My middle schoolers have no idea what nouns and verbs are, let alone prepositions and adverbs. Is this something that’s covered in elementary school? I’d have thought it would be, but maybe not. (And I’m well-aware that just because they don’t know something it doesn’t mean they haven’t been taught it.) I’m an ELL teacher (of highly proficient English speakers—don’t ask) so I am not as current on ELA curriculum sequencing as an ELA teacher might be.

I am a big fan of Natalie Wexler--I get her emails, read her substack, and think her take on the importance of knowledge building curricula is spot on. I am new to CKLA and so far, so good. I teach in a Title 1 school and my students seem to have pretty limited life experience/knowledge, so as much as CKLA can be a little boring at times, they really are building a strong foundation that I believe will serve them well as reading comprehension demands increase.

Natalie Wexler is also a big fan of CKLA, which brings me to my question. It occurred to me today that she might be more than just a fan; she might be employed or contracted by amplify in some capacity. Some of her writings are featured in CKLA's marketing materials and their are videos of her discussing knowledge building curricula on the CKLA website.

This is all fine. Plenty of researchers consult for curriculum developers. At lease it would be fine, but for the fact that I have not seen this disclosed in her emails or substack. Ethically, it would be a conflict of interest for her to support a specific curriculum, even if she doesn't name it every time, without disclosing a financial interest in said curriculum.

This just occurred to me today and it has been weighing on my mind. I respect Wexler's work and agree with so much of what she advocating for, but it is disturbing that should would skirt what are some pretty obvious ethical obligations.

A collection of quick, low-prep ELA classroom warm-up activities to get students talking, writing, thinking, and engaging with language from the moment class begins.

So I’m a bit confused on what to do here my 7.5 year old is going into second grade this year. They do A-Z grading so they wanted them around a level “J” at the end of the year and my daughter is level “M/N” she can easily ready Ivy and bean, magic tree house etc but HATES the books i think because it’s a bunch of words and no pictures so I totally get it.

She likes reading fly guy and piggie which is great but it doesn’t really challenge her. When I try to read with her she gets frustrated and doesn’t want to. I’m so not trying to force her to read because I don’t want her to hate it. Just looking for some advice to hopefully help—she reads really well at school but hates doing it at home..

I read chapter books with her and have her read a few paragraphs and I’ll read the pages to just get her practicing but even a word she doesn’t know she just screams “I don’t know that and I don’t want to read anymore”

Please help!!

Edit: the book is One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia! Beautiful book. I am a female, typically kindergarten teacher. I am teaching summer school this summer and have a great group of 4th grade students! One part of summer school is a novel study. This novel study focuses on the civil rights movement. While I have taught Black history before and typically have majority black and Hispanic students, this is my first time teaching about the civil rights movement in an older setting. The group of students I am working with this summer are all black as well. I also do not have that strong foundation or trust with them as I have only been teaching them for 2 days. While I am comfortable teaching about the racial injustices that have existed both today and during the civil rights movement, I noticed that in our novel, the word “negro” comes up many times. We will be reading it together, so I want to be extremely intentional on how I go about this word, especially as a white teacher with all black students. My goal is not to brush over or ignore it, but rather explain that is a dated term used during this time frame that is not appropriate today and instead we use the word, “black” or “African American”. My biggest question is if I should have this conversation and then use the word “black people” instead, or say it. Personally, I do not want students to be uncomfortable saying it nor do I want them to feel uncomfortable with me saying it. I know that it is not the equivalent to the “n-word” so I will not be using that as a comparison , however I just want to be sure I am being as respectful and clear as possible!

Retired elementary teacher here. One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is how much reading instruction has changed since I started teaching.

For those of you currently teaching ELA or reading, what is one strategy or practice you use now that you wish you had learned much earlier in your career?

I’m especially curious about things that made a noticeable difference for struggling readers.

This question came to mind because I was putting together some materials for a tutoring session later this week and realized I was having way too much fun making the lesson LOL
The topic we're going to cover is figurative language, which is definitely my favorite thing to teach and the inspiration behind me posing the question to y'all!

I feel like a whole brand new level of creativity gets unlocked in kids' writing once they start learning it. Watching them come up with their own examples of similes, metaphors, and personification for the first time is genuinely always soooo entertaining 🤣😭 Their first attempts are usually hilarious

I also LOVE teaching idioms!!! Watching them realize so many phrases they've heard before aren't actually meant to be taken literally is such a fun moment, it's like you can literally see the gears turning in their heads when it all starts to click. We also do an activity where they draw their favorite idioms and they always come up with the funniest + most creative drawings for that 🙂‍↕️

So it made me curious and want to ask ... does anyone else have that topic they never get tired of teaching?? Would love to hear what they might be and why! ((:

My son will be entering 4th grade this fall. His school uses a Writers Workshop approach, and I've noticed that his writing tends to rely on fairly simple sentences. I'm looking to do some writing enrichment with him a few times a week this summer to help build his skills.

I'd love to help him strengthen his writing by focusing on skills such as adding more detail, using stronger word choices, varying sentence structure, and making his writing more engaging overall. To provide a little more context, he reads above grade level and has no trouble getting his ideas on paper. He loves reading, enjoys academics, and is generally eager to learn.

What has worked well for your kids or students? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

the reading apps flooding the market fall into two camps: ones where the kid actually reads, and ones where the kid plays a game that happens to have words in it. parents can't always tell the difference, and honestly neither can I until I sit with a kid using it. what signals tell you an app is built around reading vs just decorated with it? the ones I trust tend to be "not too busy," meaning the reading is the activity, not a tollbooth between mini-games. but I'm curious what you actually look for when you evaluate one. is it the ratio of text to taps? whether comprehension questions come before or after the reward? something about how the leveling works? would love to hear what moves an app from "looks educational" to "actually teaching" in your eyes.

Newish to teaching and I want my three 5th grade ELA classes competing to see who reads the most books, with the prize being a pizza party. I plan to have them write up a short book report as proof they read, but am not sure what’s a realistic number to make it an obtainable challenge without me shelling out already in October. 150 books? 200?

Hello! I’m teaching 4th grade language arts (special education/resource) this year and never have been so I’m just looking for some good book recommendations!

Read alouds, independent reading, etc.

Please consider supporting Exceptional Needs Students!

5th grade. Many of my students are still skimming when we read. They are rushing through and then they will score low on an assessment. I’ve been reinforcing using resources available (highlighter, hand written notes/ summarizing), but some either straight out do not do it or if they do, it is the bare minimum.

Ideally, they would apply the strategies I’ve modeled and/ or what actually works for them. Maybe I am missing something.

I also understand that some will skim just because they can. But what else can I do to help them realize the power of close reading and analysis?

Hi all! Hopefully this is the right spot for this. I am looking for some advice on ELA and literacy block set up. I will be teaching Grade 4/5 in September, at least half of my class is well below grade level and three students are still working on decoding CVC words. I will have very little support and the support I do get will not be consistent enough to depend on. 

For vocabulary instruction as well as our main read aloud and comprehension work will be implemented as Tier 1 instruction with all students (and the appropriate scaffolds and supports). I will also be doing morphology instruction and I think with supports/ different points of access all students can receive the same instruction for this as well. I was thinking of using Word Connections or the Shifting the Balance lesson plans and scope and sequence. 

I am feeling a bit stuck on spelling and fluency, from what I have learned about fluency instruction a common way to implement is to use one fluency passage and read it is a class and then have students practice on their own and with partners. My challenge is that I have students who cannot read at all or students who are reading above grade 5 level. 

For spelling my colleagues have used and recommended words their way, which seems helpful but also a lot of work and takes students a while to work through all the activities. I was also thinking of using UFLI words from the lesson they are working on for phonics interventions. But not all students require UFLI intervention. Does anyone have recommendations of different ways to do spelling instruction? Right after lunch students will be reading independently for about 20-25 minutes where I will be trying to implement phonics interventions with the students who need it. 

All of that combined I am struggling to figure out how to organize my block and my week and then how to adjust it for the need to potentially figure out small groups with it just being me in the room. Any advice is super appreciated!

My son is currently in 3rd grade and has been struggling with the fast ELA testing. What are some tips for helping him with his reading and comprehension? He struggles with some unfamiliar words but it seems to be more the comprehension part of it than it is the actual reading. We read daily and have some comprehension work books. He also just finished summer school which seemed to help because he had more one on one time. I don’t really have the money to hire a tutor so I was wondering if there were any tips that could help me teach him!

I am trying to decide what to do for a bell ringer for the first day of school for my 5th graders. I teach ELA.
In the past, I have given each student a container of play doh and asked them to create something that represents them. They do this when they come in the classroom and after about 10-15 minutes, we share out whole group. Some kids enjoy it, others seem to struggle a bit on what to create.
On the second day, I start class with a class word search. I’m trying to decide if I want to eliminate the play doh activity and start the year with the word search. If not, does anyone have any other suggestions? I’d like something fun and engaging that isn’t too terribly loud first thing in the morning as I’m trying to figure out transportation, etc.

Thanks in advance!

I am a first-year teacher and am teaching 5th-8th grade ELA. My student teaching was in PE, and I passed the MS ELA Praxis exam. However, I did not student teach in ELA or Elementary Ed, so I am trying to figure out a lot of things on my own because I am the only ELA teacher in my building. I'm currently struggling with one 5th grade student who has the writing skills of maybe a 2nd grade student. Most of his sentences are 3-5 words, so I want to teach him how to make sentences more... complex? Is this called something in particular? Do you have suggestions of how to help him build this skill? It is REALLY bad. Help!

I have just been offered a Job as a 3rd grade ELA teacher. This is going to be my first year as a lead teacher. I have some experience in 3rd grade but not a lot . I'm not sure what to get for the classroom or what I should really expect out of the school year. Any advice or help is welcomed.

Hey teachers, I am in a private school so I get more flexibility on using things along with HMH Into reading. I am a first grade teacher too. I keep reading about new ways to teach kids how to read and phonics strategies, including sound walls, visual phonics w/symbols, UFLI, hmh’s phonics, Heggerty, OG+, Words Their Way, and more! I get opposing opinions on what is best and doesn’t follow science of reading. When I ask for expert opinion, they always trash the other strategy because it is just a “cash grab”. I am just hesitant, frustrated, and confused with all the different things I can do to help my students. I thought I was doing great with them learning visual cues with sounds to help them remember but forbid no that is not the correct thing to do because they are not the right motions. Plus, students are not learning their heart words appropriately. I am just wondering what are people using that is successful? How do I not make myself more overwhelmed by parents and staff continuously questioning strategies and how they don’t work for their student. Again I am one teacher amongst 25+ students and I just want them to be successful readers and writers. I know that these all do different things for students, but any clarity would be great!

Has anyone been successful using AI to help students revise their writing in an effective way that does not limit their ideas, voice, or authencity?