The Mitten is such a classic book to teach in the primary grades. There is SO much you can get out of it, yet it seems like we tend to stick to the basics: sequencing events. I wanted to shake it up a bit and show you some comprehension activities you could do with this lovable book that require other, more complicated, comprehension skills.  Two goals I have for these activities are to ... Read More about Digging Deeper with The Mitten

Today I'm home again because it's a snow day! We have more snow than I can ever remember having, which of course is SO exciting. All this snow has me in the mood to read snowy-themed books with my boys before bed. One we read last night is one that we've read several times already. I usually think of it as a simple book to read simply for enjoyment. I love turtles, and the main character is a ... Read More about Winter Book Snippet

After a little holiday break, I'm back at it. I needed to get this done before returning to school next week. Breaks always fly by, don't they?! I'll be using these activities with my kindergarten small groups. I'm working with students who need more practice to master their letters and sounds. They loved the activities from the fall set, so I went ahead and made a winter set of alphabet ... Read More about Alphabet Activities for Winter

This week I got to go into the first grade classrooms and help out with one of my favorite projects. They turned out so cute! With this activity, students will choose five the main events from  the Polar Express, write and illustrate them, and sequence them onto a train. Keep in mind, my directions are for a first grade class. If you do this with 2nd or 3rd, you wouldn't have to do so much ... Read More about Common Core in December: Polar Express Sequencing

Reindeer: Research, Comparing texts, and Opinion Writing (with some fact checking!) If you are looking for a fun activity that will last about a week, hit several standards, and be a little quirky, look no further! The following activity begins with a read-aloud of a fiction book, moves into researching using nonfiction texts and short video, and then takes a sharp right into opinion ... Read More about Common Core in December: Reindeer

I can't believe it! Two days in a row of blogging. Well, I'm sort of cheating because these are from old posts. ;) I did update my freebie from years ago, so I thought it would be a good time to repost. This is a short one today. Come back tomorrow and the next day to see a Polar Express activity (craft freebie) and a fun reindeer writing activity.  Santa Writing One of my ... Read More about Common Core in December Part 2