Primary (Paradise) Teaching

In this Author to Teacher Episode: Conversations with published authors about writing, teaching, and how we can support our students, Martha interviews author and illustrator Gaia Cornwall. Gaia's bo…

In this Author to Teacher Episode: Conversations with published authors about writing, teaching, and how we can support our students,  our host Martha speaks with author, singer song writer, and spee…

In this Author to Teacher Episode: Conversations with published authors about writing, teaching, and how we can support our students,  our host Martha speaks with author, teacher, speaker, and SEL cu…

In this Author to Teacher Episode: Conversations with published authors about writing, teaching, and how we can support our students, Martha interviews author and illustrator Jarrett Lerner. Jarrett'…

As the school year winds down, it's always amazing to think about how far your students have come, the things you've experienced together, and what the future may hold. In the last episode of season …

As a teacher, there's nothing worse than going to school when you're feeling sick... except maybe preparing sub plans. In this episode, Martha shares 3 easy sub plan tips that will give you the freed…

Being a new teacher can be overwhelming. Going from a student teacher where you have someone to hold your hand to being in charge of 25-30 small humans is a big leap. The first year of teaching can b…

Parents often question why we're teaching students "new math" that seems illogical to them. Whether it's common core math or state standards, it's certainly different from the way they learned. In th…

, What do you do with books that are past the point of no return? Picture it. A student hands you a book that has been taped back together a dozen times, the spine is crumbling, and has clearly been …

Teaching writing skills in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade involves many parts. One area that students in this age often struggle with is creating descriptive writing pieces. Primary grad…

What do you do when students are struggling with decoding words that should come easily? Teaching students the 6 different syllable types and how to use them will help students decode words more easi…

Mentor texts are an important part of writing instruction. In today's episode, Martha shares what mentor texts are and 5 reasons why it's important to choose rich mentor texts with your students. She…

Creating successful digital writing lessons might feel complicated. However, there are some simple components that will make planning and executing virtual writing with primary students easier. In th…

Writing during distance learning, especially for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students, presents challenges. Although it’s not the ideal way to teach writing, there are some actionable…

90% of the population is right handed, which means most teachers are right handed as well. Right handed teachers might not always understand the difficulties left handed students face. In this episod…

Understanding how to write complete sentences, knowing where to put punctuation between sentences to avoid run on and fragments, and understanding what makes a complete simple sentence is a difficult…

Sentence writing: how do you teach young students such a complex skill? In this episode, Martha shares how you can teach kindergarten and first grade students how to write complete, basic sentences i…

Student confidence is clearly linked with students being willing to take risks and try new things, and this is especially true when it comes to writing instruction in kindergarten, first grade, and s…

Learning how to plan writing is incredibly important. If we are able to teach students how to make a plan before beginning writing, we are setting them up for writing success. In this episode, our ho…

In a world where filtered, perfect images of teachers in perfectly organized classroom seems to be the norm, being a good teacher can feel impossible. Even though we all “know” that those perfect pic…