It’s time for the magic of SILENT E! This is absolutely one of my favorite sound/spelling patterns to teach because it unlocks so many more words that creates so much excitement for the students! (note: this isnt the only job of “e”, but it sure is fun) WARM UPS FOR SILENT E When introducing a new phonics patterns, I usually begin with a song. I have an archive of songs I use for different phonics patterns (click the Google Drive link below).  BLENDING Blending is KEY to practicing that magic e. This is where I will usually cut out little “e”s on stick and practice making CVC ..read more

Subitizing is an important part of learning numbers. Subitizing is when you can identify a set of numbers quickly without counting. A good example of this in our own lives is rolling a dice for a game, it’s very likely you can identify what you land on within a second and you didn’t have to count the dots. This fluidity with number recognition is a building block to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. This work is usually done in kindergarten and built up to 20 in first grade. Kindergarteners are subitizing within 5, while first and second grades will be subitizing within 20. Let ..read more

Blending sounds is when students fluently join phonemes together to make a word. Successive blending is the most effective blending technique (as research shows here). This is where students “stretch out” the sounds in a continuous manner instead of isolating each sound. Examples of blending with the word mat: In isolated blending the students say, “/m/ /a/ /t/ mat” (saying each sound separately) In successive blending the students say, “mmmaaat mat” (stretching each sound to be continuous to the next sound) Successive blending helps students “hold” the so ..read more

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate words (including phonemes-the smallest sounds) in a language. It is directly linked to decoding and in turn, the success of a reader (you can read more about that here if you want more scholarly work). The lovely thing about phonological awareness is, it only takes about 5-10 minutes a day to be successfully implemented. Phonological awareness is a MUST HAVE, especially for our little struggling readers, we need to go back to listening to sounds and develop that ability to hear and manipulate them orally. Here is an almos ..read more

Let’s talk about short vowels. Distinguishing short vowels can be tricky! Especially short i and short e (but I’ll get to that later in this post). Here’s one of my favorite quick activities for short vowel intervention or just practice for that matter. Vowel Tents Basically, your students have “tents” or cards in front of them with each short vowel sound. They listen for the vowel sound you say and pull the card. You can easily differentiate this to your students needs:-just focus on vowel sounds alone (/a/ /e/…) -focus on endings/word parts (am, et, un…) -use CVC words and listen for the vo ..read more

Grammar is an important feature in reading skills, but sometimes it seems mundane to teach. There are some simple ways you can integrate grammar skills into your teaching, reading centers, or small group time. Somethings do need to just be taught directly, but the practice doesn’t have to be boring! Here are some ways you can sneak these skills into your daily teaching. Grammar through Picture Books Teaching using picture books is one of my favorite things to do. Picture books are so engaging for kids and you can pull so much just from one story (I mean, that’s what curriculums do right? You ..read more

Sight words are an essential component to reading instruction in all elementary classrooms. Sometimes sight words can feel overwhelming, and to be honest, not the most fun thing to teach. But I’ve got some sight words activities for you to add to your teacher tool-belt to make teaching sight words a breeze!  Sight Word Color These sight words activities are great for practicing distinguishing between tricky looking sight words. There are 33 different combinations of commonly confused sight words your students can practice. These are great for centers, small groups, interv ..read more

As a teacher you know there’s nothing worse than preparing sub plans. Here are six ways to streamline your process to prepare for a sub and a smooth return and glowing notes from the sub! Easy peasy sub plan ideas! Easy Sub Notes   I’m guilty of leaving pages and pages of sub plans early on in my career. Over time, I learned that less is usually more. Simple Post-its and even writing on the tables works! I got this great idea from Learning in Wonderland’s post here.   Class Note Anytime I know I’m going to be out, I write my students a class note to let them know I’ll mis ..read more

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the classroom this year? Here are a few favorite St. Patrick’s Day activities to celebrate (and keep the learning going…mostly)! Inferencing Freebie This activity is based on inferencing skills. Students will be given hidden clues and will have to guess what’s in the leprechaun’s pot of gold. Who doesn’t love a good mystery?! Go grab this freebie to use in the classroom.  If you love it, there’s more where that came from in my St. Patrick’s Day Activity packet.  Picture Vs. Text Evidence Finding evidence in the pictures versus finding evidence in t ..read more

Happy Valentine’s Day! There’s nothing sweeter than Valentine’s Day in an elementary classroom. From the handwritten notes, to the carefully decorated card boxes, there really isn’t anything cuter. There are so many fun and exciting ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the classroom, even with the youngest learners. From candy to crafts to stories and even math activities there are so many options. Easy Valentine’s Gifts For a quick and easy parent gift idea, I quickly decorate my easel whiteboard in red cutout hearts (this literally takes me five seconds) and add the phrase “I love you beca ..read more