No matter which side of the literacy debate you're on, teaching comprehension strategies is obviously key. I think everyone can agree on that. If children don't understand the words they're reading, what's the point? I can't recall where I first read this, but I say it all the time: Reading is an action sport. I think, at the very least, we should help children fall in love with books. Once … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Build Reading Stamina
Reading stamina is important, no question. The more time we spend reading, the more we learn about ourselves and the world around us. Knowing how to engage with books for sustained periods of time begins with our youngest readers and grows over the years. For some kids, this is easy and natural. For others, not so much. When you teach a primary grade filled with six and seven-year-olds, most of … [Read more...]
Reusable Anchor Charts for Young Readers
I have a few teacher friends who don't like their own handwriting and swear they can't even draw a stick figure. I'm not sure I totally believe the stick figure part, but I get the point. So you can imagine their anxiety over the thought of creating anchor charts. And seriously, don't we all have that one teammate whose charts are museum-worthy? The kind with perfect artistry we envy? We just want … [Read more...]
The Anatomy of an Anchor Chart
I get asked about anchor charts all the time. It seems to be a thing a lot of teachers dread making because they think they aren't good at it. But anchor charts are an important part of any classroom. They contain key information about the concept you want children to learn. They represent the learning going on in the classroom and they foster independence, so they need to be posted … [Read more...]
When Readers Become Distracted…
This happens to me. I'll be reading something (or I think I'm reading something), when suddenly I realize I have no idea what I've been reading. My mind was totally someplace else. It happens to kids, too... even young readers. And they need to be aware of it. They need to know WHY this happens to readers and then WHAT to do about it. This post doesn't have a chart about why readers get … [Read more...]