3 Ideas for Introducing Vowels to Early Learners

In the last five years I discovered the true value of vowels. I have come to realize vowels rule the world. If we want to produce great decoders, vowels are the key. It all started with one student (we'll call her Calista). Calista was a student who struggled with fluency because she struggled with quick word recognition. She could read a word easily and one page and then struggle with the same word on another page. One thing we discovered while working together, if she understood the word, she could retrieve it easier.

Harriet Tubman: A Life of Courage, Bravery and Freedom

Harriet Tubman is the face of the best in the worst of our history. She is a model for who we want our students to be: courageous in the face of adversity, relentless in the search for freedom, and devoted to helping others. Sadly, we know her story because she had those virtues in the worst of times.

The atrocities of slavery cannot be swept under the carpet or ignored because it hurts to acknowledge the the facts.

Teaching our youngest learners about American Heroes like Harriet Tubman can be tricky. Her life, along with all those who were enslaved, was full of pain and fear. Navigating the language and basic vocabulary of the time for our youngest learners can be difficult. Using "fun" activities like word searches or quilt addition facts is not meant to diminish their pain, fear, and heartbreak. It is merely to have student interact with words and concepts at an introductory level.

Winter Math Mentor Texts: One Snowy Day Adds Up to Counting Fun

I am so excited to blog with some friends and talk about Winter Mentor Texts. The post is a little different, because it's about math. 

Book Summary

The book, One Snowy Day, by Tammi Salzano is such a cute book focusing on counting sets to 10. As

penguins enjoys the snowy day, he has 1 wooly hat, 2 warm mittens, 3 happy friends, 4 fast sleds, 5 colorful buttons on the snowman, 6 tasty snowflakes, 7 snow angels, 8 frosty snowballs, 9 snowy footprints and he ends his day with 10 marshmallows in the hot chocolate.

Easy Biographies: Special People in Black History

If you know me, you know my mantra: "Give them tools, not excuses!" We can't give them excuses, they have enough of those. We need to give them tools. One of my favorite tools for writing is 4 square. Kindergarten students can easily write 4 sentences on a topic with the use of 4 square. The basic 4 square contains a topic sentence in the middle, surrounded by 4 supporting details. When we pair 4 square with biographies, we can teach students to write about a person in history. I used this idea to make a 4 square set about "Special People in Black History." 

Labeling: 3 Lessons for Building Successful Early Writers

Labeling is an easy way to get early writers to write. The writing is supported and can be differentiated for all students. Start with an anchor chart and move it to an independent writing center.

1. The Anchor Chart

Students are exposed to labeling in a whole group setting.  As a fun introduction to labeling, the teacher can allow students to label her. Using post-it notes, students label her body parts (foot, let, shoulder, hair, and so on.) Trust me, students will remember this introduction forever. 

Early Writing Made Easy for Back to School

Back to school means a few things to me: 

• new students
• new classroom
• new opportunities
• routines
• routines
• routines

I get excited about all of the things on the list...even the routines. If we start the year off with routines, the students will become independent and need you less. They will also know exactly what you expect and what is expected from them. It's a win-win-win.