Reading Archives - Page 5 of 9 - The Owl Teacher by Tammy DeShaw

READING

Reading is a valuable and critical skill that students need to develop. As teachers, we are always in need of fresh ideas and tips to help our kiddos soar to new reading heights. Explore this section to get started.

DON'T MISS THESE BLOG POSTS

6 Ways to Teach Reading Strategies by Reading a Good Book

Every classroom has reluctant readers - probably a few of them! This blog post shares four tips to motivate reluctant readers, including tips like going digital and comparing books and movies. Click through to read all of the suggestions in more detail!

4 Tips to Motivate Reluctant Readers

Reading fluency is about more than just pace, accuracy, and smoothness. It is also about expression! I share my process for teaching expression in fluency in this blog post, which includes a discussion of how punctuation marks influence expression and fluency. Get all of the tips in this post!

Teaching Expression in Fluency

When teaching reading (or any subject area), you always have to approach the reading skill of cause and effect. It's a difficult concept for students! Check out these activities and ideas to help your students learn about cause and effect!

Not Your Traditional Cause and Effect Chains

Cause and effect. The Cause: The students not understanding cause and effect. The Effect: The teacher banging her head against the wall. Don’t we all

Do you need to spice up teaching text structure in reading? I have plenty of ideas and teaching activities to make it easy!

Spicing Up Text Structure

Not too long ago, I was teaching nonfiction text structure to my students. In reality, it can get a bit boring, and I felt I

What If You Had Animal Hair? makes a great nonfiction mentor text for teaching about the science idea of adaptation in animals.

MTM: What If You Had Animal Hair?

This week’s Mentor Text Monday is with Sandra Markle’s book, What If You Had Animal Hair? What If You Had Animal Hair? is a nonfiction

Reading Month Fun!

March is reading month and we have so many fun activities going on at our school to engage our students into reading! Our school

Wilma Unlimited can be used as a nonfiction mentor text for teaching about biographies in reading, along with perseverance, theme, sequencing, and reading strategies.

MTM: Wilma Unlimited

Wilma Unlimited. What can I say?! I know when I do my mentor text posts each week, I talk about how powerful this book and

If you are looking for a mentor text to create a touching mood while teaching about treating others kindly, look no further! This book can be used to teach making connections in reading and to bring discussion in the classroom.

MTM: Each Kindness

My mentor text this week is Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. The author of this story explores the importance of being kind to others.

This fun activity is a great way to get students thinking about word knowledge, including the idea of synonyms and antonyms, along with increasing student engagement.

High Flying Words | Teaching Word Knowledge

I’m really tired of snow (welcome to Michigan — snow almost year-round!) and I was dying for a way to liven up my classroom a

Across the Alley is a historical fiction text that can be used as a mentor text for teaching about point of view and theme in the reading classroom. Further students can learn about character change and the literary device of mood.

MTM: Across the Alley

I love any text that gives us a glimpse into the past of what life was like then. My mentor text this week does just

Teach shades of meaning in your elementary classroom with these engaging ideas and activities. Help your students understand the various degrees of synonyms.

Shades of WHAT?! | Shades of Meaning

Shades of what?!?! Oh, right, shades of meaning… Hmmm. What is that? I mean, is that like the various ways we can say “no” and

Are you looking for a way to connect fiction and nonfiction text together while teaching about comparing and contrasting? This mentor text teaches about Hurricanes all while utilizing figurative language!

MTM: Hurricane!

This week for my Mentor Text Monday, I want to tell you about a book called Hurricane! I’m not referring to the nonfiction text by

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun is a perfect mentor text for teaching children about bullying! It's also great for teaching about point of view, plot, author's purpose, and story elements!

MTM: Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun

For this week, my mentor text is Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy. This book is about a girl who is

Faithful Elephants is a historical fiction book that can be used as a mentor text to teach a variety of reading genres and Vocabulary. It can also be used to teach comprehension strategies.

MTM: Faithful Elephants

This week my mentor text is Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya. While certainly a popular book, it is not to be overlooked in its value.

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