There's so much I love about using Whole Brain Teaching with my 4th graders. In fact, it's impossible for me to choose my all-time favorite technique from their overwhelmingly abundant list of ideas. So I won't even try. I will, however, discuss how I am using the Switch technique and how I keep it "fresh" all year long. The Habituation Fight One of the key principles behind Whole Brain Teaching is the idea of habituation. After a while, what was at first appealing becomes boring. As human … [Read more...]
Sally Camden - The wise teacher makes learning a joy.
Using Online Children’s Books as Mentor Texts
I am halfway through a 3-year reading/language arts training program at my school district. The training has been wonderful, but rebuilding our entire ELA curriculum from the ground up has been overwhelming. Fortunately, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My “big picture” understanding has also sharpened so I feel more […]
Nonfiction Summary Graphic Organizer with the 5 W’s Strategy
Teaching students how to summarize nonfiction text can be quite a challenge. Fortunately, with the use of some colored pencils and a handy nonfiction summary graphic organizer, my students were doing it with confidence…and yours can, too! Summarizing Power Writing a concise, yet descriptive summary is an important skill upper elementary students need to learn. […]