April is the perfect time to try something new: Word Study Stations
Old dogs CAN learn new tricks, and your class CAN learn a new routine in April!
Small Groups, Big Engagement: Expanding the Possibilities and Potential
Here are some fresh approaches from Melanie Meehan and guest authors Julie Wright, Pam Koutrakos, and Maria Walther. In this post, we reimagine when and why small groups come together and expand your small group repertoire.
3 Reasons to Try Word Ladders!
Have you tried Word Ladders with your students? Here are three reasons you might want to!
Word Love
It almost sounds too good to be true, but I discovered a vocabulary curriculum that engage students joyfully in developing an understanding of new words in about ten minutes per day.
Vocabulary Development Across In-Person & Remote School Days
A Teacher’s Guide to Vocabulary Development Across the Day is filled with practical ideas for teaching vocabulary in K-3 classrooms. It is a resource that will help you develop an innovative and meaningful vocabulary curriculum for your students. Listen to an interview with the book’s author and preview sections of the text.
The Snap Word Train
Over the years, kindergarteners have shown me that the kinds of environmental tools that they will actually use are: ones which are at their level, ones which they have meaningful … Continue Reading The Snap Word Train
Trying It Out! Using Ideas From Professional Resources
How do you keep learning and growing as a teacher of writing? How do you apply what you’ve learned from reading professional texts? Today I am sharing the way I am applying my learning from professional texts with my third grade students.
Word Study That Sticks: Best Practices K-6 — Review and Giveaway
Are you looking for ways to make word study more inspiring, meaningful, practical and transferrable? Word Study That Sticks: Best Practices K-6 by Pamela Koutrakos is the resource you need to read! Check out my review of the book today and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the book!
How a Portable Word Wall Can Help Your Students with Spelling
Do you differentiate your students’ spelling lists by giving them personal spelling words? If so, you can take those lists a step further by providing them with portable word walls for their writing folder and/or for at-home use.
Building Word Superheroes: With Permission and Invented Spelling
Teaching students to take the risks necessary to be inventive spellers means I have to respect the stage of development of the student. I can’t expect the students to know (or use) something I haven’t taught. It also means communicating to parents about what it means to use inventive spelling and its role in developing writers and readers.
Watching Our Word Wall Come Alive
Read this post for the story of one classroom’s creative celebration of word wall words.
What I’ve Learned about Word Study
I recently had the good fortune of watching the wonderful Natalie Louis deliver a word study lesson at a school in Harlem. It was so cool. For a mostly upper … Continue Reading What I’ve Learned about Word Study
Three Favorite Word Wall Games
A well-planned word wall allows students to quickly access familiar high frequency words from word study instruction. As they are writing, they can simply glance up, find the word, and continue … Continue Reading Three Favorite Word Wall Games
How to Use the Word Wall: From a Student Point-of-View
A short and sweet reminder, from a student point-of-view.
In the Classroom We Are All Learners: Reflecting on a Year of Becoming Word Conscious
Elizabeth Siracusa, a fourth- and fifth-grade looping teacher, reflects on the ways she infused vocabulary instruction into her classroom this year.
Phonemic Awareness! Yeah!
Sometimes colleagues tell me that the feel intimidated or uneasy about setting out to teach phonemic awareness, because it all feels so technical. Even the terminology is tricky: phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics… I like to think of teaching phonemic awareness as being just like kindergarteners themselves–complicated indeed, but also a lot of fun.
The Perfect Word
Have you ever been in the midst of your writing and you have to stop in order to find the perfect word?
Professional Talk: Differentiation in Word Study
I recall hearing about differentiated spelling words, for students in Word Study, the first time I visited the school I taught at in Rhode Island. I was unsure of how … Continue Reading Professional Talk: Differentiation in Word Study
Spelling Help
Need to assist a student who has trouble spelling while writing? Watch this video for a practical tool/tip entitled “My Fast Word Fixer.”
Spelling Sites
I tend not to focus much on spelling when I write about the teaching of writing. However, I’m well-aware that using conventions properly is extremely important. Each week, my students … Continue Reading Spelling Sites
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 