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10 Read Alouds to Welcome Spring

Spring is here and I could not be more excited for warm weather, sunshine and birds chirping! Spring is one of my favorite seasons and it is a good excuse to read and teach students about the weather changes that happen with the new season and get them learning outside as much as possible! Here are 10 read alouds to welcome spring to your students: *Links to purchase the books are all affiliate links which means that if you purchase from that link I make a small commission for recommending it to you. Thank you! Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring Grade Level: Preschool- 3rd Grade Summary: In a simple, cheerful conversation with nature, a young boy observes how the season changes from winter to spring in Kenard Pak’s Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. As days stretch longer, animals creep out from their warm dens, and green begins to grow again, everyone

The Day the Crayons Quit

Who loves to read digital stories with their students and use digital choice boards? If your hand is up, this post is for you. The best part? If you are teaching virtually, keep reading because this post has everything you need for a lesson about the story, “The Day the Crayons Quit” including a link to listen to the story being read online! No paper copy needed! (unless you want it!) I love the story “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt (affiliate link) because it focuses on teaching students about point of view, which can be a difficult reading trait to teach as well as thinking outside the box which is a good lesson for all students to learn. Students also find it humorous that the crayons write letters to their owner and get upset about being used too much! Story Summary Poor Duncan, the main character,

16 Favorite Folktales of All Time

Who loves to read folktales to their class?! Folktales are great because you can learn about different cultures and traditions. Most folktales teach some type of lesson that can be discussed with students. They make great interactive read-aloud stories for library time as well as in-class read-alouds. Typically in folktales, the main characters are animals or objects instead of people. The exact definition of a folktale is a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people. any belief or story passed on traditionally, especially one considered to be false or based on superstition. I made a list of my 16 favorite folktales of all time for you to check out for spring: *Links to purchase the books are all affiliate links which means that if you purchase from that link I make a small

Using Picture Books to Teach Reading Strategies

Do you have a plan for teaching reading strategies to your K-2 learners? I’m talking reading strategies like these: You might be thinking “that is a lot!” How can I teach them ALL of those strategies at such a young age?! The point of teaching K-2 students about reading strategies is to equip them with strategies to help them understand the books they read tomorrow and the day after that. With consistent modeling and guided practice, our students will make these strategies their own. We can absolutely address teaching many of these reading strategies using picture books for this age of students. Is it shocking to you that students can learn advanced reading strategies through a basic picture book? They absolutely can, especially when you find the best of children’s literature! Here are some picture books you can use to teach different reading strategies (affiliate links included): Teaching Main

5 Best FREE Websites for Digital Read Alouds

Are you teaching virtually this school year or sometimes just feel as if your students are more engaged by a digital read aloud story? Well I feel your pain and I’ve got you covered! I have compiled a list of the 5 best websites for digital read aloud stories. Do you want to know what the greatest part is?! They are all FREE websites! Anyone that is in the world of education loves free things, am I right?! Please enjoy and leave some feedback on which websites you like to use the most for digital read aloud stories. Storyline Online Storyline Online is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide. Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners. Storyline Online is a program of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation (SAG). This means that

5 Reading Incentive Ideas for 3rd – 5th Graders That Really Work

It’s getting to be that long stretch in the year in which students start to become unmotivated after winter break. Summer break seems so close, everyone can almost smell it, yet it’s still pretty far away. Keeping students motivated at this time of the year can be difficult. Keeping students motivated to read can be hard during any time of the school year, but the second semester always seems more difficult to keep that incentive to read going, in my opinion. What can we do about this? Do you use any reading incentives with your students? I find that motivating students to read by doing different unique reading activities and offering them some choices will often get them more excited to engage in a book. All students have a different love for reading and that’s okay. However, all students need to be reading as we know-even if it’s not

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Reading & Literacy

10 Read Alouds to Welcome Spring

The Day the Crayons Quit

16 Favorite Folktales of All Time

Using Picture Books to Teach Reading Strategies

5 Best FREE Websites for Digital Read Alouds

5 Reading Incentive Ideas for 3rd – 5th Graders That Really Work

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