literacy Archives - Whimsy Workshop Teaching

Tips for Teaching Letter Sounds

October 28, 2018 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

How do you teach letter sounds?

Teaching letter sounds can be tricky, and takes a LOT of daily practice. I try to use as many different approaches as possible so that I am addressing the many different learning styles in my classroom. I use songs, videos, books, small group intervention, and whole group lessons.
Here are some ideas for you to try!

LETTER SOUNDS: VIDEOS
Below are some videos that my students enjoy.
Click on any picture to watch the video with your class!
Jack Hartmann [Read More…]

Reading Lessons and Intervention Made Easy

August 11, 2018 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

This post is all about teaching reading, and it also contains a FREE alphabet printing activity for you to download!
You may have seen my recent post about my HUGE teaching dilemma last year: a new teaching partner who had no experience with teaching primary math! How could I make sure that my new partner stayed on track without spending HOURS talking about math lessons, planning, intervention and reporting?

My solution? I had the idea to make a whole year of paperless daily [Read More…]

Math Daily Warm Ups and Intervention Binder

July 22, 2018 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 4 Comments

I had a BIG teaching dilemma last year.
My teaching partner was new to first grade and didn’t know ANYTHING about teaching math at this level. I needed to keep my math lessons organized through the school year, and I was worried our math lessons would fall behind or not be as effective when I wasn’t there.
So the question was…. How could I make sure that my new partner stayed on track without spending HOURS on the phone talking about math lessons, [Read More…]

Tips for Teaching Responsibility

June 23, 2018 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Welcome to the Social Skills Ideas Bank!
The Social Skills Idea Bank is a series of related posts, each dedicated to sharing strategies for teaching a particular social skill.
As teachers, our strength lies in sharing our ideas, experiences and strategies!
This is a growing list, and you are invited to contribute in the comments section. We hope you will, because there’s nothing like a good idea shared between teachers to make our jobs easier.
In this post you will find lots of simple ways to encourage students [Read More…]

Online Stories for Book Companions

February 2, 2018 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

WHY USE BOOK COMPANIONS?
Book companions allow teacher’s to use one story to practice a number of core reading and writing skills.
In my classroom, it ensures that I continue to use literature to explore things like story structure, sequencing, character traits, letter writing formats, comprehension and more. We can also have fun with stories using partner plays, comic book writing, and art projects.
Using book companions keeps all the lessons focused and organized, makes my planning easier, and makes assessment simple because [Read More…]

Seasonal STEM with Partner Plays

November 13, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

My students LOVE doing STEM Challenges. We began the year working on Fairy Tale Challenges from THIS resource, and it was a big hit!
Now, we have added more fun by adding SEASONAL STEM projects!
SANTA STEM
The first ones we tried were all about Santa!

Each challenge is introduced with a partner play. This means we can integrate some literacy skills into the lessons. I have found that using partner plays give the STEM challenges context, and makes the building task much more [Read More…]

Christmas Kindness Around The World

November 2, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 4 Comments

I strive to make my classroom a place where students feel safe, appreciated and respected just as they are.
My classroom banner says simply: “Be Kind. Work Hard.”

These ideas are reinforced all year long, but there are some special ways that we spread kindness in December for Christmas.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Each year we take the month of December to really focus on Random Acts of Kindness and caring for each other. If possible, I enjoy getting families involved. A few years ago [Read More…]

Making Phonics Fun and Interactive

July 29, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Teaching phonics can become a bit monotonous day after day, but there are lots of ways to keep it engaging!
Here are a few examples of the ways I’ve tried to keep phonics lessons interactive, hands on, and FUN!
Phonics instruction can also be differentiated with a little creativity.

BUILDING WORDS & SENTENCES
This activity allows for differentiation because the tasks get more complex as you work down the page. Some students will only be required to print the letters and build the [Read More…]

Phonics Centers for Back To School

July 8, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 2 Comments

When do you start teaching phonics?
There are so many things going on at the start of a new school year!
We are getting to know new personalities, watching them interact with each other, and at the same time, we are taking notes and assessing abilities.
One of the first things I set up are my EASY and independent literacy centers.

These take very little explanation, and students can happily work on literacy skills while I use valuable time to assess their abilities before moving [Read More…]