Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension

I absolutely adore Reading Rockets. They have such great information. There’s a great article right now on how to teach text comprehension to students. It’s a really great read. If you’re interested, here’s the link: http://www.readingrockets.org.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today, she is my 41st birthday. My, how quickly time passes by. Here’s to 41 more!

H.E.L.P.S. Program

Since I am implementing a new RTI program at my school, I’ve been researching various programs. One such program that I’ve come across is the H.E.L.P.S. Program or Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies. It was developed by  Dr. John Begeny. You can either print the materials for free or pay the company $45 to [...]

Still Plugging Away

I am still plugging away on the curriculum mapping. I have a feeling that I will be doing so for quite some time. This mapping is a very involved process. But I will keep at it.

Happy Birthday Dakota!

My middle son is 20 years old today. He is officially not a teen-ager anymore. I swear, once they finish elementary school, the time simply flies from there. Oh my! Where did the time go???

The Little Engine That Could!

Dear Readers, I am sorry to inform you that this is not a book review of The Little Engine That Could. It is a review, or rather preview of my professional year to come. It’s the reason I am so worried. I am beginning to feel overwhelmed and I haven’t even begun. What is worrying [...]

Curriculum Mapping…Kinda’ Slow!

I am plodding on slowly but surely on mapping my curriculum. It’s a really involved process, but it’s so worth. I can see the whole year planned out at a glance. So far, I’m about 1/4 of the way through 5th grade Social Studies. I’m having a pretty easy time with this because I have [...]

I’ve Moved On to Bigger & Better Things

I was thinking about my former principal the other day. I can remember a time when I wouldn’t cross the street to spit on her if she was on fire. However, I would have crossed the street just to spit on her. If she happened to be in front of me while I was in [...]

Why You Should Use Story Maps

Here’s a link to a Reading Rockets article regarding Story Maps: http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/story_maps/. Enjoy!

Lakeshore Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off Coupon

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Curriculum Mapping…Finally!!!

Well, I finally started mapping my curriculum today. I’d been putting it off because I was a little intimidated by the whole process. But, I’m all about conquering my fears. So, I dove in this morning. It’s slow going. I knew going in that it would be. I also know that it’s an ongoing process, [...]

Unstructured Time!

Unstructured time for my students during class time is soooooo not a good idea. Unstructured time during the summer, for me, is soooooooo not a good idea. I have to go out of my way to make sure I do NOT have too much of it. I am fighting a daily battle with myself. I [...]

Nothing…

I can remember waiting, with bated breath, for summer vacation. There was simply nothing better in the world. Why? Because I got the chance to do absolutely nothing. It used to be my favorite thing to do. Now, ehh, not so much! I see all the things I’ve missed out on for so long. All [...]

Mrs. Rubinstein’s Beauty by Pep Montserrat

Mrs. Rubinstein’s Beauty (2006), by Pep Montserrat. Since Mrs. Rubinstein is no ordinary beauty, she is sometimes overlooked. No one notices her lovely eyes, her wonderful nose, her delicate hands, or, most importantly, her graceful and generous spirit. That is, until she meets the extraordinary Mr. Pavlov. He notices much more than the one VERY [...]

Bookends.org

Lately, I’ve been coming across many organizations that help inner city and/or disadvantaged kids build their library. Here’s one. Check it out! www.bookends.org

University of Texas’ “How to Evaluate Sources”

So many people today think that Wikipedia is a great source. It’s NOT! I remember one of my professors @ APU, Dr. Lampkin, had the same disdain for Wikipedia as Paul Giamatti’s character had for Merlot. To him, it was the lowest of the low; not even worthy of his consideration. Your grade was automatically [...]

Revamping My Classroom Management/Class Economy System!

After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come up with ways to improve my system. I got some ideas from Beth Newingham for my classroom store. I will write about that in a later post.  Here’s a sample of my update classroom management/class economy system. I used to give the students checks and timehseets every three [...]

Assessments I Use!

San Diego Quick High Frequency Word Inventory BRI (Basic Reading Inventory) by Jerry L. Johns Words Their Way inventory Dibels (Dynamic Inventory of Basic Early Literacy Skills) The DIBELS measures assess the 5 Big Ideas in early literacy identified by the National Reading Panel: Phonemic Awareness Alphabetic Principle Accuracy and Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension

Lakeshore Learning 50% Off

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E-How’s “How to Create a Curriculum Map Template”

This is my first step towards mapping my curriculum. Instructions Open Microsoft Word or Word Starter Edition. Open a blank document. Click the “Page Layout” tab on the Word toolbar. Click “Orientation.” Click “Landscape” from the drop down box. Type “Curriculum Map Template” at the top of the blank page. Press “Enter” twice. Type “Teacher:” [...]

University of Penn’s Online Books

Yay! I found another online book site. This one is housed at the University of Pennsylvania. It boasts over 1 million books online. This is the third site out there that I’ve found. The only difference being, this site is for adults, while the other two are for children. Here’s the link. Check it out! [...]

The Difference Between a Goal & An Objective!

A couple of months ago, I attended a Curriculum Mapping training that was fantastic. I’d been wanting to take my teaching to a higher level, but was unsure of how to do that. Well, that Curriculum Mapping workshop did that for me. It answered so many questions. The training was crystal clear. The only problem [...]

Free Teacher’s Plan Book (with any $20 purchase)

Present this coupon at time of purchase. ©Lakeshore coupon code: 75417 Offer valid through 7/31/11. Valid on in-store purchases only. Limit one coupon per customer. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offers or on prior purchases. No cash value. Must present coupon at time of purchase. Good while supplies last. Sorry, no [...]

My Summertime Professional Developments

This summer is soooo different from other summers in that it is a working summer. Even though I’m not getting paid for it. I don’t mind because my focus is on improving my instruction. With the amount of research I’ve been doing on my quest to implement a School-Wide Intervention System at my school, I [...]

Read a Book. Give a Book.

While searching the web, I came across a Pearson Foundation Initiative called Read a Book. Give a Book. For every book read online, the Foundation will donate a book to your choice of five organizations. It’s pretty easy. You just sign up and read. You get your own page that keeps track of the number [...]

How to Find an Article from a Citation

The University of Texas, Austin has loads of great tutorials. I went through them and thought they were very helpful. So, I will be posting some of them. Here’s one about finding an article from a citation: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/students/find/articlecitation.html

Should a/A Be Capitalized in a/A Sentence?

Should “a” be capitalized in a title? I have been wondering about this for awhile, so I decided to google it. Well, I found this excellent blog post about it on About.com. I’m sure I knew this at some point in time, but I get confused about it now. It’s a good (but confusing) read. [...]

Happy 4th of July!

Hello everyone. I just wanted to say Happy 4th of July to everyone. I had fun today. I hope yours was fun also.

50 Creative Ways to Fight the Summer Slide

Here is an article by Accredited Online College entitled, “50 Creative Ways to Fight the Summer Slide“. Click and Enjoy!

My Recommended Summer Reading List

Children’s Picture books (ages 3-8) Snuggle Mountain by Lindsey Lane Maxi’s Bed Magician by Werner Blaebst Fenwick’s Suit by David Small Mr. George Baker I Like Myself By Karen Beaumont Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell Douglass Frederick and the House of They by Joe Kelly and Ben Roman (ages 9-10) Beginning chapter [...]