January 09, 2020

One Giant Step—The Revision Process

January 09, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

As a teacher, you know the effortful task of teaching students about the six steps of the Writing Process. The steps should be taught and repeated so that students will always know how to communicate thoughts and ideas in competent, confident way. Now, I’d like to let you in on a little secret. As a student, I enjoyed the subject of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. I even loved journal writing. But, the truth was that I loathed formal writing. I had most of the pieces of the writing puzzle, but I didn’t know how to fill in the gaps to bring it to completion.

January 07, 2020

Starting Your Second Semester Off Right: 365 New Days!

January 07, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

As a classroom teacher, returning from holiday break was always bittersweet. On one hand, I knew the pressure for “test prep” would be more intense, but on the other hand, the satisfaction of witnessing my students grow into wiser beings put a validating smile on my face.

I imagine my students felt similar…a little anxious about getting refocused on learning and the routines of school-life, but excited to be around their friends and completing another school year.

The New Year seems to offer people a clean slate or a fresh start from which to begin another 365 days of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. Celebrations with family and friends, eating delicious food, watching the “ball” drop with flashy fireworks, and reevaluating the past or creating resolutions for the next 365 days is how most Americans bring in the New Year. Why not create a New Year’s Celebration in your classroom? It’s an ideal time to celebrate your students’ academic growth and invite them to reexamine their goals. (Food, fireworks, family, and a shiny ball are all optional.) Here are two ways you can bring in the New Year with positivity and possibility.

January 01, 2020

Writing Toolbox: Let's get organized with Writing Maps!

January 01, 2020/ Kim Shurley

Teaching kids to write can be easy if you have the right tools! Getting organized is the first step, and one of the best ways to accomplish this is with an excellent set of writing maps. Writing maps are the foundation for writing success and truly help your children start out focused and on topic. What could be better than that?

At Shurley English, we want to give you a great start to the new year. Right now, you can download our Shurley English writing maps for FREE! Below, you will find a

December 27, 2019

Language Arts Success: The BEST of 2019

December 27, 2019/ Kim Shurley

As the calendar year comes to a close, a teacher’s journey is still moving at full speed. (It’s true!) We are not quite to the half-way mark of our year, and we still have much to do! As 2019 comes to a close and before you begin the second semester, I would encourage you to take a moment, stop, and reflect. It is good for the mind and soul to take note of one’s progress. What successes are you seeing in the classroom? Are you on the track you had planned? Do you need to make adjustments? To help you do so, we've assembled

December 18, 2019

Are you meeting your students' needs?

December 18, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

Today’s classroom teacher wears many hats, and that’s a fact. Not only are they responsible to help children develop and improve their literacy, mathematic, and social science skills, they must also evaluate student progress and performance along the way. To be upfront, I’m not just talking about grades for the aforementioned subject areas. I’m talking about an assessment that goes much deeper.

On a daily basis, classroom teachers must

December 13, 2019

Teaching Word Choice: Skills for day-to-day life

December 13, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

As teachers, the concept of “word choice” is common language in classrooms around the United States. Careful word choice is the key to effective writing and speaking. Selecting appropriate and precise words helps to increase the impact you have on your audience. Ideally, this is what teachers try to convey to their students at each grade level, but a child’s learning continues

December 09, 2019

Holiday Activity Time: My 12 Days of Christmas

December 09, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

Coloring sheets, word puzzles, tinsel, glitter, and glue are just some of the items you’ll find scattered around many classrooms during the holidays. There are so many wonderful craft ideas and activities people have used to make the season a memorable one at school. Here’s a fun way to keep your students engaged in writing during the weeks before holiday break.

Ask students to use their creativity to

December 03, 2019

Extend the Lesson: The Gift of Kindness

December 03, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Some of the words associated with kindness are affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care. The act of being kind often requires courage and strength, but a simple act of kindness can have huge effects individually and globally.

Think back to a time when someone was kind to you or when you were kind to someone else. Do you remember the feeling you felt when that person held the door open for you? Did you happen to see the other person smile or light-up when you acted with kindness?

Take a look at how kindness affects a human being:

November 26, 2019

The Importance of Word Choice…in Life

November 26, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can change your brain.” Wait a second, that’s not how I learned it! Many of us grew up reciting some version of this common idiom, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” This childhood chant means that hurtful words cannot cause any physical pain and thus will be ignored. I will speculate and say that as we grew older, we all learned that this chant is not true; words can and do hurt; they can actually change your brain!

Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone’s

November 19, 2019

How to Spell Well: Tips and tricks for spelling success

November 19, 2019/ Contributing Blogger

Would you agree that teaching spelling should be an all-day/every-day job?! We all know that opportunities to teach quick spelling lessons arise frequently throughout the day. But, all too often, we miss these teachable moments!

Research on spelling shows that for decades, the common approach to teach spelling centered on rote memorization with a heavy emphasis on visual learning. But, the research shows that spelling can be improved by