I have been creating and using phonics poetry for K-2 classrooms for almost a decade now! I just find that fun, rhythmic phonics poems are a great way to practice so many different skills. For one, we practice decoding many different phonics patterns by reading words with those patterns within a text. We practice fluency […]

The read aloud. It’s a teacher’s dream. The students all sitting quietly, listening, learning, enjoying the book! That’s what we all hope for right?!   Now don’t get me wrong, these moments exist and they should be cherished! But sometimes, I wanted to make sure I was making the most of my precious read aloud […]

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, […]

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. […]

Tennis balls + sight words = a whole lot of fun! Sight word bounce is a fun outdoor game that has students practicing their sight words and a little hand-eye coordination at the same time.   All you need to play this game is some outdoor space, sidewalk chalk, a tennis ball. My kids liked […]

When we teach students to synthesize, we let them know that they are combining what they already know with new information they learn from the text. As we do this, our thinking changes and grows! It’s important to teach students not to just repeat back what they’re learning. Instead, we want our students to realize […]

Teaching students to visualize while they read helps them to connect and comprehend the stories they hear and read in the classroom. I wanted to share some activities to help students visualize in first and second grade. Our Feelings: I like using this activity to show students that our visualizations are often very personal. Based […]

I am always on the hunt for fun, new games and activities to practice sight words. This ode to the game, Battleship, is such a great way to keep students engaged while learning or reviewing sight words. The goal of the game is to the be first to find the other player’s buried treasure! Students […]

I love teaching students to make inferences in first grade. They feel like detectives as the search for what the author hasn’t said in the text. I thought I would take some time to share with you some of my favorite activities for teaching students how to infer. Using Photographs: When we begin making inferences, […]