Teaching reading strategies and skills lights me up! I love to create new tools to help my students become active and engaged readers, thus helping them build their reading comprehension skills. Reading Response Mini Books are one of the many tools in my "teaching toolbox" to get students excited ... READ the POST

Poetry Writing is my favorite writing unit of the year! Teaching elementary students how to write poems is simple with the 1-2-3 format that I share below. The best thing about this Poetry Unit is that it helps students grow in their confidence as writers. Even my most reluctant writers say this ... READ the POST

Math Tiles are one of my favorite hands-on math activities! Math Tiles takes students beyond the usual paper/pencil practice and gives them an opportunity to use their mental math skills AND critical thinking skills in a tactile way. I will always have Math Tiles as a part of my classroom  ... READ the POST

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite classroom holidays, not only because it's full of candy hearts (hello white and yellow hearts!), but because it's often filled with the sweet exchange of kind words and love! Every February, we do a fun My Jar of Hearts Writing Activity. While students share ... READ the POST

February is here and Valentine's Day is right around the corner! Two things I love most about Valentine's Day are the "feel good fuzzies" you get from someone else's kind words, and the all yummy candy hearts. So, I created a writing activity that includes both of those things and is perfect for the ... READ the POST

Gingerbread books are my favorite picture books for kids in December. Every year, my second grade students and I would embark on a fun Gingerbread Reading Unit, where students would compare and contrast the different versions of gingerbread stories. Throughout this unit, I would read seven to ten ... READ the POST

Math fact fluency practice is vital, whether it's for addition facts, subtraction facts, multiplication facts or division facts! Math facts practice is necessary for students to quickly recall various facts.  I am so excited to share with you a math tool that has completely simplified math fact ... READ the POST

Making predictions is one of my favorite reading strategies to introduce students to each year! We use lots of making prediction strategies throughout the year, like Prediction Boxes, Book Cover of Predictions, etc., but I like to start my kiddos out on the first day of school with making ... READ the POST

One of my favorite things about back to school, is knowing that I get to meet and love on a brand new bunch of kids for the school year. I'm sure you feel the same way, and have your lesson planner packed to the max with different "get-to-know-you activities." I want to share with you an activity ... READ the POST