School

Our fabulous new teacher, Mrs. Wheeler, is acclimating herself to the 3rd grade team beautifully! She is part of the 2-teacher team of Jackson & Wheeler. Mrs. Jackson is in charge of all things science and math, while Mrs. Wheeler covers all things literacy and integrated social studies. Here's Mrs.Wheeler with her hubby. For the past few weeks, 3rd grade has been studying the difference in the genres of fairy tales, fables, and trickster tales. (as per the Common Core standards and units we...

discussion stems

Year after year my students struggled with summaries, and then I started using this method for teaching summary writing. Eureka! I will never again teach this skill without this summary anchor chart.

Our teachers at my school have invested many hours in learning some of the best practices in teaching reading strategies. In fact, we just attended a workshop this week that helped us validate that the lessons we have been teaching and applying in our classrooms are exactly the type of lessons that we should be using with our students. One of those lessons that my fourth graders had recently was a nonfiction reading strategies lesson on using details to write a summary of the text. What...

Functions are one of the fundamental concepts in mathematics, crucial for students to grasp as they progress through algebra and into higher math. But how can we tell if a graph represents a function? This is where “Function Or Not A Function Worksheets” come into play, providing a visual method to understand and classify functions..

This is a great way for your students to reflect upon the day's learning. Ticket Out the Door is given to the students before they leave your classroom and offers them a reflective way to think about the day's lessons/concepts. It is also a great way for you to assess if your students were paying attention. :-) Included are two versions. One version has an imprint of a ticket in the background for a younger appeal and another version without the imprint for your older students. Print on...

The Exit Card: This card will help you to grasp what your students have learned from your lesson and the questions that you may need to address the following day. The Exit Card may help you to plan your next lesson accordingly. Students can complete their card before leaving class. There are 4 cards to a page for economical printing.

When you say "fist to five check" students rate their understanding by holding up the appropriate number of fingers. The goal is for everyone to be in the green. Great way for students to self-assess their understanding and help you to gauge student understanding.

I've said this before on my blog, but it is most definitely worth saying again, I work with an amazing group of middle school language arts educators. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't learn something from each one that I work with. I have a special treat for my blog followers, and that is a picture walk through my middle school through anchor charts! :) Purposes of anchor charts include: To display routines and expectations throughout different parts of Reading and Writing...

Free Point of View Discussion Sentence Starters to help students learn how to disagree and share different points of view in a respectful way. A necessary skill for 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade students.

These resources put Boys Town’s research-proven methods to work in a variety of educational formats, making learning opportunities for both students and staff.

Guided reading without flexible grouping is more tracking than guided reading. We recently re-benchmarked our below grade level students at the middle school and re-formed our guided reading groups so that students are placed in groups where they will be reading texts at their highest instructional level. With new groups, I took the opportunity to create some new anchor charts. I'm excited about using them with my groups! I have my students put post-it notes to document their thinking as...

I wanted a place to post all of my anchor charts, so I decided to post them all here! As I get more, I will add to my collection. Enjoy!

from sauté to soufflé