This month we’ll look at the importance of vocabulary. He’s so rambunctious he upset the basket. Vocabulary words are like a new pairs of shoes; we need to break them in. It’s the job of the adult to help kids become comfortable with new or unusual pertinent, use-again words that occur in their reading. Try… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 8 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. Now’s time to get active with what’s been read over the past few weeks. Select a story that can be acted out OR go to… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 7 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. The vastness of resources is mind-boggling. Rather than provide a list, I suggest you grab a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever, and go online… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 6 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. Here are a hodge-podge of ideas to keep reading fresh/changing. In fiction: Read using different voices for different characters. Use/Make puppets and share the story… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is #5 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. Reading can and should be an interactive skill. That means, taking the tine to talk with your kids about what they are reading. Before reading, ask… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 4 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. Scan the book with a young reader. Look at all the illustrations. Talk about what the book might be about. Sit side-by-side and help the… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 3 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. Remember, your local library may have a summer reading program where kids are encouraged to read, record their book titles and then participate in awards… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 2 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. To be effective readers, kids need to read for 30 minutes every day. Set aside a block of time for silent reading (15-20 minutes) as… Read More »
Summer! The perfect time to carry around a book and spend time with favorite or new characters and subjects. This is # 1 in my 8-part series on Summer Literacy. If we want to install a love of reading, we need to help students finds books they can read alone. We need to help them… Read More »
That’s cursive not cursing, although some people are doing a bit of cursing about the demise of cursive writing. When I taught third grade, I enjoyed teaching cursive. Each day we spent about 20 minutes working on it. We worked from the most basic hand movements (i, l, e, t ) into more elaborate ones… Read More »