Reading
Collaborative Learning
From the desk of Kris… My boys were less than thrilled to go back to school a few weeks ago. In fact, one of my sons came home recently and likened school to jail. His words: “School is like a place where they lock you in a room, force you to sit in a seat…
Read MoreCrawling Comes First!
From the desk of Kris… The Common Core Standards have set the bar pretty high for Kindergarten. We know that at the beginning of the year, many Kindergartners cannot read. While that may be true, it does not mean that they can’t understand text or are unable to answer questions about text. As teachers, we…
Read MoreReading Wide
From the desk of Carol C… Most of us have our favorite reading genre and stick pretty much to it. Some prefer realistic fiction or graphic novels or informational text or biography…the list goes on. It’s fine to have a favorite type of book; however, children who have read or have been read to from…
Read MoreCommon Core is Here
From the desk of Carol C… “The Common Core is here. Now what do we do?” When I first read that quote I thought , “You got that right sister. What are we gonna do?” In no time, well meaning supervisors started giving me suggestions. “Look on Cleveland County’s website. Try the NYC website. Have…
Read MoreNot Your Mother's Book Report-
From the desk of Christie… More than likely we have all in some point had to create a book report. With the shifts in Common Core we will be seeing many changes in the types of assignments our students are asked to complete in school and independently. As parents we will be guiding children through…
Read MoreAre you just walking on the words?
From the desk of Kris… I love this quote by Paolo Friere: “Reading is not walking on words. It’s grasping the soul of them.” When I was a child I walked all over words. I stomped on them and tromped on them and could read anything that was put in front of me. I had…
Read MoreLiteracy Lessons from the List
From the desk of Christie… I am fortunate to have a little one that is bursting with eagerness to learn to read. Although like his mother, he is not so eager when it comes to cleaning. We have found that lists work beautifully for this chore. For a while I have welcomed his help in…
Read MoreThe Power of a Postcard
On our recent trip to the beach, I grabbed a few postcards in the checkout line so we could send them to some family that didn’t make the trip. Taking time to write postcards is a quick and easy way to ease your preschooler into writing and increase their “literary sense.” I set aside some…
Read MorePreventing Summer Learning Loss
The summer break is on the horizon! This is great news for folks who are ready to slow down and have a more leisurely pace over the next few months. At the same time we are trying to relax and recharge, we want to make sure our children don’t become a victim of summer learning…
Read MoreFiction or Nonfiction? Why Do We Care?
From the desk of Amanda… Teacher: So we’ll be reading a text today called My Bones. Is this fiction or non-fiction? As a student, I love this question because I have a 50/50 shot even if I completely guess. As an adult, I’m thinking, “Boy, I’d love to take those odds to Vegas.” Student 1: …
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