Apples Design

One of my all-time favorite writing topics focuses on writing showing sentences instead of telling sentences. The anchor chart below highlights the difference between a showing sentence and a telling sentence. Basically, a telling sentence in a story is usually a short sentence that tells about an incident in a vague, uninteresting way. Simple emotion words like sad, angry, brave or embarrassed are common in telling sentences.

Good classroom organization is a MUST for any successful teacher!  No matter what organizational tools you are using to keep organized (book crates, teacher binder, student binder, filing systems, etc.) having a solid system in place can make or break your year.

You probably know the main components of a lesson. You may even be required to write them all down in your lesson plans. Whether it's a lesson you've created from scratch or a plan laid out in your curriculum's teacher manual, whether it's a lesson you've done every year since the beginning of everything (you know, an oldie but a goodie), or one that is fresh and new, these four ideas can help you teach it more effectively. I'm not here to list the obvious.