Mother Goose Day is a charming and whimsical holiday dedicated to the timeless nursery rhymes and fairy tales that have been passed down through generations. This special day celebrates the imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes – Mother Goose. It’s an opportunity for people of all ages to revisit the magical stories of their childhoods, from “Humpty Dumpty” to “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and everything in beteen. These stories not only serve as fundamental part of children’s literature but also plays a crucial role in early childhood education, teaching rhythm, vocab ..read more

The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is a powerful method for teaching reading that integrates various language skills in a meaningful context. By using students’ own language and experiences, LEA helps bridge the gap between spoken and written language, making reading more accessible and engaging. One of the key benefits of LEA is its ability to personalize learning, as each student’s unique experiences and vocabulary are incorporated into the reading material, making it more relevant and relatable. To implement LEA in a classroom, there are several steps to follow. First, teachers can sta ..read more

Who doesn’t enjoy playing with building blocks such as Legos? There is something both relaxing and stimulating about these simple structures. Seeing your creation come together is fun for all ages! Pulling out building blocks will hook your students and almost always guarantee engagement. Writing Precise Directions and Following Directions For this activity, all students create a simple structure. Students have a present amount of time to create their designs. This should be a short time period. I recommend only allowing a certain number of blocks on the structure. The number of blocks/complex ..read more

Halloween is the perfect time to tell spooky stories, and what better way to celebrate the season than with some classic tales from the public domain? Here are five timeless Halloween short stories and suggestions for follow-up that are sure to give your students a good scare! “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe This classic tale follows a man who is driven to madness by the sound of his victim’s beating heart. It’s a chilling story that will keep your students on the edge of their seats. Here are five ideas that students can do after reading “The Tell-Tale Heart”: Write a character anal ..read more

Lexile.com is a great resource for finding books and other reading materials that match the individual reading level of your students. It also provides information about reading assessments and other resources to help you and your students improve reading skills. Lexile.com is not new, and Reading Specialty has a previous blog post about readability which includes information on lexile.com. New features have recently been added, ones that you may be interested in for your class! One of the features I recently learned about allows the teacher to search for decodable books based on vowel sounds ..read more

About this blog post I typed the five questions in the headings below into Magic Write on Canva. The paragraphs in italics were written using AI. Following the questions, you will find my comments on GPT Zero, an AI detector. I think this could be a valuable tool for educators wanting to determine if a student has used AI. What is AI? AI stands for “Artificial Intelligence.” It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially computer programs. AI is a branch of computer science that deals with creating systems that can think, learn, and act like humans. AI i ..read more

I stumbled upon this opportunity and wanted to share with you. This looks like a fun series of events from Crayola! What is it? According to their website, the purpose of Crayola Creativity Week is “to celebrate children’s creativity and the joy it brings to teaching and learning any subject.” Participation is free, and this link will take you to the signup. When is it? January 23 through January 29. What can you expect? Crayola published the following calendar: “Monday, January 23-“Endless Possibilities” with NASA astronauts”Monday, January 23–“Endless Possibilities” with NASA astronauts “Tue ..read more

Test preparation with students can be a challenge. Here are some tips to help make the process easier: Create a study plan. Work with your students to create a timeline for reviewing all the material and a method for prepping for the test. Encourage the use of active strategies such as creating flashcards, mind mapping, and creating their own tests. Use practice tests. Give your students practice tests and quizzes to help them become familiar with the format and type of questions they may encounter on the actual test. Break it down. Help your students break down the material into more managea ..read more

1. Snowball Fight Each student begins a story. I ask the first writer to introduce the setting and a minimum of one character. After students have several minutes to write, call time. Students crumble their paper into a snowball and toss it. Each student picks up a new paper and continues the story. After time is called again, the process is repeated. At the end share the stories! Variation 1: Each student writes a fact about themselves on a piece of paper. Be sure to tell the students to write only facts they are willing to share. Give examples. Crumple the papers and throw them around the ..read more

Veterans Day (originally “Armistice Day” started in 1919 but didn’t become a national holiday until 1938. It is a day to honor all those who have served their country. Here are ideas to celebrate Veteran’s Day with older students. Volunteer Encourage your students to help a charity or organization which supports active military families or veterans. Write Another way to volunteer would be to write notes of appreciation to veterans such as those in a military hospital. Numerous organizations send letters to soldiers. A Million Thanks and Brave are two organizations that offer this service. Ther ..read more