A Primary Teaching Blog
Blending sounds is when students fluently join phonemes together to make a word. Successive blending is the most effective blending technique (as research shows here). This is where students “stretch out” the sounds in a continuous manner instead of isolating each sound. Examples of blending with the word mat: Successive blending helps students “hold” the sounds in their brain, because how many times… Read More
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate words (including phonemes-the smallest sounds) in a language. It is directly linked to decoding and in turn, the success of a reader (you can read more about that here if you want more scholarly work). The lovely thing about phonological awareness is, it only takes about 5-10 minutes a day… Read More
Research projects are a great way to introduce little learners to the world of non-fiction. Throughout first and second grade we enjoy many non-fiction texts. By the end of first grade, I had my first graders doing a research project practically on their own (in a small group). Here are some tips and even a research project template you can… Read More
As a teacher you know there’s nothing worse than preparing sub plans. Here are six ways to streamline your process to prepare for a sub and a smooth return and glowing notes from the sub! Easy peasy sub plan ideas! Easy Sub Notes I’m guilty of leaving pages and pages of sub plans early on in my career. Over time,… Read More
Grammar is an important feature in reading skills, but sometimes it seems mundane to teach. There are some simple ways you can integrate grammar skills into your teaching, reading centers, or small group time. Somethings do need to just be taught directly, but the practice doesn’t have to be boring! Here are some ways you can sneak these skills into… Read More
Beginning sounds are an important part of learning to read and learning those beginning sounds is done mainly through phonological awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate units of sound in spoken language). To learn more about phonemic awareness you can read this blog post. 1. Beginning Sound Sorts My students tend to mix up certain sounds (especially when their… Read More
After the 2020 year, we are stuck with a TON of digital resources, but don’t hit the “trash” button just yet! There are appropriate places we can still use digital resources in the classroom to keep us organized and our students engaged. Although we won’t be using digital resources 100% of the time, there are some benefits to them-like they… Read More
Looking to bring hands-on science back into your classroom? KiwiCo has you covered with their STEM crates! These crates can be used inside and outside of the classroom for hands-on science and are teacher-verified! KiwiCo sent me a few sample boxes to share (but my review is my opinion). These crates can easily be aligned to standards that you are… Read More
Virtual learning, distance learning, asynchronous, synchronous, unprecedented times, flexibility. The words we are tired of hearing, am I right?? Let’s chat about the first day of (virtual) school! I’m going to take you through my first day of (virtual) school slides. It kept me organized to have everything I would be doing in one powerpoint (or in this case-google slide… Read More
The first day of school is a time the students get “all the feels”– excited, scared, sad…the list goes on. I created a first day of school activity called First Day Feels which helps them and you identify how they are feeling and realizing, they aren’t alone. Each student can fill out a sheet of paper about the first day… Read More
