Reach for Reading Activities and Resources for 3rd Grade

Reach for Reading Activities and Resources for 3rd Grade

Many school districts have recently adopted a brand new English Language Arts curriculum created by National Geographic called “Reach for Reading”.  Once a new curriculum has been adopted, it can be a HUGE challenge sifting through all of the materials received, and it takes quite a while for teachers to sort through all of these materials. read more

Second Grade Reading and ELA Common Core Literacy Standards

Second Grade Reading and ELA Common Core Literacy Standards

There are so many ELA standards to teach in second grade! Within your reading and writing ELA block, it’s hard to know where to start. If you are using a reading program such as Journeys, Wonders, Reading Street, Storytown, or Open Court, standards are referenced and are sprinkled throughout your TE. But how do you know if you are hitting all of the standards that your students need to learn? This was the impetus for the creation of our new product line. read more

Let’s Research St. Patrick’s Day!

Let’s Research St. Patrick’s Day!

Students LOVE St. Patrick’s Day…. but do they know much about this holiday? Whether I was teaching second grade or sixth, my students loved to do research on any topic. Whether it was going to the library and checking out books, or doing some web research, students crave learning new things. read more

Journeys Digital Literacy Centers

Journeys Digital Literacy Centers

A new school year is here and there are not enough hours in each day to get everything done. More technology is being integrated into classrooms.  We are hearing more research about Blended learning , which mixes  technology and traditional face-to-face instruction in the classroom.  In a typical model, Blended learning combines traditional classroom learning with online learning, in which students can, in part, control the time, pace, and sometimes even place of their learning.As the new Chromebooks, laptops, iPads, and computers are being delivered , there is a great need for ideas on how to use them and integrate this new technology into our Language Arts block using our adopted curriculum. There are so many benefits of using digital resources, but two main reasons are that you don’t need to make copies and student engagement is incredibly high!  This was the inspiration for converting our Journeys story activities and resources into interactive, Google drive based activities to fill this need.When doing Literacy Centers, it makes life so much easier when you have repeatable “centers” that students learn at the beginning of the year so they know what to do each week. We have formatted our resources so students quickly learn how to use the resources and they quickly are able to work independently from the teacher. read more

Small Groups- “How Do I Organize Them?” (Part 5)

Small Groups- “How Do I Organize Them?” (Part 5)

What do teachers need to teach in small groups?How do I organize them? When talking with teachers, the major reason I’ve heard as to why they do not pull small groups or struggle with them is how to “choreograph” them. Who goes where? How do I remember? Well, I have a solution for you! read more