The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to start off strong with your reading and writing instruction. As you start heading back to school, in addition to focusing on the typical do’s and don’t for a new school year, here are 4 tips on how to start off strong with literacy in your classroom.
Communicate with Parents Early and Often
Communication is key when it comes to any healthy guardian school relationship. However, you might not necessarily think it’s that important when it comes to reading and writing skills. It really is, though. Your students’ parents and guardians know them best, and most parents really want to help their children succeed. Taking the time to share what you’re doing in class can go a long way in building trust, getting to know your students, and providing the information parents need to help their children at home.
Here are 3 things to share with parents when it comes to reading and writing instruction.
- Share with parents the different skills the whole class is focusing on and give them ideas of things they can do at home.
- Ask parents if, how, and when children are reading or listening to reading at home. Also ask them if their child enjoys writing and drawing at home.
- Let parents know where you see their child. Be sure to share strengths as well as areas they can work to improve.
Everyone is a Reader
When it comes to your students, the number one most important thing to impress on them in the first few days of school is that everyone is a reader. Take time to discuss how all books have their place and value and that everyone is a reader, no matter what or how they’re reading. Building up students’ confidence and excitement for reading is the first step in helping them grow their literacy this school year.
Everyone is a Writer
Just like confidence in reading is important, so too is confidence in writing skills. Many students dislike writing, or feel like they’re not good at it because they don’t write a certain way. Spend time showing students that they can convey stories, thoughts, and feelings no matter where they are in their writing journey. This goes hand in hand with share all types of books with your students. At the end of the day, helping your students realize their potential can have a huge impact on the trajectory their school year takes.
Make it Fun from the Beginning
My biggest tip is to make reading and writing fun from the beginning. When it comes to reading, my favorite way to get students engaged is with my personalized reading passages. Students love that they get to star in the story, and teachers love how easy they are! They’re the perfect way tp grab students’ attention while practicing key phonics and comprehension skills! Would you like one to try during the first week of school? Keep reading to see how you can try one for free!
More Back to School Reading and Writing Tips
If you’d like some more beginning of the school year literacy instruction tips and tricks, and to try one of my back to school personalized reading passage for free, I’ve got something fantastic for you! I’ve joined together with over 20 other teachers to share some helpful reading and writing tips for back to school. In addition, we’ve each shared a free resource to help kick the year off. Simply click on the picture below to download our free ebook. But that’s not all!
Enter to Win!
You can win every resource featured in our ebook by entering the rafflecopter below!
