Give your students a chance to deepen and share their travel experiences through narrative writing, diagrams and illustrations, and the reading of all kinds of print (including maps, brochures and menus). Authentic reading and writing experiences help students connect what’s happening in class to the real world outside.
Using students’ questions as a basis for investigations in science education is an effective teaching strategy. Not only do students pose questions they would like answered, but they are asked to find ways to answer them. This article also recommends nonfiction science books that use a question and answer format to find information and model how to communicate what you know.
When students practice observing in science, they use their senses to collect information about objects and events related to a question, topic, or problem to solve in science. Learn some strategies to help students organize and analyze their data through presentations, sharing, and discussion.
Children’s magazines are a wonderful supplement to classroom instruction. Students are exposed to a wide variety of texts and lots of interactive content. From stories, poems, and action rhymes to nonfiction, crafts, puzzles, and games, kids’ magazines can offer an abundance of high-interest content to support your curriculum.
Writing instruction is an essential component of literacy in K-5 classrooms. Children who practice daily writing strengthen phonemic awareness, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, critical thinking, and communication skills.
Find out why it’s a good idea for all kids to keep a diary, and get practical tips on writing and motivation for young writers from children’s author and writing coach Mary Amato.
Find out why it’s a good idea for young aspiring writers to keep a journal, and get practical tips on journal writing from children’s author and writing coach Mary Amato. She says, don’t forget to bring a writing journal everywhere you go!
Discover more than a dozen ideas for encouraging your child to write, including creative and simple ways to get the whole family involved. You’ll also find out how WOW stories can help unlock story structure for young writers.
By reading and writing about the lives of real scientists, students can learn more about the nature and history of science and how important scientific discoveries were made. Students may also begin to see themselves as scientists by trying on scientists’ lives for size.
Music stories are compositions of a narrative or descriptive sort. Students can listen for the story in the music, and this type of music can be integrated with literature, literacy, social studies, science, mathematics, and the other arts.
April is National Poetry Month, 30 days of celebrating the joy, expressiveness, and pure delight of poetry. Learn more about the National Poetry Month, get to know some of our most well-loved children’s poets in our video interview series, browse the many online resources listed here, and visit your local library or bookstore to discover wonderful new books and anthologies.
Share the real-life moment in nature with award-winning author Melissa Stewart that led to a fascinating exploration — and the creation of a great book — about homes inside tree holes.
