January 14, 2021

Writing Extension: Celebrate Your Winter Wonderland

January 14, 2021/ Contributing Blogger

When the excitement of a snow day or a long weekend is over, you may want an activity to teach your students how to find interest in nature’s resting time. It's an opportunity to find the beauty on display right outside the window! Take a classroom field trip outside and have your students paired up with clipboards to record the details they observe. This is a great time to review descriptive writing to spark their imagination. We've provided a few descriptive writing resources for you at the bottom of this page!

December 17, 2020

How to Manage Stress During the Holiday Season

December 17, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

There are only eight shopping days left before Christmas! (Let that sink in for just a minute!) I know that Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but right about now, I’m feeling a little less than wonderful! The very idea that I only have a handful of days left to select, purchase, and wrap gifts for my family stresses me out! I’ve never been this unprepared!

November 24, 2020

Holiday Fun: A Vocabulary Game for Everyone

November 24, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

My family and I have played a really cool game throughout our years together. My wife and I thought it up when we were traveling on vacation several years ago, and it remains as one of my all-time favorites (not sure anyone else agrees!!). It only requires a brain, a vocabulary, and a voice.

July 29, 2020

Optimize Learning with Focus Breaks

July 29, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

If you’ve been following our Shurley English Blog posts, you know we’ve been flooding you with creative ideas on how to continue supporting your students’ academic progress throughout the summer. We are aware that with the high demands placed upon our children in today’s U.S. classrooms, it’s evident that children (and adults) have fewer opportunities to truly unwind and relax.

Today, my suggestion is to remember to INCLUDE some “DOWNTIME” into your child’s daily summer schedule, and here’s why:

July 08, 2020

Summer Learning: It's time to try cyclical spelling!

July 08, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

Here’s an idea to kick your kids’ spelling prowess into high gear. While it’s true that some kids are just naturally good spellers, my experience has been that most are not. They need a sure-fire way to lock in accurate spelling, especially when summertime rolls around and school is out.

Cyclical spelling might just be for you and your kids. Here’s how it works:

July 02, 2020

Summer Learning: Boosting your child's communication skills

July 02, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

Have you ever thought of scheduling a weekly family meeting during the summer months? It really is a great way to boost communication skills at home! Kids of all ages, when given the chance, can participate in structured discussions to recap the previous week and plan for the next one. Routine meetings can allow everyone to contribute personal thoughts, feelings, ideas, choices, etc., so that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. Topic possibilities are endless, yet providing this type of platform can build family connections and help children develop their personal communication skills.

Here’s how it works:

March 26, 2020

Distance Learning: How to create moments for physical wellness

March 26, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

If you’re like most human beings, you probably spend a fair amount of time in front of a computer, tablet, or cell phone sitting, reading, texting, typing, or holding a phone up to your ear. Our workplaces and classrooms have gone digital. Even now, you are on your digital device reading this! So let me ask you a question…

March 19, 2020

Distance Learning: Implementing purposeful downtime

March 19, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

If you’ve been following our Shurley English Blog posts, you know we’ve been flooding you with creative ideas on how to continue supporting your students’ academic progress. With the high demands placed upon our students today, it’s evident that they have fewer opportunities to truly unwind and relax.

Today, my suggestion is to remember to include some downtime into your students’ daily schedule, and here’s why:

January 30, 2020

Playin’ Around with Verb Tenses

January 30, 2020/ Contributing Blogger

Verb tenses can be challenging for students and adults! In an effort to reinforce correct verb tense usage, why not play a little game? Let’s get started with a quick review of verb tenses.

Tense means time. So, that means that the verb in the sentence actually lets the reader know the time of the action. There are three basic verb tenses that show when an action takes place: