Jennifer McCann

Many elementary classrooms now give students text level assessments to determine their reading instructional, independent, and frustration levels. Once this is done, it is important that students are making good book choices and not just reading books that are extremely easy or too hard. These leveled lists suggest titles at each level that can be found at local libraries. Since there are so many different leveling systems for books, these suggested lists become very important for parents try

This packet is a great way for your students to practice their cursive handwriting while still having the opportunity to also learn about important qualities such as honesty, perseverance, bravery, self-control and kindness. Learning to write in cursive takes lots of practice, and this takes time. It’s often time that you don’t have in your already-packed, busy days. I’ve always loved quotes, and the walls of my classroom are filled with inspiring, thought-provoking ones. In trying to make t

Your students will have the opportunity to engage in a fun and interesting research project about The New Seven Wonders of the World. This project teaches children how to read informational texts, compile facts about a topic from more than one source of information, synthesize prior knowledge and new learning on a particular topic, and present research findings in the form of an informational text that the students, themselves, will be authoring. It also expands their worlds as they learn about

***UPDATED on 10/12/14 This engaging literature study for first graders revolves around the beloved fables by Aesop. This pack includes anchor charts, sorting cards, foldables, and printables that address CCSS Reading Literature standards 1-7 and 9 in multiple ways. This will be a valuable addition to your study of fables and folktales. Here is a detailed list of each page: 1. Title Page 2. Aesop's Fables color poster 3-5 Character, setting, and moral anchor charts in color 6-7 The Lion and the

High frequency words are words that occur frequently in children's texts. They need to be practiced until they become automatic. These data collection sheets will help you keep track of your students' progress as they learn their high frequency words. You should make a packet for each child that you plan to assess. You may want to create a data notebook for each of your students so that they may set goals and track their progress and mastery. As they learn words, they will have a visual rem

This engaging literature study for second graders revolves around the beloved fables by Aesop. This pack includes anchor charts, sorting cards, foldables, printables, graphic organizers, literacy centers, assessment ideas, and rubrics that address CCSS Reading Literature standards 1-7 and 9 in multiple ways. This will be a valuable addition to your study of fables and folktales. Here is a detailed list of each page: 1. Title Page 2. Aesop's Fables color poster 3-5 Character, setting, and moral a

This engaging literature study for first graders revolves around the beloved classic by L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz. This story is a Common Core Read Aloud Text Exemplar for Kindergarten and First Grade (see Appendix B in the Common Core Standards, ELA). This pack includes anchor charts, sorting cards, foldables, and printables that address CCSS Reading Literature standards 1-7 and 9 in multiple ways. This will be a valuable addition to your Wizard of Oz literature study. Here is a detai

Are you ready for a classroom makeover? Are you looking for a fun theme for your classroom that hasn't been overdone? Here is everything you need to create a print-rich, stimulating learning environment, all with a blue, black, & gray color theme! This is perfect for teachers just starting out and teachers that have been teaching for 20 years! Your students will love the bright, unique posters, name tags, labels, charts, and calendar resources. You will love the organization that these materials

Use this Nonfiction Text Feature Booklet with any type of informational text or article to help your students really understand CCSS RI.1.5, RI.2.5, or RI.3.5. These standards address using nonfiction text features to better comprehend informational texts. You can print the entire booklet or simply choose the text features you want to include and only print out particular pages in this packet. This would be the perfect activity to use as a review in a literacy center or literacy station. You

Prevent the Summer Slide with this summer learning packet for students finishing first grade and moving to second. Research shows that students often experience learning loss over the summer months, which results in classroom teachers having to spend time at the beginning of every year reviewing skills from the previous year. Doing a little each day will help keep those skills current while still giving children the opportunity to "be kids." This packet includes a wide range of activities to kee

Your students will have the opportunity to engage in a fun and interesting research project about animals that are considered to be keystone species and how they directly influence their ecosystems. A keystone species is an animal that has a deep impact on an ecosystem. If a keystone species goes extinct, it would cause several other species in that ecosystem to also become extinct because of their dependence on the keystone species. This project gives children the important experience of read

***NOTE: This packet contains June and July calendars from 2015. Prevent the Summer Slide with this summer learning packet for students finishing fourth grade and moving to fifth. Research shows that students often experience learning loss over the summer months, which results in classroom teachers having to spend time at the beginning of every year reviewing skills from the previous year. Doing a little each day will help keep those skills current. Since only a little bit of time is required

This product includes two different PowerPoint presentations that you can do with your students to teach and review their blends and digraphs. You will receive both PowerPoint files and also the same files saved as a PDF to save the integrity of the fonts used in the original creation. (You can do the presentation with your students with either file.) One of the first skills that emergent readers need to develop is looking at the first letter in a word they don’t know and getting their mouth r

Here's a cute and fun way to review those Dolch Primer words this fall! Playing a game is the perfect way to keep your students engaged while you review those important foundational skills that your students need to be successful readers. Your students will love the colorful bingo cards, and you will love your students' enthusiasm for learning that this game will inspire! This would be a great activity to do with your entire class or in literacy centers with small groups! Included in this set: B

Elementary literacy coaches and teachers will love this resource as they work to effectively implement Writers' Workshop in their classrooms. This packet includes an extensive list of mentor texts to use for instruction during writers' workshop. Mentor texts, often called anchor texts, are published pieces of writing that teachers can use to teach a particular writing skill. They are often well-loved pieces of children's literature from celebrated authors, that teachers and students will want

These free mini-anchor charts will support you as you take your elementary students through the writing process during writers' workshop. Using kid-friendly language, these charts will help your students understand and remember each step in the writing process as they work to gather ideas, write their first draft, revise, edit, and finally publish their pieces. Each one of these charts could be used as a springboard to a mini-lesson on each step. You could easily turn these posters into a gr

This 76-slide PowerPoint presentation can be used for your own professional development, or Instructional Coaches and Reading Specialists can use this for a 1-2 hour PD presentation for your elementary teachers during an in-service day or PLC. This material focuses on ways to create a print-rich environment and how this environment supports literacy growth in children learning to read. This is the perfect presentation for the beginning of the school year since teachers are in the midst of se

This is the perfect way to get your students reading books over spring break! You can offer incentives for completing a row (just like in BINGO) or encourage your students to complete the entire page for an extra special treat! There are four different pages for easy differentiation or for varying ages. Thanks for checking out this product! Jennifer McCann

This packet of graphic organizers was created to support you as you teach your students new vocabulary words. These organizers will engage your students in thinking critically about new words and give them several different ways to learn new words. Students can use these organizers with almost any piece of text, which gives you more flexibility as you strive to meet the diverse needs of the students in your classroom. It's everything you need to effectively teach vocabulary words to your stud

Are you ready for a classroom makeover? Are you looking for a fun theme for your classroom that hasn't been overdone? This packet contains everything you need to create a print-rich, stimulating learning environment, all with a colorful circus theme! This is perfect for teachers just starting out and teachers that have been teaching for 20 years! Your students will love the bright, unique posters, name tags, labels, charts, and calendar resources. You will love the organization that these materi