Andrea Knight

Teacher · Learner · Author

Classroom Posters That Develop Positive Behaviors

What do readers do? Or writers? How about scientists, musicians, and athletes? What does it look like to be an active listener? And what does it mean to be a good friend? The first week of school is right around the corner and these are some of the questions I know we'll talk about as we work on building our culture. These classroom posters have been in my back to school toolbox for years and I … [Read more...]

Informational Writing Templates for Kids

Informational writing doesn't have to be super challenging for kids. Most children like reading, watching, and listening to nonfiction. And they LOVE to tell you all the fun facts and trivia they know about their particular passion topic. I don't know if this happens in other parts of the country, but when I was teaching in Florida, many of my students were obsessed with … [Read more...]

Diaries: A Tiny Twist on the Personal Narrative

Writing personal narratives is a key unit of study in primary classrooms. Most students manage this unit with ease. They're not usually at a loss for ideas and often over-write. As a matter of fact, you've probably delivered a lot of lessons on how to rethink and revise for irrelevant, superfluous content. It feels like that never ends. Ever. Do you have that lesson on repeat too? But some … [Read more...]

Opinion Writing in First Grade

Opinion writing in first grade is a little tricky. It's not because kids don't have opinions. They have plenty. And if you've been a teacher for even two minutes, you already know this. It's because they're also storytellers and they can't help themselves from sharing all their comings and goings with anyone who will listen. Even though you've taught umpteen opinion writing lessons, there are … [Read more...]

How to Teach Writing in First Grade

I think a lot about how to teach writing in first grade. When I was a beginning teacher, I would read through the writing standards and wonder if they were even reachable for kids who were only six ... kids who pretty much just learned how to use letters to write their own names ... kids who were still drawing pictures to communicate most of their ideas ... kids who would rather hear a story than … [Read more...]