ELA Success
“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can change your brain.” Wait a second, that’s not how I learned it! Many of us grew up reciting some version of this common idiom, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” This childhood
ELA Success
Would you agree that teaching spelling should be an all-day/every-day job?! We all know that opportunities to teach quick spelling lessons arise frequently throughout the day. But, all too often, we miss these teachable moments! Research on spelling shows that for decades, the common approach to teach spelling centered
Holiday Lessons/Resources
Are you looking for an idea to motivate your students to grow an “attitude of gratitude” during this season of Thanksgiving? Why not assist them in creating their own personalized letter of thanksgiving written to someone special in their lives? Not only will you create a Thanksgiving to remember, but
ELA Success
Today, I’ve decided to write to you, the adult reader, about a topic that most of us take for granted: Reading. I’ve chosen this topic because improving reading skills is not just a concern for students only! We all need to practice. The truth is that your reading
shurley english
If you’ve ever found yourself in the middle of a tumultuous situation like a rip-roaring, indoor recess due to inclement weather, or a rigorous test preparation right before a holiday, you know how it feels when you need a break! …You need it, and you need it NOW! Now
ELA Success
In previous blogs, we’ve discussed the benefits of taking some time to slow down, relax, and focus on being more of a human-being rather than a human-doing. For teachers and students alike, that all seems easy to do during the summer months, but how do you avoid getting sucked
ELA Success
Last time, I showed you how to help students own the alphabet as more than just the ABCs. Each symbol or letter is a picture of sound. Our job is to teach kids how to attach the sound or sounds that each symbol represents. We’ll start at the very
Writing
The ideal scenario for the first couple months of a new school year would be a classroom running smoothly. You want to be comfortable with your daily schedule and know that you can meet the needs of all of your diverse students. Realistically, some of you may already feel like
depth of knowledge
If you follow the Shurley English blog, you already know that our main goal is to give students the knowledge, skills, and practice they need to become competent, confident communicators. Our plan of action consists of applying the following equation during language arts instruction: (Knowledge + Skills) x Practice = Competence and
ELA Success
Lately, I have been pondering my linguistic journey. Over the years, it has been a journey of self-discovery. A journey that led me to use a fascinating method to teach systematic phonics and phonemic awareness. If you could have visited my first and second grade combined classroom about 20 years
ELA Success
The rules for writing numbers in a sentence or paragraph haven’t changed over the years, but for some reason, I still feel the need to double-check them. I’m not sure why numbers are such a stumbling block, but any time I need to communicate a quantity, dollar amount,
ELA Success
For my birthday, I received a beautiful interior sliding barn door as a gift. I envisioned that this hefty, rustic door was going to be a unique addition that would bring more style to my home. With a few extra hands, how hard could this DIY project be if we