Literacy, Typing

Weekly Round-Up: 4 Fun and Free Typing Resources for Students

Learning to type is a key skill for students. When students are able to type effectively, they are better able to write quickly and to not get caught up in the physical mechanics of typing. There are lots of incredible, free, typing resources on the Internet. I particularly like typing games that provide words instead of just letters. It feels weird just randomly hitting letters on the keyboard when they aren't part of words! Here are 4 typing lessons and games I particularly enjoy!

Literacy, Reading

5 Fun Pre-Reading Strategies to Try with your Grade 3-6 Students

Reading with your class is key part of literacy! All students come into our class with different reading abilities and we need to plan so that all students find success in the reading activity. Here are 5 pre-reading strategies to help all learners get ready to read the text!

Writing

5 Strategies for Students to Use when Planning their Writing

Pre-writing and planning are the first two steps in the writing process (pre-writing, planning, writing, revising, editing, and publishing) and yet many students struggle with this step. A good plan helps students get their ideas down, helps them break the large writing process into manageable chunks, and keeps them on track. Keep reading for 5 ways to help students plan their writing.

Weekly round-up, Writing

Weekly Round-Up: 5 Incredible Writing Prompt Resources

It's time to do our first weekly round-up! This is a great place to find resources without needing to scour the internet yourself. Today's topic is incredible writing prompt resources. There is a good variety below, including video prompts, writing prompt generators, and picture writing prompts. Keep reading for 5 incredible writing prompt resources!

Talking

15 Fun Debate Topics to Try in your Literacy Classroom

Talking is part of literacy too! Debate is a great activity for students to practice talking. Plus, students can take the skills that they learn for supporting their point during debate and apply it to their writing. Not to mention that many middle school students just love to argue. With that in mind, here are 15 fun debate topics to try in your middle school classroom this year.

Time management

How to Find an Appropriate Work-Life Balance as a New Teacher

Teaching is hard work. Between teaching all day, parent contacts, prepping, and marking, it seems like the work could go on forever. I, like most teachers, feel the crunch of too many things to do and not enough time. While I definitely do not have the answers, there are some tricks I wish I had known in my first year or teaching. Here are 6 tips to try to have a better work-life balance as a new teacher.

Publishing, Talking, The writing process

7 Ways to Publish Student Writing

Publishing student work is the last of the 6 steps of the writing process (prewriting, planning, writing, revising, editing, publishing). But what exactly does publishing mean and how do you best do it? When students publish their work, it allows others the chance to read it. It can be a source of pride for students to share their work with others encourages students to always try their best. Keep reading for 7 ways to publish student work!

Writing

4 Drama-Based Activities to Generate Writing Ideas: Grades 4-7

From the time that they are young, kids are incredibly creative. Toddlers, preschoolers, and grade-school children play in their imagination all the time. As students get older, their imaginative play decreases, but their imagination remains. Why not use this to generate ideas for your students writing topics! Keep reading for 4 drama-based activities that would work as a brainstorming sessions for your next writing prompt.