The primary gal

Teaching guided math procedures will make your guided math instruction more effective, keep your students on task longer, and minimize behavior problems.

I absolutely love being a special education teacher, and I’ve learned so much throughout my time teaching students with disabilities (…and I know I have so much more to learn!). SIMPLE Special Education Tips for NEW Teachers! If you are new to special education, I want you to know that there are many days when you’ll […]

When planning lessons, I always ask myself, “Are all of my kids doing the same thing?” If that answer is yes, then I am not differentiating appropriately. It’s kinda of a nerdy passion of mine to maximize differentiation. That being said, my room is not differentiated 100% of the time. There are times when time […]

The Primary Gal: Facebook Groups that Every Teacher Needs to Check Out

Progress monitoring can seriously be an overwhelming task. Many special education teachers are overwhelmed at even the thought of assessing their students two to three times per nine weeks. I am one of the oddballs. I love to assess my kids on meaningful goals and use that data to make decisions about interventions they receive, […]

In this blog you will find five quick activities to do before reading to set a good foundation for your students and give them purpose for reading.

I use mentor texts for teaching so many reading skills. It is something that I love and I hope my students remember years after they’ve left my classroom. I think mentor texts engage students, allow them to understand the text, and focus on mastering abstract reading skills. I have a blog post for each month […]

Today’s post is all about our struggling readers. We’ve all had them. We all want to do our best to help them. But sometimes, that is easier said than done. To begin to help our struggling readers, we have to begin by identifying their greatest need. For most readers, they are struggling in one of […]

This line of Tricky Word Work products are a classroom necessity! Four centers on nearly every phonetic skill covered in primary grades!!!

Covering everything you need to with your reading groups in 30 minutes can be tricky! I follow this schedule to make the most of my 30 min.