Blending is one of the most important early literacy skills students learn in kindergarten. Without it, they can’t smoothly move from recognizing individual sounds to reading whole words. For some kids, blending clicks quickly, but for others, it takes repeated practice and a variety of approaches before it finally sticks.
If you’ve ever sat down with a small group of students to teach phonics, you already know the struggle… every child is at a different place. Some are still working on letter recognition, others are confidently identifying beginning sounds, and a few are ready for blends and word families. Although
Small group time is one of the most powerful parts of the day in a primary classroom. It’s where you can give students more individualized instruction, target specific skills, and see their growth up close. But let’s be honest. . . it can also feel a little overwhelming when you’re
If you’ve ever watched a kindergartener beam with pride as they show you a page full of squiggly lines and tell you it says “I love my dog”, you know beginning writing is about so much more than just forming letters. It’s a fascinating and fun journey from scribbles to
If you’ve ever wondered when the right time is to dive into letter sounds with your students, you’re not alone. As primary teachers, we know that teaching the alphabet isn’t just about singing the ABCs or identifying letters on flashcards. Before we move into phonics instruction, we need to make
If you’re always looking for ways to focus on shapes in your classroom, without reinventing the wheel each month, I’ve got you! Today, we’re going to talk about 7 of my favorite shape centers you can use for the entire school year in the primary classroom. I’ve got a wide
As a primary teacher, I spend a lot of time working on fun ways to teach numbers and counting in my classroom. You too? While we all know that these concepts are essential, endless worksheets to memorize them can get a little boring, right? I certainly think so! That’s why
As the school year winds down, there’s something so satisfying about closing things out and setting yourself up for a smooth start next school year. But let’s be real, end of the year classroom clean up can feel like a massive job. Between wrapping up assessments, managing excited students, and
Learning to read is not just a one-and-done type of activity. There are many skills students must learn and put together to become fluent readers. Many of these skills fall under the umbrella of phonemic awareness. And, for many kids, one of the most difficult…is phoneme manipulation. Over the years,
As a teacher in the primary classroom, you likely have a scope and sequence that is packed with foundational skills and concepts you need to teach your students. But one thing is almost always omitted from this list. . . fine motor skills. With an already full teaching calendar, is