The concept behind mood rings is as strange as it is fun–do we need a device to tell us our mood, isn’t some mild self-refection a more direct route? Well, yes, but mood rings are FUN. And, recognizing feelings isn’t always straightforward. As part of my RULER bundle (RULER is a social-emotional acronym, you can read about it here) I created several feeling diaries for students. The most fun diary features mood rings. I thought I’d make a simpler version and post it on TpT as a freebie. It would make a great intro to the RULER acronym and the mood meter. If you’d like to give the RULER acronym…
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A Versatile Template for Read Alouds (Free Download)
One of my favorite things about reading workshop is finding and sharing picture books with students. Shared readings generate discussions (academic and personal) that are relevant to your kiddos . While ‘meeting student needs’ is one of the great benefits of shared readings, it’s also one of the great challenges. Suiting a favorite read aloud to this particular class year after year can be time consuming. When I was creating my series of genre units, I wanted to include discussion guides for shared readings that would be versatile enough to fit a range of needs, but specific enough to make them low-prep for teachers. I ended up a creating a…
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Genre, Genre Families, and Genre Vs. Form–A Quick Guide & Downloadable Cheat Sheet
Once I got into genre study, I realized how much I didn’t know about genre. Sure, I knew what genre was, I could list genres, I could email you resources (ready made anchor charts…oops), but I hadn’t thought about how genre differs from form, or noticed that genres belong to certain genre families. Here’s a little cheat sheet I made to demonstrate genre relationships. You can download it for free here. After implanting genre study in my own classroom and designing a year-long genre study curriculum, here’s what I’ve learned about genre: Genre Differs from Form Genre pertains to the content of the text–historical fiction, for example will tell a…
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Reading In Quarantine- Free Resources for Students & Parents
Wow, what a month it’s been. Whether you’re a teacher or parent, you’re likely trying to wrap your head around distance learning (among other things). One difficult thing about distance learning is that some classroom routines aren’t easily replicated at home. Reading instruction is going to look different for a while—-parents won’t be able to provide what a teacher, curriculum, classroom community, and other helpers provided on a daily basis at school. BUT, there’s some good news. A daily reading practice is the cornerstone of a thriving reading workshop, and parents can definitely help their kids read at home. There’s no need to overcomplicate things—any reading is better than no…
