October is one of my favorite months in the classroom, but it’s a busy one! We have conferences, a field trip, and our Fall Festival…all in October! I love bringing a little fall and Halloween fun into our learning without completely changing what we’re already working on. Over the years,
Retelling a story is an important reading comprehension skill for first graders. Students need to learn how to identify the most important parts of a story, put events in order, and identify the central message or lesson. In this post, I’ll share how I teach retelling stories in first grade.
If you’re looking for September activities for first grade, I’ve gathered some of my favorite resources for fluency, writing, phonics, reading comprehension, grammar, thematic learning, and even those days when you need a substitute! 📖 September Fluency Activities September is a great time to begin building strong reading fluency routines.
Poetry is one of my FAVORITE tools to use in first grade because there are so many literacy skills that you can hit with a simple poem! A short, engaging poem can become repeated reading practice, a fluency activity, phonics and high frequency word practice, vocabulary work, partner reading, and
Our Writing Station is the second station I introduce after Read to Self. (You can read about how I launch independent reading here.) During the first two weeks of school, my goal isn’t to have students writing long stories. Instead, I want them to learn the routines, build confidence, and
The first few weeks of school are full of excitement, new routines, and getting to know each other. One important thing I do during this time is assess where each child is academically. These beginning of the year assessments help me see what my students already know and where they
Back-to-school season is here! There’s something so exciting about setting up the classroom, meeting a new group of students, and planning all of the fun learning that’s ahead. But, the first few weeks can also feel overwhelming. Between teaching routines, building classroom community, assessing students, and planning engaging lessons, there’s
Independent Reading, or Read to Self as a lot of people call it, is the first literacy station my students learn and it’s one of the most important routines I teach during the first weeks of school. Just like any classroom routine, it takes practice, structure, and time to reflect
Teaching students to ask and answer questions is the first reading comprehension skill I introduce each year. I love teaching young readers to stay engaged with a text and think about what they are reading. This standard helps us build the foundation for the other standards we tackle throughout the
Fluency practice is one of those things we know our students need, but keeping it fun and engaging all year long can be a challenge. If it feels repetitive or tedious, students can lose interest quickly. The good news? With just a few simple routines and activities, you can build
