Blog - Mrs. Winter's Bliss

Why Literacy Centers are My Favorite Part of the School Day

Centers can be a challenging part of the day, but they have so many benefits! In this post, I'm sharing four reasons why I love centers in the Kindergarten, first and second grade classroom! Center time in the K-2 classroom….Does the thought of it make you cringe? If so, you’re not alone. Many find centers to be overwhelming to plan and difficult to manage. While it certainly does take time to organize, prepare and teach ... read more

Tips for Teaching Heart Words

In this post, I share 5 tips for teaching Heart Words in the classroom, a high-frequency words scope and sequence to guide you, and my Heart Words resource and activities to help kindergarten, first and second grade students learn sight words. Well guys, it turns out you actually CAN teach an old dog new tricks! Lately, I’ve been learning all about using the Heart Word method to teach students high-frequency words and it has changed me and ... read more

Literacy Center Activities that Combine Reading and Writing

Literacy activities that combine reading and writing reinforce each other and promote learning. In this post, I share details about three differentiated literacy center activities that combine reading and writing- Write the Room, Sentence Building & my FREE Reading Response Activities for kindergarten, first and second grade students. You may disagree, but I think literacy center time is the best part of the school day! Yes, centers ... read more

How to Teach Sight Words using the Heart Word Method

In this post, I explain how to teach high-frequency sight words using the Heart Word method and share my Heart Words resource and activities to help kindergarten, first and second grade students learn sight words. For many years we taught students their sight words through rote memorization. We thought if a student saw a word enough times, it would eventually stick and they’d know it. While it worked for some, we know it didn't ... read more

Heart Words: A Better Way to Teach Sight Words

The science of reading tells us that sight words are not stored in our visual memory and therefore we need to integrate sight words into our phonics instruction. In this post, I share information about Heart Words, an effective, phonics-based approach to teaching sight words, as well as a Heart Word Freebie to get you started! Did you know that as a literate adult you have between 30,000 to 70,000 sight words in your memory? These are ... read more

4 Tips to Get Students Writing in Complete Sentences

Full sentences are the foundation of good writing. In this post, I'm sharing tips for teaching students to write in complete sentences and then details about literacy center activities that help kindergarten, first, and second grade students learn to write complete sentences. Writing is a core skill we use all throughout our life. The ability to write in full sentences is the foundation of writing. As adults we don’t think much about ... read more