Looking for a step-by-step guide to help students tackle the writing process? Let’s go! We all know that writing is an essential skill for students, and often carries a sense of anxiety. The mere mention of writing can make many students feel overwhelmed. However, there’s a solution to this common problem – teaching students writing process. The magic lies in taking that BIG concept and breaking it down so students can understand it conceptually. By breaking down the writing task into manageable steps, students can not only overcome their anxiety but also become confident writers- becaus ..read more

Looking for help with the writing process for elementary students? Well, first… imagine a classroom where students are not just writing to respond to a prompt with an acronym but are crafting pieces of art with words. Where teachers don’t spend their days telling students to erase passages and rewrite them but instead, nurture the art of writing- developing writers who can navigate various writing tasks. In this classroom, writing prompt assignments are not the mainstay, and students are empowered to become the authors of their own stories. This vision became a reality when I realized the tran ..read more

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The Power of Persuasive Writing If you have ever spent time in a primary class, you have probably heard students trying to convince each other of many things. “This is the best snack!” “We HAVE to play this game!” “She is a better princess”, a young author’s opinions are never-ending. Trying to get students to translate their arguments into true persuasive writing can be a challenge. Here are some easy ways to get the process started! Persuasive writing is all about, well, persuasion. We are surrounded by examples of this daily, but do we ever stop and think about how to translate all of this ..read more

As the mom of two, I can assure you that one of the most important ways to build a solid relationship with parents is by showing them how their student is doing in class! Of course, we share report cards and assessment scores (like my ready-to-go kindergarten assessments), but what else can we show to provide a look into student progress for parents? One of the most common requests I get from fellow teachers is for me to look over and help create effective parent communication. Here are 2 easy ways to ensure you have meaningful and productive conversations and conferences with parents! Show a ..read more

So you’re officially ready to rock your writing block! You and your class have talked about the writing process, learned the writing process chant, and now it is time to put pencils to paper! But how do you keep everything organized, minimize student dependence on you, and ensure your young authors are successfully engaged in the writing process? Here are some tips on how to set up writing workshop materials and zones in your classroom! Do the Best with What you Have! Every school has different requirements with what has to be posted in each classroom, which can make wall space hard to come by ..read more

It’s already November! There are many popular or classic Thanksgiving lessons that take place all over the U.S. and not all of them are culturally responsive. Many aren’t even the truth! We must consider where some of our narratives come from and if they are honest.   caption for image We see it happen every year, but it doesn’t have to! We do not have to be culturally insensitive for the sake of having fun or giving our students something “cute” to do. History is rarely ever a fun or cute story. Why Does This Matter? Do you ever see one group of people trying to tell another group of p ..read more

What is the “Social Studies 5?” A few years ago, Naomi O’Brien and I realized our students were getting the same “social studies” lessons year after year, grade after grade. Think… Johnny Appleseed, President’s Day, MLK Jr. Day… rinse and repeat. These lessons were not teaching our students real-world concepts, showing inclusive views of different cultures, or providing authentic stories for our primary students. So… we came up with our own Social Studies curriculum! We decided to focus on 5 main areas to center our lessons around. They are civics, history, economics, geography, and sociology ..read more

*This post explains a resource that I created- and you can get a month-long sample! Keep reading! One thing about me? I will ALWAYS preach that the writing process can be beneficial for ALL the students, ALL the time. That’s right, folks. The writing process is not just used to write books. As a kindergarten teacher with a never-ending to-do list, I found myself needing some grab-and-go writing prompts for those times when we were in between units or when I just needed some sort of quick writing practice. However, I wanted to be sure that my students were still using the writing process, eve ..read more

Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about poetry- personally. I think I like it and I can appreciate how OTHER people appreciate it…but in all honestly? I’m not a huge fan. For the longest time, that also meant that I was AWFUL at teaching students how to write poetry. Turns out… I was just doing the absolute most. It didn’t need to be that difficult. Let me share what we do! Getting Families and Caregivers on Board I start by telling parents that their students will create a collection of poems that can be organized to build an anthology. Students will be taught how to create shape poems, freef ..read more