I LOVE December in the classroom! My students are always extra excited and it's fun to take a break from normal instruction to review skills and complete some fun holiday activities. December can also be a little crazy... Nothing ever seems to go as planed! And the...
Thanksgiving Escape Room Mystery – The Case of the Missing Thanksgiving Dinner
Anyone else love a quick and easy escape room?!?! Students love working in groups to solve a mystery and I LOVE when my students are engaged, learning, talking and having FUN! I also love it when something is PRINT AND GO! This escape room activity is perfect for the...
Balloons Over Broadway Reading Comprehension and STEM for the Classroom
Anyone else LOVE the book Balloons Over Broadway? Learning about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is perfect for the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break! And also... Macy's added some AMAZING videos this year to teach students about the balloon design process!...
SPIDERS Lesson Plans and Activities for October and Halloween
Our SPIDER UNIT is UPDATED and I can't wait to show you everything included!!! This unit is print and go and includes EVERYTHING you need to engage your students as they learn about spiders. The unit is organized into four categories: Science, Reading, Writing, and...
Bonaparte Falls Apart Halloween Read Aloud and Escape Room
Bonaparte is in distress about his bones falling apart. He is worried that everyone will make fun of him when he starts school. With no resolve, his monster friends have some boneheaded ideas to try to keep him together. This story of friendship is perfect for the...
Teaching Phonics in the Classroom with Decoding Drills and Decodable Activities
Decoding is the process of reading words! AUTOMATIC WORD RECOGNITION is the ability to recognize a word without having to take the effort to sound it out. In the world of READING FLUENCY... automatic word recognition in our students is a huge goal! Automatic word...
How to Teach Students to Ask Questions When they Read – First Reading Lesson Plans of the Year
From the moment my students enter my classroom it is my goal to help them understand that their questions have VALUE! When they realize the importance of their questions their thinking grows and their confidence soars. Once my students find worth in the questions they...
Our Class Is A Family Back to School Activities
I love using the book Our Class is a Family at the beginning of the school year! There is really nothing more important than meeting new friends and forming that classroom community! This year I wanted to create some new activities to go along with it... so we came up...
Back to School Activity – Find a Friend Who FREEBIE
It's the season.... Empty rooms and blank walls are quickly becoming that "home away from home." You're also probably busy and stressed. Trying to enjoy the last of your summer while also prepping your room to welcome a new group of smiles that will quickly become...
HG Phonics Club: Building Fluency and Confident Readers
There are no words to express how excited we are about the launch of the HG Phonics Club!!! If you're a first or second grade teacher, read on to see what it's all about... What is the HG Phonics Club? The HG Phonics Club is for first and second grade teachers OR...
Fluency and Comprehension with Phonics Brochures
Welcome!JOIN THE HG PHONICS CLUB AND FINDEVERYTHING YOU NEED TO STREAMLINE YOUR PHONICS AND FLUENCY INSTRUCTION.facebookpinterestinstagramyoutubeHi there! I'm a mom, wife, first grade teacher, and curriculum designer. I love teaching and I also enjoy creating...
Guided Reading and the Reading Process – Step 2 READING
After pre-reading comes the FUN PART - READING! You can read all about pre-reading HERE! Reading is when my little learners apply what they have learned! They apply knowledge of sight words, phonics skills, decoding, vocabulary skills, word identification, and reading...