Reading is important. In order to function in society, our students need to be able to read. Being a reader also brings enjoyment into our students lives. Here are 5 ways to help students see themselves as readers and boost student reading confidence. Why do our students need to see themselves as readers? I’ve written before about the importance of…
Do Audiobooks count as real books? Does listening to a story have the same impact as reading it? The quick answer is yes and yes. Let’s explore why audiobooks “count” as real reading, how our brains react to listening versus reading ourselves, and how you can utilize audiobooks effectively in your classroom. Why Audiobooks are “Real” Books First, before we…
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…
Strong sentence understanding is the key to students producing strong writing pieces. Maybe this sounds like something that doesn’t even need to be said to you. However, I’ve found that teachers often don’t spend enough time developing firm sentence understanding in their students. This leads to frustrated teachers and students who lack confidence. So, let’s explore why strong sentence skills…
Once student have basic sentences down, sometimes it can be hard to encourage them to create more interesting, complex sentences. We want our students to expand their sentences, but how can we help them understand how to do it? The most simple solution is to teach our students to expand sentences using their senses. This simple strategy is an effective…