Hello Mrs Sykes

If you're in the US, school is almost over, and gifting is on the brain. Here's a simple gift idea. Investment of time... fifteen minutes. Added bonus? You are about to clear off a shelf (or a box, a sterilite drawer, or whatever!) If you are like me, you collect childrens' books for classroom libraries, etc. Some books may be well loved, or ones that you ordered from your book club catalogs, but forgot to use, or they weren't books that were checked out from your classroom library very often. This makes your shelved cluttered. Today's tip: Let them go... to the students! Here's how it usually goes down for me: set out an old box of books. Say nothing about it, until a sweetheart asks about them. Then tell them to pick one book they are interested in, and see you for a label for their name, because they can keep the book. Forever and ever. Seriously, no Pinterest involved. Grab some old labels and hand-write a little note. These were mine last year! I ...

We know reading and writing are linked, right? Many of our struggling readers need help with writing, too. Unfortunately, time is tight, and mClass assessments require written response! Here's a quick look at strategies that I use with my struggling second, third, and fourth grade readers to boost their written responses.

It's a Bright Idea round-up. Enjoy this post from earlier this year! I work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, so I know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

If you work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, you know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

Need a quick way to review? Want to see what your kiddos know in less than 15 minutes? Scoot is a game I use in classrooms to get kiddos up and moving while we review. It's a quick way to get a look at how the class is doing with a concept. Just like any other game you play with students, teach them how to play it. It's a great way to spend 10 minutes on a rainy day, trust me.

The ultimate goal of literacy is to help students become life-long readers, so they can be educated citizens. The child's first and most influential teacher is their parent and/or guardian. With that in mind, it is crucial to give families the tools they need to help this child, as well as other children in the household. {Here's a link to an article from The Atlantic:  How Family Game Night Makes Kids Into Better Students } I love to invite families to school for Literacy Night. I've helped organize, prepare, and lead Literacy Nights at least 8 times over the course of my teaching career, and I plan to continue this for years to come. Here are my tips for an easy and successful Literacy Night in Upper Elementary classrooms. Make and Take for Literacy Night, grades 3-5 At a recent Literacy Night at my school, the parents met in the gym to see a quick presentation about state testing. The students went to the media center to watch a video, learn how to do the Make and...

In chatting with teachers, I often get questions about how to support struggling readers in my upper elementary grades. Here are the top 6 ways I support struggling readers in grades 2-6. Thought I would pass them along.  If you find them helpful, I appreciate your sharing this post with your colleagues.  Thanks, y'all!! Find out their interests, then help them find tons of cool books on that topic.  If the books are way too difficult a text, but have rich, engaging pictures, let them keep them in their reading box.  If the majority of their books are at their reading level, let them keep a few that are interest-based, even if they are far too easy or difficult. Find out their needs, then help them find materials they can keep in their reading box.  If they can't tie their shoes, find a preschool book with the big, chunky laces , and let them quietly practice during reading time.  Yes, sometimes 4th graders don't know how to tie their shoes.  It ...

Hello!  If you are lucky enough to have a subscription to classroom magazines, then you know how easily they can slide from being effective to being something else to take care of.  (If you don't have classroom magazines, be sure to check your Scholastic book catalog at the beginning of the year - they usually have a deal where you can "try it for free in your classroom.")    Here are my top tips for using Classroom Magazines effectively.    I know... slap a post-it on there to help you remember that this is a great article for summarizing, casue/effect, etc.  That will save you a bit of time in the future.  I have class sets of several classroom magazines that I received ages ago.  I love, love, love using these magazines with my Upper Elementary kiddos, because they have great content that can used for close reading (annotate with sticky notes), reader's theater (I just love watching them prepare to perform; they don't realize th...

Summer is in full swing, so it's back to school time at our house.  (Remember, I've been teaching at a year round school !)  Except, I'm on sabbatical - er, I mean, unemployed  self-employed.  OK, here's the truth -  I'm only on sabbatical in my head.  On paper, I'm unemployed; the state of NC does not allow teachers to take unpaid leave unless we're serving our country or taking care of someone who is ill.  After 14 years in the classroom, I need a change of pace for the sake of my health.  I love teaching, and will return (one day!)  For now, I'm kind of reveling in the idea that back to school means my own kiddos go.  It's been over 10 years since I've had a quiet house, and I'm loving it! {source} Since I am not currently employed, I decided to spend more time creating and tweaking the teaching resources I've been working on for years.  Here's the most recent creation (over 6 months in the making!)  Comprehension Strat...

Omigoodness, y'all!!  I am uber excited about this... RL Standards 1-10 for grades 3-5 For years, I worked with students and teachers in grades 3-5 in ways to cut through the "clutter" and simplify the structure we give students, so students can show what they know instead of how well they follow the directions of random, complicated tasks.  This packet follows the same philosophy - clear, straightforward, while having high expectations of referring to text and justifying their reasoning.   Perfect for the Upper-Elementary classroom.  They are Common Core aligned on each page, and all handouts are in black/white for crisp copies.  It doesn't hurt that they are "ninja-cute" (is that a word?) while definitely not  cutesy. Take a peek inside: What teachers are saying: For y'all, this packet is on sale all week for 20% off at my TpT store and my TN store !  Enjoy!!

Today is the third day in my series to empower teachers, Supporting Struggling Readers in Grades 3-5.  If you are new to the series, or want to see what the hype is about, click on the button below to visit the other posts in this series . So far, you've created an Assessment Binder, made your list of struggling readers , and assessed Fluency . Our focus today is Comprehension!! Whoo-hoo!  Y'all know how much I enjoy Literacy, particularly helping teachers help their students...  Let's get started!!   Just a reminder from the other day:  We are going to engage in a bit of "Digging Deeper" with each student on your list.  We want to use this time to be a detective and find out why they are struggling readers. There are 3 main reasons the majority of struggling readers in upper elementary have difficulty reading: 1. Fluency - they take a long time to read and don't have the stamina to read for very long. 2. Comprehension -  they don't u...

Today is the second day in my series to empower teachers, Supporting Struggling Readers in Grades 3-5.  If you are new to the series, or want to see what the hype is about, click to visit the other posts in this series . You've got your Assessment Binder, right?  That was your homework from Part 1.  If not, no biggie - you can get it together as we go.  The main part now is that you have your list of struggling readers .  This is truly important, because you are going to go through that list in a quick, methodical process to pinpoint an area of need. Our focus today is Fluency!! Can you tell I'm a Literacy geek?  Can you feel the excitement?  That's because it's time to get started!! Without giving you information overload, we are going to engage in a bit of "Digging Deeper" with each student on your list.  We want to use this time to be a detective and find out why they are struggling readers. There are 3 main reasons the majority of s...