When we began distance learning last spring, I will admit my first thought about teaching guided reading was, "This just isn't possible right now." However, I quickly adjusted my thinking and decided to problem solve to find the best ways to teach small groups online. I decided to write this blog post to help you find your own best ways to teach virtual guided reading while distance learning in kindergarten.It can be so discouraging to feel like we can't reach our students the same way we would ...
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What Are CVC Words and the Best Way Teach Them
If you are a kindergarten teacher or parent, you probably know that teaching CVC words is a HUGE kindergarten standard. But you may be asking yourself, “What are CVC words?” or “How do I teach CVC words?” In this blog post, I am going to share what is a CVC word, how to teach CVC words in kindergarten, and hands on CVC word activities your students will love!What are CVC words?CVC stands for consonant + vowel + consonant. These are words that are easily decodable for beginning readers because ...
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The Best Digital Centers and Activities for January
I’m not going to sugarcoat it - distance learning in Kindergarten or 1st grade is HARD! But one thing that I have found makes it so much easier is having pre-made, hands on digital centers and activities ready to go.These January digital centers are aligned to our learning standards and make differentiation easy. I can just select the slides I want, make a quick copy (read how to do that in 2 clicks here), and assign.If you’re using Seesaw, it’s even easier! It’s a 1-click preloaded link. Just ...
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4 {Easy} Ways to Add Student Choice to Increase Engagement
Teachers tend to fall into one of two camps: we love student choice or we shy away from it. Choice can either be a fantastic classroom management tool, or a way to create chaos in our classrooms. I tend to feel that choice is a great way to manage our classrooms. It also can greatly increase student engagement. How can we use choice to benefit our students?Why is choice important?I tend to think of choice as a progression of events for our students. Here’s how it tends to go:Choice creates ...
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Why You NEED Shared Reading in Kindergarten
Do you use shared reading in your classroom? Shared reading is such a simple routine that you can work into your whole group time. It is one of my favorite ways to engage my students in reading. "Shared reading enables all children, regardless of their reading levels, to have enjoyable literacy opportunities every day." – Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su PinnellThis quote from Fountas and Pinnell sums up why I love this routine. Shared reading allows every student to be successful with reading a ...
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The Mitten Activities for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade
The Mitten by Jan Brett is a winter read aloud classic! We love having a The Mitten week every year in kindergarten, and these The Mitten activities are perfect for extending the fun into every subject area!The Mitten Book Response ActivitiesOf course we read The Mitten all week! It’s a story that students never get tired of and we can use it to work on so many comprehension skills.We start with making predictions:What will happen when the mouse wiggles into the mitten?Then, we talk about the ...
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