I’m sharing where to find dot-to-dot free samples (and other ideas) today because I love dot-to-dot. Why I love dot-to-dot It’s fun. I like fun stuff. It is great fine motor skill practice. This is more critical for academic success than I think we give it credit for. It allows
Best Practice in Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners In a lot of ways, vocabulary instruction for English Language Learners is a lot like vocabulary instruction for any learner. [See the previous posts in the series for ideas.] Yet there are some differences that are worth discussing to ensure that vocabulary
I’m sharing 21 ideas for teaching vocabulary. You may not be able to use all of them, but I hope you can find some ideas that will work well for you! I’ve shared books about vocabulary instruction, as well as the theory and techniques. This post is a lot more practical. We’re
The theory and techniques for teaching vocabulary may not be as fun as the ideas that I’ll share in the next post or as perusing the books in the last post, yet this is the theory applicable to all ages and types of readers. It is the knowledge that will enable
Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary Strategies for teaching vocabulary are a critical part of every teacher’s toolkit, yet searching for them is a little bit of an Alice in Wonderland experience – down the rabbit hole you go. Responding to a question I got in an email (shout out to blog post
One of the most difficult things for teachers working with high ability students is to get them to pay attention to the work they’re doing. Many extremely able students get lower grades than they otherwise would because they fail to pay attention to the little details. You know what I
Students who are early finishers can struggle with boredom, frustration, and staying, you know, nice. This is because they sit and wait. Lather, rinse, repeat. Last week I wrote about best practices for teachers with regard to early finishers, and today I’m focusing on the students (just in case their
A Guild is Born What would happen if Ian Byrd of Byrdseed and Lisa Van Gemert of GiftedGuru got a crazy idea to make the world a better place for gifted kids by making it a better place for educators of the gifted and then…made it happen? World, meet the Gifted
Best Practices for Early Finishers Early finishers can challenge even the best and most experienced teachers. Many of us have had the experience of barely getting the work passed out to everyone before the first Fast Finisher is waving her completed assignment in the air. Really? You’re done already? In addition
Homework Help is a Checklist Away Homework causes stress in homes across the country. Probably the world, really. I wrote some tips for avoiding the homework battle recently, and one of tips I suggested was to use a homework checklist. I looked around and couldn’t find any that I loved,
Why a reading challenge? Reading challenges are so much fun! I love participating in them because they so often introduce me to new books I would not otherwise have read. I’ve gathered a list of some reading challenges you may like to try out in your classrooms or families
Ending The Homework Battle What do you do when your child won’t do schoolwork without an epic battle every.single.day? What happens if you throw gifted in the mix, just for fun? Motivation is a tricky thing, and every child is different, but here are 11 ideas for how to get kids
