Emily Calhoun (1998) developed the Picture Word Inductive Model based on strategies for language acquisition. This method uses pictures containing familiar objects, actions and scenes to draw out words from children’s listening and speaking vocabularies. This model helps students add words to their reading vocabulary, as well as their writing vocabulary, and also discover phonetic and structural patterns present in those words. This strategy is very effective with students who are learning English or that are struggling readers and writers. The instructional sequence is presented in ..read more

I know it sounds so cliche but I really do love Fall! We have such hot humid summers in Georgia. The cooler weather is such a welcome relief. It just is my favorite time of the year. In school, I feel like students are getting settled in. They know the routines but the looming holidays like Halloween can make things little crazy! I love any kind of activity that can keep students engaged in academics to keep them focused on learning. I have some great freebies to help you out with just this very thing! Just click on each picture to grab these up! If you love these FREEBIES, you might l ..read more

Have you had your End of the Year party yet? Even if you have, you surely can save these ideas for next year! I love doing an End of the Year Luau Party every single year. In fact, I have a box of Luau decorations from the Dollar Store that I reuse every single year. All I do is pull out that box and I have everything I need. I usually even have plates and napkins left over from the previous year.  How to Get Started First off, I start off by sending a parent letter for donations and having my students send invitations to their parents so they can attend. They love coloring these for t ..read more

The end of the school year can be a challenging time for teachers as students become restless and start to lose focus on their academic work. We’ve got a thousands small tasks to take care on top of keeping students engaged in learning! Keeping students engaged in academics during this time can be a struggle, but there are several strategies that teachers can use to help maintain motivation and interest. We have a few tips for keeping students engaged in academics (and hopefully save your sanity too!) Plan engaging and interactive lessons One of the most effective ways to keep students eng ..read more

Teaching kids about Pollution and Conservation is so important but the concept of taking care of the Earth can seem like a mighty task for just a little kid! Kids can feel like there’s nothing that they can actually do to make any kind of impact. This is why I love teaching about Earth Day and conservation. I love teaching kids that there is so much they can do!  First of all, we read lots of books: Then we discuss what we’ve read and list things kids can actually do with their classmates and families to help their communities. They realize that if everyone does their part, every lit ..read more

Do your students struggle with spelling? Writing is the time when I really want my students to use all their strategies to spell a word. Also they can use all their resources. This is one reason I love using personal dictionaries or word books. Students can look up a word to see if it is on the word list and if they can’t find it, they can ask a friend to help them spell it. Lastly, they can bring me their book and I will write it in their book. I always ask my students, “Did you use all your resources first?” Then I will help them. Personal dictionaries can be a powerful tool to help your w ..read more

Valentine’s Day is so close! Are you ready?? I don’t know about y’all but I like doing our Valentine bags in class. I like having them all look similar and I don’t want to burden my families with having to make a box or a bag at home. But having said that, I like something easy that won’t take us too long to make. Dollar Store gift bags are great for this! I picked up bags (2 bags for a one dollar) and some packs of their foam sticker hearts. All of these Valentine bags are made with the hearts only. I had to trim a few of the hearts for some of the pieces but students could easily do this ..read more

I know many teachers love to have a classroom elf who moves places every night and helps keep the behavior in check and it works for some! But I know my students just go insane when they see that thing. We have ladies in our cafeteria who have an elf and the second they walk into the lunchroom, it’s crazy time! Why I am really not a fan of the elf in the classroom.... Besides getting the kids all wild, which is exactly the opposite of what I want….there are some more important reasons why I am not a fan of having an elf in the classroom. First of all, it’s not inclusive. Many of my student ..read more

I am always trying to find the best strategies in working with my English Language Learners. Today I am going to share with you why you should be using photos with your English Language Learners to improve oral and written language skills. Why use photos with English Language Learners? First, activities can connect to multiple standards and integrates well with the content areas.   Next, photos help strengthen oral language development. Also, it is an excellent way to provide differentiation for English-language learners. Furthermore, it relieves pressure from reluctant students or s ..read more

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