One of my biggest pushes for teaching math is small group instruction with practice/ support centers . In my classroom, I use a rotation. One of the biggest challenges with this approach is the prep required to keep up with centers. Today, I'll share one of my favorite "growing" centers that is really no prep! [...]

A reading some blogs, and reviewing some feedback and suggestions for some of my comprehension novel study resources,  a question has come up a few times. "Why didn't you include a book test?" Many times, the questions and feedback of others helps me to shape my resources. It helps me to know and understand what [...]

This coming week, my class will be spending a day or 2 reading and writing using Ira Sleeps Over as our featured text. My students love this story, it is so relatable for them, but that is not usually my objective while sharing the story with them.  In order to get the kiddos to think [...]

Happy Tuesday! Here in CT we have our "winter recess" today. It used to be a full week of vacation, but a few years ago they cut us back to just Monday and Tuesday off. The weather has been wild. We went from -10 degrees just two days ago to snow yesterday, and rain and [...]

Check out my shop! From February 14-16 everything is 20% off!

Hello again! I totally promised to do this more often, but I'm finding it so difficult to keep up with everything, so I'll post as I go. One of my favorite ways to work with informational books with my first graders is with a focus on vocabulary. I know that some of the words in [...]

Ok ok... I'll admit it! I got a little carried away over this snowy weekend and am really invested in revamping the activities I've done in the past and making them into super useful resources to share with the world. So what if my eyes burn from staring at the screen! I posted another version [...]

February is Dental Health Month! This is seriously one of the most unlikely favorite units I teach in first grade. The students are really into themselves and learning about their bodies. They want so much to take good care of their bodies at this age, and listen so closely to find out how to do [...]

It sure has been a very snowy week! Just as the good old groundhog predicted spring weather, here we are with our first two snowdays of the year in Connecticut, Friday and now today (Monday). This week is going to be super busy! I am going to try to cram in President's Day and Valentine's [...]