish language. It can teach language structures, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and can be used to contrast with English. It can be tricky to do in the younger grades. Dictado in elementary, though, is just… Read More
Check out these 20 elementary read alouds for back to school! These fun activities are your survival kit perfect for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. TIps and ideas to help you hack classroom management and build community while covering standards!
In another post I talked about what mentor texts are: books that can be used in multiple subject areas to teach a variety of skills. Obviously you can use mentor texts in reading. One of the subject areas that you can use mentor texts in is writing. Here I’m going to talk about a variety of ways for using mentor… Read More
I’m a little over an eighth of my way through my picture book a day challenge with these next 7 book, and another week closer to being a dad. Here I’ll recap the picture books I read this week. Honestly, though, depending on your questioning and support, any picture book could work for any grade level. Most of these books… Read More