Posted on March 28, 2014 by Lora

There’s a Monster In My Bed
By Cindy (age 8)

There's a monster in my bed
     He made me bump my head
He followed me to school
     I told him it ain't cool
I begged him to go home
     To a cozy place in Rome
He jumped up on my chair
     And then he pulled my hair
I pushed him to the ground
     He landed with a frown
There's no monster in my bed
     I shooed him from my head

There’s a monster in my bed by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Encourage young readers

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Lora

Before I had kids I was a parenting expert. I knew how to get babies to sleep, how to keep kids quiet at a restaurant, and how to make all kids love books. Then I became a parent and discovered that children are individuals who have these funny things called minds of their own. I got two wonderfully funny, brilliant, and incredibly stubborn children who challenge me when I least expect it.

One thing I do not want to turn into a fight is reading. I do not want to make it a chore — we have enough of those in our house that don’t get done without a struggle. I want to keep reading fun. These little notes aren’t just to reward with things — they give parents a chance to encourage their readers even if they are not in the room, or school bus, or at school. They are like lunch box notes in a book.

You will need some post it notes ( I love these heart ones), a pen, and a book or two.

Take your child’s book that he or she is reading, and divide it up into reading sections. It could be by chapter sections, a handful of pages, or even a few paragraphs each. This will depend on your child’s reading abilities and how far you want to challenge him/her. Here are some ideas for the notes. Use the encouraging words that your child will respond to and rewards that fit your child’s personality and your parenting comfort zone.

“You are a reading superstar!”
“Did you read all this by yourself? Amazing!”
“You just earned a later bedtime!”
“You are one smart cookie!”
“Readers are leaders! ”
“Did you like this book? Let’s talk about it over hot chocolate!”
“Books are cool!”
“Trade this note in for a treat!”
“Let’s go for a walk and chat about this book.”
“Reading rocks, and so do you!”
“You did it! I knew you would. Trade in this book for a trip to the bookstore where you can choose a brand new book!”

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Journal Writing Prompts 2

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Lora

Part 2 of the popular Journal Writing Prompts

Click on image for your FREE download.

Journal Writing Prompts 2

Writing has always been my favourite subject in school, both as a student and now as a teacher. To help encourage my reluctant students to write, I put together a collection of prompts to appeal to them. Though Journal writing is generally a free topic in my class, some students feel stuck without direction. That’s where the cards come in handy. They were a staple in my classroom when I taught Grade 2 and 3, but essentially could be used in any grade. Feel free to download them and use them in your own classrooms. They work well in a binder inside sheet protectors or else cut and laminated as cue cards.

Daily Journal Writing Prompts

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Lora

Happy Sunday everyone. Writing has always been my favourite subject in school, both as a student and now as a teacher. To help encourage my reluctant students to write, I put together a collection of prompts to appeal to them. Though Journal writing is generally a free topic in my class, some students feel stuck without direction. That’s where the cards come in handy. They were a staple in my classroom when I taught Grade 2 and 3, but essentially could be used in any grade. Feel free to download them and use them in your own classrooms. They work well in a binder inside sheet protectors or else cut and laminated as cue cards.

March Break Poem

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Lora

Hello and happy Thursday. Being back to school this week, after the March Break, reminded me of a poem I wrote several years ago when I taught Grade 3. Since I teach Kindergarten this year and younger students have an especially harder time seeing things from another perspective, I thought this would be a rather nice exercise for them. After giving students a chance to talk about their Break, I shared the poem with them and a nice discussion stemmed from it, along with a few laughs. It also lent itself into a great Recount Writing piece. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. To view or download a copy for yourself, click the photo.