These 25 quick and easy tips for new teachers will help you create a positive, engaging, and effective learning environment for your students.

Let's dive into some new options to teach vocabulary, for those who have the time and energy to pursue them. In this post and podcast, I'm sharing ten ideas for making the study of vocabulary something students might even look forward to.

Learning to read and spell silent letter words can be tricky for kids. Learn teaching tips and tricks that make this concept easy and fun!

Hello darlings! Do you teach vocabulary to your students? I think this is one thing we are missing in the upper grades and we are doing a disservice to our students. As they move up levels in reading, the thing that I notice that holds my students back the most is the challenging vocabulary they ... Read More about Adding Vocabulary to your ELA Block

Assessing a student’s learning is an integral part of teaching. An assessment aims to measure what your students have learned or will be learning in the future.

What are your methods for teaching vocabulary? Drills? Flashcards? Yuck! Boring! While these can certainly be effective, they can be a quick way to lose your student’s attention if you spend too much…

Introducing students to challenging words through Word of the Week can help increase their confidence in reading, writing, & speaking.

Free inspirational posters and motivational quotes for teachers. Colorful posters for teachers with motivating quotes.

These are awesome, incredible, wonderful, and fantastic!

You have come to the right place to receive a logical order to teach phonics for Kindergarten and First Grade. Subscribe to the blog to learn more about teaching K-2 with content and free resources. Click on the picture to print. Have you ever wondered what is the order to teach phonics? Here you will find a list for you ready to print FREE!! Download for this FREE list and start teaching today! Below this freebie is a year long spelling with the order of phonics for first grade. Click on the following picture to purchase and learn how to teach the order of phonics with a full year of spelling lists and word sorts differentiated for 3 levels! Thank you for spending time with me today. Let me know if you have questions below or in the Q/A section of my TPT store. Robin Wilson First Grade Love

Some newcomers arrive with no English at all and need to focus on basic classroom English first. This pack will help.

Steal these for your writing unit!

Today I wanted to stop by and share some strategies for teaching vowel teams and diphthongs in our classroom! It’s always challenging to teach spelling patterns that aren’t easily decodable! […]

Kids and young adults need extensive practice in strengthening their executive functioning skills. Executive functions are the processes in our brains that help us accomplish all tasks from beginning to end. We use them when we plan our day, organize our materials, begin a chore, focus on important

Learn how to identify point of view types, and why they matter.

Looking for games to play with a classroom? This list of English games in the classroom is exactly what you need to engage students!

This post shares tips and strategies for teaching different learning styles to meet the needs of all learners.

Is your child ready to read 2-syllable words? Great! Here are teaching tips for the most common early reading problems and fun activity ideas to keep your child engaged!

Teach kids to be mindful with this 5 step activity. This "break" method will help kids and adults focus and live in the moment.

Teaching regular past tense form is one of the very first morphemes (fancy word for a unit of meaning) that we teach our young readers and writers.

Welcome to the Thrive Literacy Corner library of free resources for subscribers! I will update this library on a regular basis as I create new resources. These resources are in PDF format and can be

Do you struggle with finding interesting ways to teach ESL listening skills? Maybe you have an activity or two already but you want to be able to mix it up and keep things interesting. By the end of…

CVCe anchor chart inspiration is here! I've gathered up all of my favorite free anchor charts for teaching CVCe as silent e, magic e, bossy e, and more!

15 exit ticket ideas for any subject or grade level!

How many of us have gone to work sick because it was easier than planning for a sub? We just can't afford to do that anymore, especially in the world of Covid. Years ago, I was determined to find an easier, more manageable way to plan for a substitute teacher. I am sure you know the feeling of waking up sick and not knowing how you are going to get everything ready for a sub when you feel so terrible. With that in mind, I created a Substitute Teacher Binder and Sub Tub. In this post, I will share how I prep for those surprise sick days and how I prepare for days that I know ahead of time I am going to be off. I most recently had to plan for a sub for a week, so I will share some tips and tricks for planning for those days off. At the beginning of the year, I create my Substitute Binder. I divide it into sections for easy access to different topics and parts of their day. I print the section cover pages on cardstock and laminate with 3M laminating pouches. You could also just use a clear binder if you don't want to use the rings like I did. (The discs/rings and the paper punch I use are from Happy Planner.) Choose which sections you want to include that are important for a sub to know. I then sit this by my door so that they see it when they come in. If it's a day I had already planned on being off, I put it on my desk or teacher table with everything they need for the day. As for the sub tub, I always put extra worksheets in the bottom of it throughout the year that we didn't get to. This just gives the sub something extra if they need time filler throughout the day. First, let's talk about the sub binder and what I include. All of this is very helpful for those surprise days off. I can just text a teammate and ask them to set out my binder for the day if I get sick. I always sort my worksheets and activities in daily bins, so I ask them to set that day's bin out along with the binder. It makes planning for a sub super easy for me and for my teammates. The tabs on the binder are super important to have. This lets the sub know what's important for them to know and shows them where to quickly turn if they need that section at a particular time. I always have a little WELCOME note to make them feel welcomed. You could also include any special information you need them to know first thing. I include a full page ROSTER of my class. I also print the half sheet rosters and clip them to the front of the binder. They can take attendance on these since they don't have access to our online attendance. Be sure to include a note about that on your lesson plans so they know where to put attendance. The next sections I like to make are STUDENT INFO and IMPORTANT INFO. These are the sections where you will include important health information, such as allergies or other medical conditions they need to know about. I also include emergency procedures, pull outs, seating charts, a class schedule, and any other helpful information about students or special situations that could arise. For RELATED ARTS, I include our rotations. If I know I am going to be out, I include the exact one that we go to that day in my lesson plans. If not, they can just ask another teacher what day we are on. I put my classroom management strategies and classroom rules in the PROCEDURES section. I let them know the specifics of expectations, consequences, and incentives that they can use. I also include another pull out list here, just in case. The ARRIVAL section gives important details about expectations during the first part of the morning. This is where you tell them what students do when they first come in, details about announcements, and how to complete attendance. The LESSON PLAN section includes a basic class schedule in the first part of the section. I then include very detailed plans for our day. For the lesson plans you put in the binder or planner, you can give a general run down of what they do during each part of the day. This will help your sub so much if you are out unexpectedly. I tell them how the lesson generally goes and they can grab the practice from the daily tub. I also tell them where they go and how to do lunch, recess, and all of the other parts of our day. By including these detailed break down of your day, you can ensure that instruction continues as if you are there. I don't like to plan something totally different from the pacing guide, because it throws everything completely off. I include dismissal procedures in the detailed lessons plans, but I also add it to the DISMISSAL section. Be very specific about how students go home, how they pack up and clean up, and what the sub's responsibility is during dismissal. The TRANSPORTATION section includes how each student goes home. I also put a note in there telling them that students have to go home that way, unless they receive a change of transportation note from the office. I like using this box sheet for each student. I normally have that all typed in here but I used a blank one here for confidentiality purposes. The CLASS section is where each student has a box. They can use this to tell me about any students who were absent or any behavior issues they had that day. The BEST DAY EVER section is where I ask them to leave a note about their day. I have found that this helps to end the day on a positive note. Always let them know how thankful you are for them filling in. Being a substitute teacher is not an easy job. I want them to know that they are appreciated. Finally, I just include a NOTES section, in case they need somewhere to take notes throughout the day. Now let's talk planned days off. The only things I do differently are change the lesson plans and lay everything out for the day. I recently was out for a whole week, so I will show you how I planned for those days off. I color coded everything! First I used the lesson plan section I had already made, but I added more details about each specific lesson, as well as what related arts we went to each day. Just copy and paste the lesson plans pages. I also put the day of the week at the bottom of each packet. I did not put these in the binder. I decided to staple each day's plans printed on different colors of paper. For the sheets that were needed for each day, I used the same color sticky notes to label each day's activities. You could even put the time that they will need each activity. I also lay everything out in order for the day. I just spread it all out across the table for the sub, and it keeps everything organized and the expectations clear. If they needed a teacher edition for that lesson, I also marked the pages with those same color sticky notes and put them in the stacks. I hope seeing how I plan for a substitute teacher helps you plan for yours. So many subs have thanked me for having everything prepped for them, and they love coming back to my class. I have had other teachers request for me to share how to properly plan for a sub, particularly how to put together a proper Substitute Teacher Binder. Often times, teachers do not leave detailed plans, which makes the day difficult not only for the sub, but for the other teachers on your team. You want your sub to feel prepared and to want to come back. It's so hard to find a sub these days, so we want to do everything we can to support them. You might even want to include a little treat for them. We know that chocolate makes everything better! You can grab this free tag by clicking on the photo below. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email or reach out on Instagram. What tips do you have for planning for a substitute teacher?

Teaching regular past tense form is one of the very first morphemes (fancy word for a unit of meaning) that we teach our young readers and writers.

Welcome to the Thrive Literacy Corner library of free resources for subscribers! I will update this library on a regular basis as I create new resources. These resources are in PDF format and can be

Do you struggle with finding interesting ways to teach ESL listening skills? Maybe you have an activity or two already but you want to be able to mix it up and keep things interesting. By the end of…

CVCe anchor chart inspiration is here! I've gathered up all of my favorite free anchor charts for teaching CVCe as silent e, magic e, bossy e, and more!

15 exit ticket ideas for any subject or grade level!

Practice makes future perfect!

Free Consonant Digraphs Posters for immediate download and print. Laminate and hang these in your classroom or homeroom setting for great visuals.

Making anchor charts has always been hard work for me. In fact, I never liked making anchor charts for the classroom. I did it because it helps the kids, but I am not a fan of my handwriting, my drawing is even worse, and let’s not even talk about the time it takes to make […]

All about the schwa sound, including how to teach it, schwa word activities, and a free schwa words list pdf download.

In our classroom we have been learning all about prepositions. I usually hate teaching grammar, but these hands-on reading units have made it so much more fun! Pinterest I started off by introducing prepositions with a song… These songs were PERFECT!! If you play them, be prepared for a classroom of little singers that will […]

10 ESOL Teacher Must Haves. Check out these items to make your teaching job easier.2

Teaching schwa-A vowels can feel tricky, but it really isn't! This article will help you discover some useful ways how to teach schwa

Is this the year that you got the chatty class? No matter what you try, they talk ALL-OF-THE-TIME! When you go home, do you want complete silence? No, t.v., no music, no noise of any type because your ears are worn out. When you are teaching a lesson, each student feels like you are speaking directly to him or her, so each student has a comment to add to your lesson. While you don't want to temper their enthusiasm, your students do need to learn how to work and function within a group (class). By this time of the year, you have probably used several different methods to solve this problem such as role playing and rewarding positive behaviors. Are you ready to try something that is a little less traditional and lets you integrate behavior management with your language arts lessons? I have written before about integrating behavior management with your academic lesson. Click HERE to read it. If you follow my blog, you know I am a big believer in integrating lessons. It not only saves times when you have a hectic schedule, it also helps your students make connections. A reader's theater lesson is a good strategy to use when you have a class full of Chatty Cathy's. Do you remember that doll? A play script shows very clearly in black and white whose turn it is to speak. A play is practiced over and over which is the type of practice that these talkative students need. Not only are your students' fluency improving, they are practicing taking turns and only speaking when it is their turn to speak. They are learning self control. You will see some of this self-control begin to transfer over to your other lessons with some of your students. For other students, you may need to begin your lessons with a quick reminder about "just like when we are performing plays, we take turns when we speak during lessons. When I am teaching, it is my turn to talk and your turn to be audience and listen." Other times, you have a group of students that follow the rules except during certain times of the year, like the week of Halloween. With all of the excitement of the holiday, students are chatty and off-task. This is the perfect time to plan a Reader's Theater lesson for reading. This past week, I added two lessons that would be perfect for this time of the year. Magic School Bus: Going Batty: This is not Halloween themed which is great when your school does not allow Halloween lessons. Or it can be used with your mammal unit or any time of the year. There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat: This script is based on this book. I added to the story to give the characters dialogue for the script. Have your students compare the book to the script to see if they can find all of the differences. These plays can be performed live or as a puppet show. In the picture above, I attached the stage prop that comes with this packet to a file folder and then made a slit in it so the stick puppets could fit in slit. You can set this up as a center, too. There are a variety of props that come with this packet. There are name necklaces that students can wear for live performances. There are frames that students can draw their character for puppet performance. Colorful stick puppets are included for the Old Lady script (see picture above). There are extension activities included for each script. In the picture above is the one for the Magic School Bus: Going Batty play. Students will make a beginning, middle, end mini book. There are two printables for interactive journals that are extensions for the Old Lady play. One is about characters and the other is a vocabulary - dictionary skills lesson. For the Old Lady play there are 7 parts plus a narrator or chorus. There are 13 parts for the Magic School Bus play. If you have a class with 26 students or more, you could divide your class in half and have both perform this play. One group could perform this live and other perform it as a puppet show. Reader's theater is also a good way to help your students grow as writers. Put yours class in small groups or with a partner and let them write a script about a favorite book. Click HERE if you'd like to read more. Click HERE if you'd like to check it out. Click HERE if you'd like to check it out. Click HERE if you'd like to check it out. Save money with the BUNDLE! Click HERE to check it out. Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

I've had such a love-hate relationship with data notebooks over the years. I've always worked in "Baldrige" schools that have required every teacher to have a data wall and every student to have a data notebook. My first few years in the classroom, this would be something that I spent my first week of school

Do your students struggle with writing a constructed response? Teach them to RAP! Print smaller versions for individual students or print poster size to hang as an anchor chart.

Check out this procedure writing freebie. This 'how to' writing worksheet helps students write about how to make popcorn!

Use this Silly Sentence printable in your literacy center for a fun activity to teach the parts of a sentence in English.

Click the following link to download this free poster Homophones Poster Many reading programs introduce the concept of homophones in second grade. Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have a different meaning. Our students need to be able to tell the difference in the meanings of these words and to use […]

Sharing some activities to do with students for teaching CVCE words using magic e. All of this and more is available in my TPT store!