Instructional Strategies

Inside this Post:  Tired of students forgetting what they’ve learned? Research emphasizes the value of previewing and reviewing. Keep reading for practical, manageable ways to build spacing into your classroom. Travel…

Inside this Post: Need to deepen student investment in graphic organizers? Try differentiating. One of the highest levels of choice we can offer is student-created graphic organizers. Find the details in…

Inside this Post:  Are your graphic organizers getting stale? Unlock the power of specialized graphic organizers, and watch critical thinking soar. (I’ll also be speaking about this topic at a…

Inside this Post: How to maximize student engagement with a simple secret…eye-catching graphic organizers. This is the second post in a series about graphic organizers. Want to start at the…

Inside this Post: If your experience with graphic organizers has been less than enchanting, stick around. This post has simple, specific suggestions for modeling with graphic organizers to increase learning!…

TED Talks are videos that present engaging ideas in 18 minutes or less. Their compact, visual format makes them a great vessel for the middle and high school classroom! Truly,…

Getting ready to begin student-led literature circles? Literature circles are the perfect opportunity to combine reading, writing, speaking, and listening in an authentic way! But, sometimes the broad nature and…

Does it ever seem like standardized test writing prompts are intentionally wordy and confusing? If you have stumbled upon this post after finishing your testing for the year, enjoy! For…

Searching for engaging ways to build students’ background knowledge? Perhaps you need an activity to help students prepare to read a complex text, to write an essay, or to engage…

Inside: A meaningful end-of-year reflection technique for older students that combines the power of student-led learning with brain-based associations…  Ever wish you could just find a rainbow that will lead…