Have you ever heard the term balanced literacy? It's been around for many years. What exactly is it? And does it still apply to teaching, even after all these years? Find links to the posts in this series at the END of this post. *This post contains affiliate links. What is Balanced Literacy? Balanced literacy came along in response to the more extreme teachings of whole language and heavy phonics-based instruction. In the whole language approach, literacy skills were mostly taught IN the context of real reading and writing. Phonics-based instruction swung the opposite ... Continue Reading
Teaching Writing
Hamburger Paragraph Writing with Main Idea & Details
My 1st and 2nd grader have been working for a while on personal narratives in our writing time. So after we worked through our Healthy Body Unit, I decided it was time to do some nonfiction paragraph writing! I found some fun clip art and created these simple paragraph writing organizers for them...hamburger style! If you're using this after a body unit, feel free to download our free human body report pages to go along with these! *This post contains affiliate links. **The free printable can be found at the END of this post. Click on the teal download button. Hamburger ... Continue Reading
Editable Rainbow Roll & Write my Name
Helping little ones learn how to write their own name is one of those important life skills. That's what this Rainbow Roll & Write My Name page helps learners do. And it's editable. This means you can customize it by typing in your learner's name! *This post contains affiliate links. **The free printable link can be found at the END of this post. Just click on the teal download button. Editable Rainbow Roll & Write my Name While my youngest {age 4} was signing her Valentine's cards this year, I realized she needed a little more guided practice on writing her name. So, I ... Continue Reading
Kid-Made Poetry Valentines
If you have kids in the younger grades, you know it's coming...the Valentine exchange! Each year, we TRY to make homemade valentines. This year, we had fun with some kid-made poetry Valentines! These are SO simple and a great way to integrate poetry, rhyming, and writing a friendly letter. *This post contains affiliate links. **The free download can be found towards the end of this post. Kid-Made Poetry Valentines On day 1, I displayed the beginning part of the old poem, "A rose is red. A violet is blue." We talked about the original poem and where it came from ... Continue Reading
My HONEST Writing With Ease Review
Are you thinking about purchasing and using Writing With Ease for your child(ren). Before you do, I encourage you to read this Writing With Ease review. {This is NOT a sponsored post. This is just me sharing a my honest opinion of Writing With Ease, which my 2nd grader has been required to use the first part of this schoolyear in his homeschooling classes.} *This post contains affiliate links. My Honest Writing With Ease Review I know it seems strange to throw in a Writing with Ease review right after Christmas, but I've had some time to really think about it over the break and I want ... Continue Reading