Materials themselves will help teachers grow professionally, but alongside that teachers need good professional development. Professional development makes the work come alive.
July 15, 2021
School districts seeking to close the achievement gap must consider good classroom teaching, meaningful assessment, multiple layers of intervention, and the ongoing development of highly qualified teachers.
July 14, 2021
The better you know the students in your class, the more effective you will be as a teacher of reading.
July 13, 2021
Within the social world of classrooms, students learn what it means to be a global citizen. They learn how to collaborate, how to learn, how to solve problems.
July 12, 2021
Share books that have a strong author point of view on a societal issue. Have the student write about whether the author changed their mind about the topic?
July 2, 2021
Encourage the student to take a photograph that they feel tells a story. Have them write an accompanying paragraph that explains the story the picture is capturing.
July 1, 2021
Invite the student to select photos showing family members or an event from their lives. Have the student write a brief nonfiction text using the photos as illustrations.
June 30, 2021
Share with the student several nonfiction books illustrated with photographs and hand-drawn illustrations. Talk about how they convey different information.
June 29, 2021
Have the student immerse themselves in a variety of their favorite book covers. Invite the student to pick a favorite and create a new cover for that book.
June 26, 2021
Choose a book or poem and ask your child to talk or write about their favorite scenes. Work together to transform scenes from the book into acts of a play. Gather props and perform!
June 24, 2021
Play your child's favorite song or sing it together. Encourage your child through prompts to talk, draw, or write about how they think and feel about the song.
June 23, 2021
Have children use a small notebook (or use their Reader's Notebook) to list all the books they read and that you read together. Encourage them to add a brief statement about each book.
June 21, 2021
Have the child talk to family members about special recipes. Put the recipes together to make a family recipe book, and invite the child to draw pictures to illustrate the recipes.
June 18, 2021
Using books and magazines, collect information on other places. Explore the materials together. Ask: “How do books help us travel to new places?”
June 17, 2021
Have the child construct a statement of two facts that describe an animal. For example, “I am orange and black and I have a loud roar. What am I?”
June 16, 2021
On a large piece of paper have the student create a mural that illustrates some of the different ways families show they care for each other.
June 15, 2021
Provide the child with puppets and have the child act out their own versions of familiar folktales, such as “Little Red Riding Hood.”
June 14, 2021
Have the child create an “All About Me” book with a photo or drawing of themselves for the cover. Have them add writing, drawings, and pictures to showcase their favorite things.
June 11, 2021