Close reading is so painful! If this is how you feel about close reading, then this blog post is for you. I love to teach close reading, and I’ve been doing it long enough now that I’ve got a system in place that works very well for my students. I hope this post gives you some good information to take back to your classroom. I’ll also share a close reading freebie at the end! Here’s the basic procedure that I use for every close reading lesson: Introduce and Predict Introduce the title of the
Back to School: How to Make it Your Best Year Ever
It’s only the beginning of July, but after only a few weeks of relaxing, your mind is starting to wander back to the classroom. It’s almost impossible to NOT think about it. All the bloggers are sharing their “Back to School Tips and Tricks” posts. Instagram is blowing up with everyone’s Target Dollar Spot finds. And all of the stores are cruelly showing us, with their Back to School Displays, that summer break will be over before we know it. But it’s got me thinking about my own tips for starting the
Understanding Number Sense
Number sense involves being flexible and fluid with numbers. We’re always hearing about how important it is for our students to have good number sense, but do you really understand what that means for your students? In this post, I’ve outlined the aspects of early number sense and tips on how to support your learners in the classroom. Subitizing Subitizing is the ability to see small amounts without having to count. For example, many students can quickly recognize 3 objects sitting in a group, or the number of dots on a
10 Ways to Teach Children Numbers
Kindergarten often begins with teaching students to recognize numbers. Here are 10 effective ways to teach them to your students! Number Books Have students create their own number books. Creating a book of their own will give them ownership of something that they can “read” again and again to help them learn their numbers. Provide pages that include the numerals you are working on. Allow the students to create the set using bingo dabbers, stickers, or pictures. Click Here to download this free number book! Number Bingo Bingo is a classic,
5 Activities to do with Rekenreks
Are you interested in using rekenreks with your students, but you’re not sure how? A few years ago, I was in the same boat. I had been to a math training that used rekereks and I couldn’t wait to use them in my classroom. I made a class set out of cardboard and proudly brought them to school. Except I had no idea what to do with them! I had learned a game or two, but needed guidance with how to teach my students about them. In this post, I’ll show
3 Ways to Improve Number Sense
Do you have students who are struggling in math because of under-developed number sense? Do your students lack a solid understanding of how numbers work? In this post, I will share 3 things you can do to help these students increase and improve their number sense. Teach with Problem Solving It is critical that as teachers, we shift from the traditional practice of modeling “how to do math.” Mathematics instruction is much more effective when we use a problem-based approach (Van De Walle & Loven). Allowing students to struggle with
10 Ingenious Ways to Use Solo Cups in the Classroom
Last year, I bought 100 solo cups for the 100th day of school. My students had a blast building 100-cup structures. It was definitely the hit of the day. But then, I was left with 100 solo cups. Sure, I could just put them on the shelf and use them again next year, but I knew that there HAD to be a lot more possibilities for these things. I now use them all the time, and they have become one of my favorite, inexpensive tools to use in the classroom!
Using Exit Tickets in Kindergarten
Hey all! I’m so excited to finally be blogging about something that has made my life so much easier over the past year and a half–using exit tickets! Sound a little heavy for kindergarten? Some people think so. Let me be the first to say that as much as I enjoy meaningful data, I also believe that giving students too many lengthy formative assessments can rob us of valuable instructional time. I want to share how I gather information that is USEFUL, and how I do it QUICKLY. Exit tickets