STEM and STEAM Centers in the Library

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Interested in starting STEM and STEAM centers in your classroom or library?  Read on! Last year I started Makerspaces in my library as a way to give my students more opportunities to be “hands-on” in their learning.  (You can read about my Makerspace beginnings here.)  I definitely learned a lot by jumping right in, and as…

Improving Fiction and Non-Fiction – Part 2

(This is a continuation of my blog “Improving  Fiction and Non-Fiction-Part 1″ which you can find here.)      The next step I wanted to improve was how I taught the story elements for both Fiction and Non-Fiction books.  Last year I created an interactive anchor chart that I used in the beginning as we were…

Improving Fiction and Non-Fiction (Part 1)

I am always trying to find ways to help my kids understand the difference between Fiction and Non-Fiction, so over the summer I created a Fiction and Non-Fiction Activity that I could use as an introduction as well as a review with my students. Here’s what I did. Over the years, I’ve collected A LOT of…

Labeling the Parts of a Book

     I love the beginning of the year, and teaching the Parts of a Book is one of my favorite lessons to do.  I had previously created an activity where students actually help me MAKE a book, and then we reviewed the vocabulary on a large interactive poster.  (You can read about that activity here.)…

1st Grade Yearly Lesson Plans

     Last Christmas, I blogged about putting together a collection of 36 Kindergarten lessons to use for those unexpected times when you are sick and don’t have the energy to type of lesson plans for a substitute.  (Read more about that here.) I am SO thankful for all the feedback, support, and interest that…