Sight words are critical in learning how to read. Not only are sight words the most frequent words seen in our texts, but most of them cannot be sounded out based on the “normal” phonetic patterns we teach to our students. Memorization is key when it comes to sight words. Since flashcards can be boring, […]

The gifting season is upon us and I am here to share my favorite educational gifts for kids in 2019! I went ahead and shared a few of my favorite kids’ gifts last year (see that here) and it was a hit. So, I am back again with some tried and true favorites from our […]

We all know that having a strong number sense is vitally important to our mathematical ability. It’s why we spend so much time looking at, deconstructing, and working with numbers in kindergarten and first grade. I am always looking for fun and engaging number sense games to help my primary students practice how to identify, […]

Writing workshop in first grade can be tricky to implement, but once you and your class have the process down, it can be such a rewarding time. One of my favorite parts of the writing workshop happens during independent writing. It’s the writing conferences! When you hold writing conferences in first grade, you may get […]

Today, I am sharing two fun addition games and all you need to play is some dice! Both of these games are great for first or second grade and they are naturally low-prep. The first game is called “Going to Boston.” It’s a great way for students to quickly identify the largest number rolled and […]

Teaching questioning to primary readers can be tricky! I find that interesting because kids grow up asking questions nonstop!  Then, getting them to ask questions in an academic setting can prove to be challenging. Today, I wanted to share a few fun and free activities to get students asking questions both before and during reading. […]

Number sense in kindergarten and first grade is where we usually start in our math instruction. To help students become more fluent in their understanding of numbers, I have three fun math games students can play to practice. All three games are SUPER simple. You’ll just need to print and play. I particularly like these […]

Do you start your math block with a quick warm up?! I loved to kick off my math block in first grade with a fast and fun activity to get students thinking. I loved this time for spiral review so students can continue practicing skills they’ve already learned throughout the year! The math warm up […]