Promoting Math Problem Solving Skills in Young Children

From the desk of Leigh Ann… “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ~ Albert Einstein The Common Core encourages us to build our students’ math problem solving skills – focusing on the process as much as the outcome.  Modeling math problem solving strategies and talking about the process is…

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Register NOW for ERG Summer 2014 Events!

Click HERE to register for ERG Summer Events Click HERE for details about Laney Sammons -Guided Math K-8 Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at the Hawthorne Inn, Winston-Salem, NC $195.00 per person Click HERE for details about Burkins and Yaris-Reading Wellness Thursday, July 24, 2014 in the Raleigh/RTP Area (Location to be confirmed by January 1)…

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Too Good for Guided Reading?

From the desk of Alice… I recently had a conversation with a teacher who said her kids don’t really need Guided Reading anymore because they are her top students and they can read well.  If you are in a school working on Guided Reading, you may have heard this, too.  In a perfect school world,…

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6 Tips for Using Mentor Texts

From the desk of Carol C… For a long time I had no idea what a mentor text was.  I would hear the term thrown around but never really got the specifics of it.  When I finally did learn what mentor texts were, I realized the power they had to grow student writers.  I thought…

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Tips for Teaching Argumentative Writing

From the desk of Carol C… Writing is an important component of the Common Core literacy standards.  There are three types of writing the CC addresses:  argumentative/opinion, informational, and narrative.  All three of these types are found in the standards at every grade level K-12. In the past, most students have written narratives or informational…

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One Little Way to Enlarge Your Child's World

From the desk of Leigh Ann… “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Research has shown that one of the most important things a parent can do to help instill a love of learning in their child is to read to…

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Read. Analyze. Emulate.

From the desk of Alice… In case you missed it, Kelly Gallagher was in town this week and did a workshop related to reading and writing.  I love it when we are able to bring high quality educators and authors to the area so I can learn from them.  Kelly had many useful tips for…

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Seize the Opportunity

From the desk of Carol C… You have the opportunity to go to Hawaii, and everything for you is free.  Would you take it?  What about Paris, London, Rome, or southern Germany free of charge?  Pearl Harbor, the Louvre, Tower of London, or Bavaria.  Of course you would.  It would be the opportunity of a…

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And the Answer Is…

From the desk of Carol C… I’ve thought a lot about the role of questioning in our classrooms and its effect on students.  Questioning, if used to help students think more critically is a vital part of any high achieving classroom.  Lately though I’ve started thinking about the answers we give children.  Whether kids are…

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Raising the Levels of Questioning

From the desk of Carol C… Teachers have always asked questions.   It is a natural part of any lesson, but questioning in 2013 must be different.  Today in order to meet the rigorous demands of the Common Core Standards we must approach questioning from a different perspective.   Now questions must be preplanned and deliberate just…

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