Teachers in my school district have been required to do an unprecedented amount of testing this year. During January I administered district benchmark tests in reading and math. Students completed a 45 minute reading assessment, and I tested all 28 of my students one-on-one with the ARI (Analytical Reading Inventory). All this was followed by [...]

It’s sometimes difficult to balance my new ventures in technology, with some of my favorite projects that I’ve always had 4thgraders do.   One of my favorite writing projects for the beginning of the school year, is to have the children write bio-poems.  Bio-poems follow a pattern, and witha little guidance, all the children are successful with [...]

Does reading instruction change frequently in your school or school district?  This is my 24th year of teaching.  When I started, we were using a basal reader.  Since that time I’ve been through the whole language phase, reading and writing workshops, literature circles and the use of trade books for all small group instruction.   Before [...]