Yesterday I was able to read with almost every student in my class.  After I posted this on my Facebook page, someone asked if I would share about my reading program – of course! When I moved from second grade to kindergarten four years ago, I started out pulling reading groups, just as I had [...]

Welcome to Week Three of our Summer Book Blog Study.  First let me say, I’m loving this book.  Brian Puerling’s writing style is easy, quick, and it feels very conversational – something I always appreciate.  When I first posted about the study a few weeks ago, I received a comment on my Facebook page from a friend of mine [...]

Last week I received the Luna camera from Learning Resources.  I wasn’t sure to make of this document camera… it is billed as easy enough for anyone to use – even children.  Coming off of Spring Break, I let it sit in the box for most of the week.  Finally on Friday, while the kids were at [...]

This is the THIRD giveaway of the amazing, wonderful, dare I say it, brilliant, series of Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn series of books.  If you missed the first two giveaways, here is another chance to score one of two amazing books. As noted in the first giveaways, Stuart has some amazing FREE resources on his website you [...]

Each year I’m amazed how many kids in my class love Star Wars.  As a child, my brother and I were totally ensconced in the Star Wars universe and I have to admit, even as an adult, I still watch the movies and have more than a few t-shirts with R2D2 on them. About a [...]

Last week I bumped into David, a little guy from last year, in the hallway. He was excited to see me and asked if I might pop by to hear some of his first grade writing.  Well, after coordinating a good time with his teacher, today I came for my visit. Now Martin, who was [...]

You might remember Henry from a previous post.  Well, as luck would have it, I found out that Henry’s older sister, Amy is in the second grade class of one of my new favorite teachers, Mrs. P.  At lunch one day, when we discovered the siblings we shared, we started brainstorming some ways to help [...]

Today during Writing Workshop we continued working on our small moments stories.  I worked with Derek who came in as a struggling learner… with no preschool and no school experience, he couldn’t even write his name… well wouldn’t you know it, he was one of the first sprouts to finish his book!  I was proud, [...]

During Writing Workshop today, I stopped to work with Leslie.  As I looked at her paper, I saw an apple tree and two people, so I took a shot. “I love your story Leslie, is about apple picking?” I prompted. “Yeah, it was me and my mom apple picking,” she replied. “Which one is you [...]

Two days of rain.  Two days of inside recess.  One of those days with no special.  I’m convinced Mother Nature is a cruel, evil, spiteful lady… Of course, with no recess and no place to take the class, by the end of the day Friday, things were looking grim.  To be clear, in our class [...]