Reading is one of my favorite things to teach, but it can be challenging! In this section, you’ll find tips and resources for key reading comprehension strategies, how to implement effective reading centers, and lots of mentor text ideas to enhance your reading instruction.
Latest Reading Posts from the Blog
4 Easy Ways to Teach Your Students to Compare and Contrast Theme
Most students are pretty familiar with how to complete the task of comparing and contrasting two books on their own accurately. When we do a
5 Ways to Make Teaching Cause and Effect Fun
You see a pair of broken glasses. What happened? Why did it happen? You see an ice cream cone on the ground. What happened? Why
Important Steps to Teach Paired Passages
The focus on teaching paired passages has undoubtedly grown within the last decade or so. As the landscape of education has changed, students within elementary
How to Deal with Context Clues
There’s no argument that strong vocabulary skills make kids better readers. But how do we get even our most reluctant, struggling reader to dive deeper into
The Main Idea Strategy That Will Help Students Win Big
If you teach upper elementary, you’ve probably had the pleasure of trying to teach students the difference between the main idea and the
Why You NEED to Use Interactive PDF Games
Classrooms have been turned upside down and inside out this past year. Teachers everywhere are longing for routine and a return to normalcy. Whether you’re
Target Reading Strategies with Digital Reading Units
*Looking for the freebies? Scroll down to the bottom of this post! Whether you love technology or are a reluctant technology user, the truth is
20 Diverse Children’s Books for the Classroom
More than ever, it’s important for teachers (and for parents) to help children understand that ALL people should be celebrated. Whether the person looks like
8 Reasons to Read Graphic Novels in Upper Elementary
For years, one of my goals as a teacher has been to transform reluctant readers into avid readers. But true confession…much of that time, there
Why You Should Be Using Reading Centers in Upper Elementary
Whether you call them reading centers, stations, rotations, or something else, literacy centers are so beneficial for kids in upper elementary classrooms. Here are 7
Using a Scavenger Hunt to Review Informational Text Structures
One of my favorite ways to review Informational Text Structures with upper elementary kids is to organize a text structure scavenger hunt! First, I teach
High Interest – Low Readability Books for Upper Elementary
When upper elementary kids struggle with reading, as teachers, we want to do everything possible to help these reluctant readers improve their reading skills and
