• Do Now - An effective Do Now should conform to four critical criteria to ensure that it remains focused, efficient, and effective.  Check out the Do Now link for further information.

• Vocabulary - Teachers should provide students with explicit vocabulary instruction both as part of reading and language arts classes and as part of content area classes such as science and social studies. By giving students explicit instruction in vocabulary, teachers help them learn the meaning of new words and strengthen their independent skills of constructing the meaning of text. 

• Shared Reading - During shared reading, you and your students read aloud an enlarged version of an engaging text that provides opportunities for your students to expand their reading competencies. The goals of the first reading are to ensure that students enjoy the text and think about the meaning. After the first reading, students take part in multiple, subsequent readings to notice more about the text. They discuss the text, and you select teaching points based on their needs.  

• Differentiated Learning - Today's classrooms are filled with diverse learners who differ not only culturally and linguistically but also in their cognitive abilities, background knowledge, and learning preferences. Faced with such diversity, many schools are implementing differentiated instruction in an effort to effectively address all students' learning needs. 

• Closing - The most well known closing is an Exit Ticket.  This is one of many ways a teacher can informally assess students' understanding of the day's lesson. Teachers gain understanding of who knows what and if certain topics need additional instruction time — something that can be lost when one or two consistent hand-raisers suggest learning proficiency for the entire classroom. 

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews the existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education. Our goal is to provide educators with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions. We focus on the results from high-quality research to answer the question “What works in education?” 

Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices 

Recommendation 1: Provide explicit vocabulary instruction

Recommendation 2: Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction

Recommendation 3: Provide opportunities for extended discussion of text meaning and interpretation.

Recommendation 4: Increase student motivation and engagement in literacy learning.

Recommendation 5: Make available intensive and individualized interventions for struggling readers that can be provided by trained specialists.

Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tier Intervention 

Recommendation 1: Screen all students for potential reading problems at the beginning of the year and again in the middle of the year. Regularly monitor the progress of students who are at elevated risk for developing reading disabilities.

Recommendation 3: Provide intensive, systematic instruction on up to three foundational reading skills in small groups to students who score below the benchmark on universal screening. Typically, these groups meet between three and five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes (tier 2).

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Here are some interesting resources to check out. They are or have a free version and are only suggestions.  Pick one application and try it out to see if you like it.

Padlet - From your hobby to your career, your class notes to your final exam, your mood board to your runway show, padlets help you organize your life. 

Nearpod - Explore Nearpod's award-winning K-12 interactive lessons, videos, and formative assessments. Built for distance learning, hybrid, and school-based settings. 

Canva - Canva is a graphic design platform that allows users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents and other visual content.  

Bouncyballs - A free classroom noise level meter, monitor and management tool. Perfect if your school kids are too noisy! Bouncing balls react to sounds from the microphone. 

Kahoot! - Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home. 

Educreations - Educreations is a community where anyone can teach what they know and learn what they don't.  

Storybird - Become a better writer with Storybird's creativity tools.  

Screen-o-matic - A screencasting and video editing software tool that can be launched directly from a browser.