Have you seen any of the fun-shaped Easter eggs in your local Walmart, Target, or Dollar Tree? I’ve seen everything from Lego-shaped “eggs” to flower-shaped “eggs” and I think they’re so much fun! There are so many ways that you can use the shaped “eggs” without making the activity seem like an Easter activity.

Wondering what tools to keep in your literacy small group caddy? These are a few of the things that I am constantly reaching for during small group literacy instruction, so I keep them all handy in a little caddy that I can easily move around.

For a long time, I struggled with wanting my word work options to be engaging and hands-on, but also low-prep. Over the years I came up with several word work options that meet all of my qualifications: engaging and standards-based, hands-on, and low-prep. Read about some of my fave options here.

love paper centers just as much as the next person because I love the hands-on approach to learning. What I don’t love is spending hours of my personal time cutting and laminating hundreds of math centers, just to have to redo them all in a few years because of wear and tear.