Category Archives: instruction
What I’ve Learned About Being A Kick-Butt Reading Teacher–Part 4
Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Assessment Inside my district I was an early adopter of Pearson’s Developmental Reading Assessment system. When the district decided to implement DRA for all elementary classrooms, the cheese was MOVED … Continue reading
Filed under assessment, instruction, reading
Cool Time Travel and Animals That Don’t Talk–Hooray!
The Secret Zoo Author: Bryan Chick I knew from the first twenty pages that The Secret Zoo will be a big hit with my fifth grade readers. Lots of action, some magic, animals…its like the middle grade reader trifecta! And … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, reading
Getting Savvy
Savvy Author: Ingrid Law Here’s a bit I liked: “For the very first time since I was old enough to know what it meant to have a savvy, since the day that I’d begun to dream of what my own … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, reading
How Dorkalicious Are You?
Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star Author: Rachel Renee Russell Here’s a Good Part: “And then while I’m rotting in prison (and having superfun mani/pedi cell-block parties with all those celebs), I’ll realize what a horrible mess I’ve … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, reading
What I’ve Learned About Being a Kick-Butt Reading Teacher–Part 2
I spent an hour of my summer morning shopping online. I went to site after site of “educational” supplies, filling my digital carts full of sparkling trims, die-cut lettering, splashy display charts, and the other ephemera that we teachers are … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, reading
Beating my head against a brick wall made of homophones and dangling participles…
I love teaching young writers. I love nudging them along, building their confidence, and reading their words. I love teaching them to freewrite, to try different genres, to embrace revision as opportunity rather than obligation. And I do okay at … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, writing
Paying Attention to both the How and the Why
So I stumbled upon this video on TeacherTube, and watched it with interest. It is in the vein of so many persuasive pieces that are done to convince others of the importance of technology (specifically the web) and its impact … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, Tech Integration
Of Daily 5 and Not Whining
I spent last year hearing from my colleagues about my incoming students, which is the curse of teaching the oldest in the school. The teachers bemoaned the behavior issues, the learning disabilities, the community chemistry, sometimes with a look of … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, reading
The Power of Positive Grammar
GUMS–Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Spelling. If there were really a way to get around teaching this business in fifth grade, I’d have found it. Since it is un-getaroundable, I’m trying to figure out a more positive approach. I’ve been hanging on … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, writing
Summer Goals Update Part 2
I’m reading the third and final professional book on my summer list. Well, I actually have picked up a few more, but Choice Words by Peter Johnston is the last I committed to finish by summer’s end. I wrote a … Continue reading
Filed under instruction, professional development, writing
