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The Productive Teacher
I help teachers and parents build knowledgeable, skilled readers based on research findings within the Science of Reading.
Explore the Parts of Literacy
Decoding Words
phonological awareness, phonics, syllables, orthographic mapping,
Vocabulary
morphology (Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, suffixes), word meanings and relationships, connotation, academic vocabulary
Grammar
parts of speech, sentence structure, syntax, punctuation, usage
Writing
sentence construction, paragraphs, organization, composition, written expression
Background Knowledge
science, history, geography, culture
Elementary Math
Explore Topics
Elementary Science
Middle School Science
Elementary Social Studies
U.S. History
World History
Elementary Culture
About Me
Hi, I’m Cate, a teacher, literacy researcher, writer, and mom of four. I have taught elementary and middle school since 2012 and am currently a Ph.D. student in Literacy, Language, and Culture at Texas Woman’s University.
As the mother of two children with dyslexia, I am passionate about making learning to read accessible to as many children as possible by empowering teachers and parents with knowledge and practical resources grounded in literacy research.
You can reach me anytime at Cate@TheProductiveTeacher.org!
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The Productive Teacher
Explore my Teachers Pay Teachers store, where more than 8,600 teacher reviews have earned The Productive Teacher a 4.9 out of 5 rating. With 700+ resources and more than 3,000 followers, you'll find practical, engaging materials designed to help students build knowledge and strengthen their reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and more.
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Science Reading That Builds Knowledge and Writing Skills: Plant Structures
Science instruction gives students the opportunity to learn about the world around them, but it also provides a powerful opportunity to strengthen reading and writing skills. That’s why I’m excited to introduce a new 3rd–5th Grade Science Reading & Writing Series designed to combine science content, reading comprehension, vocabulary, note-taking, and writing practice in one cohesive resource. The first resource in the series is now available: Plant Structures. Why Combine Sci
4 min read
Sentences and Fragments Activities for Physical and Chemical Properties and Changes Based on The Writing Revolution
One of the first things young writers need to learn is the difference between a sentence and a fragment. A sentence has a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought. While this definition may feel too abstract for young writers to apply immediately, students can learn the difference through repeated modeling and practice. This modeling and practice is especially powerful when you integrate it with content review. For these examples, I am using the science topic
3 min read
Free North American Beaver Activities for Elementary Students: Teach Adaptations, Habitats, Niches, and Ecosystems
Kids learn best in specifics, so when teaching about big ideas, such as adaptations, habitats, niches, and ecosystems, I recommend starting with one animal and exploring all of these details through that animal. If your students can work independently, you can learn about one animal together as a class. Then, they can apply the process to another animal for individual practice. The first step in this process is to build background knowledge on the animal. This process takes t
3 min read
Exploratory Learning for Teaching Life Cycles in Second Grade
If you are like me, you never have enough time to teach science content thoroughly, and you want students to work independently so that you can pull small groups during reading. After reflection, I came up with this life cycle resource to address both needs. Usually, during reading time, I have students read independently. The more books kids read, the more vocabulary, story structure, and background knowledge they experience. However, I have some kids who spend more time loo
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Mario Molina
Why learn about Mario Molina? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergarten
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Isaac Newton
Why learn about Isaac Newton? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergarten
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Mae Jemison
Why learn about Mae Jemison? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergartene
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Ynes Mexia
Why learn about Ynes Mexia? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergartener
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Katherine Johnson
Why learn about Katherine Johnson? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kinderg
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Sally Ride
Why learn about Sally Ride? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergartener
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Ernest Just
Why learn about Ernest Just? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergartene
3 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Alexander Graham Bell
Why learn about Alexander Graham Bell? New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kin
2 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Jane Goodall
New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergarteners will not be ready to absor
3 min read
Building Background Knowledge: Marie Maynard Daly
New science TEKS are coming to Texas! One change is that students will learn about specific scientists in various fields. Another change is that the STARR tests will pull from science and social studies topics for reading passages. This is a good change because so much of our reading comprehension depends on our background knowledge of a topic. What isn’t great is that some of these topics will be taught starting in kindergarten, and kindergarteners will not be ready to absor
5 min read
Teaching the 8 Phases of the Moon
The moon is one of those topics that all of your middle school science students will have some background knowledge around. However, to teach your students about the 8 phases of the moon, you will need to expand their understanding of the Sun-Moon-Earth system. Here is how to do it! Have Students Observe the 8 Phases of the Moon The phases of the moon are hugely visual. As a result, you will want to start by having your students start paying attention to how the moon looks.
2 min read
How to Teach What Causes the Earth’s Tides
Science is the systematic study of our physical and natural world. In school, students learn science as both the process of learning about the world and the information gathered from previous scientific discoveries. The topic of science is so massive that students can struggle to understand science as a method for learning about the world around them and instead focus on the individual facts collected by scientists. We can use teaching students about what causes the Earth’s t
4 min read
How to Teach About Sound Energy
Potential and Kinetic Energy If you want to understand sound energy, first you have to know about energy. Energy is all around us. Energy can be classified as potential or kinetic. Potential energy is stored energy. Kinetic energy is moving energy. Potential and kinetic energies are two broad categories of energy. All of the types of energy fall into these two categories. For example, electrical energy is kinetic energy because it is the energy of moving electrons. Chemical e
3 min read
How to Teach What Causes Day and Night on Earth
You may think that your students all know that the Earth revolves around the Sun and day and night are caused by the Earth’s rotation, but some of your students may have misconceptions about what causes day and night on Earth. I am here to help you change that! Shutterstock/1433441171 What Causes Day and Night? In 2014, NPR reported on a National Science Foundation report that said 1 in 4 Americans believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth. In a 2005 poll in the Europea
3 min read
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