Authentic Learning
Finding Freedom in Poetry Writing
From the desk of Katie M… When people think of poetry they always think rhyme but that’s not always true. There are many different types of poems like free verse, cinquain, haiku, lyrical, concrete and so on. None of those besides lyric actually has to rhyme. This is important to tell your writers! I…
Read MoreLet Them Believe
From the desk of Kris… A picture is worth a thousand words…..well, okay, for a kindergartener maybe it’s not a thousand words…but it certainly can be worth many words. If you ask any kindergartener about his picture, he is sure to tell you a lengthy story! But does drawing a picture and telling a story…
Read MorePitfalls and Successes
From the desk of Carol C… When teachers yearn for the days of old when children could just write, write, write creative stories, I cringe. I remember the never ending stories children wrote. The tones were so overwhelming that I couldn’t face the task of helping the kids revise their work. Plus the few times…
Read MoreCollaborative Learning
From the desk of Kris… My boys were less than thrilled to go back to school a few weeks ago. In fact, one of my sons came home recently and likened school to jail. His words: “School is like a place where they lock you in a room, force you to sit in a seat…
Read MoreCrawling Comes First!
From the desk of Kris… The Common Core Standards have set the bar pretty high for Kindergarten. We know that at the beginning of the year, many Kindergartners cannot read. While that may be true, it does not mean that they can’t understand text or are unable to answer questions about text. As teachers, we…
Read MoreNot Your Mother's Book Report-
From the desk of Christie… More than likely we have all in some point had to create a book report. With the shifts in Common Core we will be seeing many changes in the types of assignments our students are asked to complete in school and independently. As parents we will be guiding children through…
Read MoreAre you just walking on the words?
From the desk of Kris… I love this quote by Paolo Friere: “Reading is not walking on words. It’s grasping the soul of them.” When I was a child I walked all over words. I stomped on them and tromped on them and could read anything that was put in front of me. I had…
Read MoreIs there such a thing as Bad Praise?
From the desk of Carol C…. Have you ever caught yourself telling your child or a student “You’re so smart”? I know I have. Many times I say it almost absentmindedly. “I finished the puzzle.” “You’re so smart.” “I finished my homework.” “You’re so smart.” “I didn’t hit my brother when he stole my Legos.”…
Read MoreLiteracy Lessons from the List
From the desk of Christie… I am fortunate to have a little one that is bursting with eagerness to learn to read. Although like his mother, he is not so eager when it comes to cleaning. We have found that lists work beautifully for this chore. For a while I have welcomed his help in…
Read MoreWhat's in a Number?
From the desk of Melissa… 1% What does that 1% mean? In my case, it’s… -not the fat in my milk -not my cashback rewards on my credit card -not the effort I put into my work -not the number of days over 100 degrees this summer Unfortunately, it’s the percentile for my son’s weight! …
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