One of my most popular posts on my home life blog was on creating a home writing center. This was a very easy project to put together and has seen YEARS of use. I wrote this post, initially, when my daughter was in kindergarten. She’s now in 5th grade. In the beginning, this was hung
I love using books as a springboard for encouraging kids to write their own stories. The Ready, Set, Go series is a favorite of mine. I bought levels 1-3 and these are kindergarten and early first grade reading level. These are very simple, four page books, with repetitive text. It’s a great model for kids who don’t know where to begin. They see these books and say, “Hey, I can do that!”
Our experiences contribute to our literacy lives in a big way. Every little activity that we participate in is filed away in our brains until there comes a time when we need it. Early childhood is such a fun and magical time to help kids see HOW these little experiences connect to their literacy lives.
Here’s an example of a nature table we set up in my kindergarten classroom. I say WE, because this was a collection made by my students and their families. They were so excited to collect tree rounds, pinecones, pussywillow cuttings, and branches to explore. We read many books about trees and kids had so many connections.
It may be surprising to hear that I didn’t always love teaching writing to young children. After all, I write a literacy blog. You would think that I loved reading and writing as a kid and that my love for those subjects carried right into my adult life and into my teaching. Well… not so
It’s Parent/Teacher conference week in the school district I work in. I love talking with parents! It’s one of my favorite parts of the job. While conference week is exhausting, in the sense that I don’t get home until 8pm on several nights of the week, I find it so inspiring. I get to talk