Picture book library lesson plans, games and activities & book lists
The new school year is upon us and I’m here with my recommendations for teaching character education. I’m kind of obsessed with picture books, and I’m convinced there’s at least one picture book for every situation. These books are great for teaching character so your students can grow up to be respectful and responsible human beings. Before I get into… Read More
4 years ago I had just gone through an intense 3 day training on Comprehensive Literacy. Every teacher in my district had somehow been voluntold to report for the training in July. Even more surprising than teachers giving up 3 days of summer? All of us had to sit on hard cafeteria benches the entire time. Of the endless amounts… Read More
Let’s talk growth mindset read alouds. How often do you have to coax, encourage or even beg your students to just TRY a new activity? How about those GT students who explode when they suddenly meet a challenge that pushes their thinking? Or that student who MUST do everything perfectly? Or YOU find out in a PD that you’ve been… Read More
Twas the night before the first day of school, and all through the school, one teacher was worrying, would fourth grade be cool? Okay okay, I’ll stop, but when I get nervous, for some reason, I like to make parodies of songs and poems. Seriously, though, last year I wrote a great bus duty song based on the song “Dancing… Read More
Do your students learn a dictado and then never apply the learning in their own writing? When I first started learning about bilingual education and the importance of dictado for Spanish literacy, I never understood why my students were not internalizing my language lessons related to each dictado. I tried a lot of different things over the years in my dictados slowly learning how… Read More
Do you spend the end of your summer stressing about your classroom decor? Do you spend hours laminating and cutting owl, superhero, or llama theme decor packs each year? I used to be you. No longer. I’m here today to tell you that that does not have to be you! Your classroom doesn’t have to be that elaborately decorated room… Read More