Hi friends! I am rounding up a few Monster Freebies that I have made over the years for you to use during spooky season!  1. Subtraction Mats: I laminated these and used spinners, dry erase markers, and number lines with my first graders.  2. Monster Subtraction: All or Nothing: This was our mentor text for tackling a subtraction concept to help with automaticity. 3. Frankenstein Fact Families: Whole group or station practice for addition and subtraction.  4. Monster Letter Freebie: Perfect for my kinder friends! And last but not least, click on the photo below for a read ..read more

WHY These books?!?!  1. Pick a Pumpkin- for the beautiful illustrations, diverse characters, and rhythmic style. Click here for Pick a Pumpkin Resources.  2. Skulls!  -This smart, funny story helps to dispel any fears that kids might have about skeletons and change their point of view of skulls from scary to fascinating and cool.  3. Stumpkin - Clear pictures and simple text about a stemless pumpkin who has big dreams of becoming a Jack-O-Lantern.  4. Crankenstein - for the hilarious, intense frustrations, and moody outbursts that will make your readers laugh out lou ..read more

 Kids just love the My Monster book series! I mean, can you blame them? Gorgeous illustrations, goofy creatures, and a child that overcomes fears!  In fact, I love the My Monster books so much that it was used in the VERY first month of Rooted in Reading about 7 years ago!  Well Amanda Noll has done it again. She came out with an alphabet monster book for our youngest readers and it is just as fantastic as the others! \ After Smith and I read D is for Drool, I decided that I should make a few practice pages since he has been so hard at work on his letters himself.  ..read more

If you have spent anytime at all talking to me about books, than you know that I am pretty obsessed with picture books, but more specifically, the genre of narrative nonfiction. I love the idea of combining real life factual events and putting it in a format that flows nicely and pulls in readers who may not typically go for nonfiction books. So to that point here are 25 nonfiction narrative books that I love for elementary classrooms! This post does include affiliate links.  1. The World is Not a Rectangle  Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing buildings. A ..read more

  Oh my goodness. If you aren't following me on instagram, you must think I just dropped off the face of the planet! I haven't, I promise! Just like many of you, the mom/work/life balance is REAL and I am just trying to fit it all in and be present for my kids! So I thought in my reentry into the blogging world, I would pick a mom topic- lunches! So without further adieu, here are my top 10 favorite things that I use for lunches for either the kids or me! Currently the big kids are loving school lunches, but Smith is super picky so I make his lunch each day. 1.  Bento Boxes- this ..read more

If you've been joining Juan, Vera, and me for our weekly book talks, you know the drill- we play a game, we laugh, we talk books on a certain topic! Tonight's chat was all about books that would be great before bedtime!  I hope you found one or two new books that you love and can add to your library! Join us on instagram ..read more

Hi loves!!! If you are on instagram, you may know that Vera, Juan, and I hosted a live where we discussed some of our favorite books that center on families. Here are is a list recapping for you with easy affiliate links and synopses on Amazon: We hope you have found some great new books and come visit us on Instagram too!  ..read more

What is Rooted in Reading? Rooted in Reading is a reading curriculum that was created to enhance the Language Arts instruction in Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classrooms. Teachers read purposefully-selected picture books to their students each week.  Students are actively engaged in listening to and discussing each text throughout the read-aloud.  Before, during, and after the read-aloud, teachers guide book conversations through thought provoking discussion questions.  With Rooted in Reading, the learning process continues through targeting specific s ..read more

Well hello loves!  We are recovered from a weekend of horses and a retirement party for my dad rounding out with Emmie winning her very first blue ribbon: ....and I wanted to take a minute to show you all Brooke and my latest Storybook Stem unit! We wanted to find two mentor texts that highlighted friendship and love: two interlocking themes that are so popular in February. With that in mind we have for you: Stick and Stone and I'll Love You 'Till the Cows  {Affiliate Links included} Stick and Stone: This is a fantastic and simply worded picture book about how life is better w ..read more

Between Rooted in Reading and Storybook STEM, we have got you all set for those wintery books and coordinating activities. Keep reading for links to find the book on Amazon, a pic of what is included, and a link to the unit itself. To find the units, just click on the picture. Affiliate Links are included for the books.  1. Snowballs- The simplistic and and engaging text of Snowballs is sure to pull in your youngest of readers. Brooke and I paired Snowballs with three other books that are perfect for January that will have your students hooked! 2. Snow Day!- Have you read Snow Day ..read more