Tracking Print
Tracking Print

Did you know that Level A and Level B books were created especially to teach children to track print? It’s true! These two beginning levels have a specific purpose. To train a child’s eyes to track print on the page using their finger as a guide. In this way they experience important concepts of print: that print moves from left to right, how to hold a book and turn the pages, and how to identify individual letters and words. After a child has learned to track print, it is important for them to move immediately to Level C, to start learning word attack and decoding skills.

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Kathy CraneReading Skills, Intervention, Guided Reading
Pond Life Theme Unit Frogs
Pond Life Theme Unit Frogs

Life in a pond is filled with some of the most fascinating characters you can find. Consequently it makes for a great thematic unit!. Frogs, duck, turtles, alligators, butterflies, dragonflies, and other pond life are among some of my favorite creatures to study, because they are not only fascinating, but pretty cute!

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Thematic UnitKathy CraneFrogs, Ponds
Treating Children With Respect and Encouragement.
Treating Children With Respect and Encouragement.

As I walked by a classroom yesterday, I heard a teacher yelling at a student with a very forceful voice and exaggerated body language. This immediately took me to another place and time, the time when Mr. Black karate chopped me so hard in the back of the neck that I peed my pants instantly in front of the entire class. Why, you might ask? Because I ran on a corner of the grass instead of the sidewalk. You see, Mr Black, had a very strict rule that grass was not a place for children. I was playing tag with my friends and in the chase, I took a short-cut across the grass to place the tag. And there he was — I froze in fear. He chopped, and I peed. “Go clean yourself up he growled.” (I wonder how my head stayed attached to my body with that forceful chop).

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Child DevelopmentKathy CraneEarly Childhood, Character Development, Growth Mindset
St Patrick's Day Thematic Unit
St Patrick's Day Thematic Unit

My mom told me that she wanted to name me Kathy, but she went with Kathleen because I was due on St. Patrick’s day. I also took a DNA test that told me I’m 4.9% Irish, so I guess there is nothing to do but embrace this lighthearted holiday, which is based on a patron Saint in Ireland that died in 461. Wow! That is a long time for a celebration to survive. The community where I currently live has a giant St. Patrick’s Day parade, started by a an Irish settler in the community four decades ago. His goal was to give opportunity for everyone to act like a kid again, which is something I do every day!

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Thematic UnitKathy CraneHolidays, Thematic Unit
The Three Little Pigs
The Three Little Pigs

I love bringing fairy and folk tales into my classroom, I could focus on these tales all year long and still not run out of fun, rigorous, and purposeful material for my students!

These great tales are a fabulous way to study positive and negative character traits, other cultures, learn effective decision making, how to handle conflict, and natural consequences. It’s no wonder that these tales have been told for centuries!

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Thematic UnitKathy CraneFairy Tales, Thematic Teaching, Thematic UnitComment
Developmentally Appropriate Teaching: Why Does it Matter?
Developmentally Appropriate Teaching: Why Does it Matter?

In America, there has been a rush for pushed-down academics to prevent the failures of students in older grades. The academics of preschools, kindergarten, and 1st grade have been pushed to a full year beyond the expectations of previous times. In fact, it is very common to hear people refer to Kindergarten as the new First grade, or Preschool as the new Kindergarten.

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Early ChildhoodKathy CraneDevelopmentally Appropriate, Early Childhood, Growth Mindset
Fostering the Five Domains of Human Development and a Freebie!
Fostering the Five Domains of Human Development and a Freebie!

Teaching is a performance skill. Like a dancer who practices muscle movements daily until his body can perform intricate dance routines with ease, an actor who studies unconscious body movements until she can recreate them on the stage, or a writer who knows all of the elements of a well written tale so well that she can construct a page turning novel, teachers learn and practice the elements of lesson design, behavior management and modification, and lesson delivery, until these become second nature.

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LiteracyKathy CraneCommon Core, Free Games, ReadingComment
Flexible Seating In First Grade
Flexible Seating In First Grade

In March we had a chance to interview Patti Clark, the Vice President of Product Development at Lakeshore Learning Materials, about Lakeshore’s new product line of flexible seating furniture options. This month, Lakeshore sent some of their Flex-Space Comfy Floor Seats and Flex-Space Wobble Cushions to our friend, first grade teacher Wendy, to try out in her classroom as she tries her first year of flexible seating. Here’s what Wendy has to say:

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Classroom ManagementKathy CraneFlexible Seating, Classroom Management
Vocabulary Development: And the Achievement Gap
Vocabulary Development: And the Achievement Gap

Today I took a city tour of a major US city. While all of the tourists were taking in the city sites, I couldn't help looking at the city with teacher eyes: those eyes teachers use every day as they lovingly work for the equality of instruction. I reflected on several books that I have been reading and of what I know as a teacher about the affects of systemic poverty on education. I know that I can't single handedly fix the 30 million word gap that faces our nation, but I will do everything in my power to help the students I teach have a fair and equal shot at public education.

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Oral LanguageKathy CraneVocabulary, Early Childhood, Poverty, Growth Mindset, Oral Language