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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
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Elementary Science
Middle School Science
Elementary Social Studies
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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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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
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Recognizing the Subject and Predicate in Complete Sentences
What are the subject and predicate of a sentence? Subject and predicate are two vocabulary words we can use to talk about sentences. Younger students do not need to know this vocabulary, but older students may find it helpful as they are learning about different ways to compose a sentence. The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun doing the action, as well as any supporting words such as articles or adjectives. The predicate of a sentence is the verb or action of the s
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Subordinating Conjunctions in Complete Sentences
Subordinating conjunctions are words that connect dependent clauses and independent clauses in a sentence. A dependent clause is a part of the sentence that will not be a complete sentence by itself. Independent clauses are complete sentences by themselves. However, dependent clauses are important because they add important information to sentences. Dependent clauses can tell why, where, when, and how. Like transition words, dependent clauses show time-order, cause and effect
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Transition Words in Complete Sentences
What are transition words? Transition words help us keep our writing organized. They can put ideas and events in time order or order of importance. They can also show that we are comparing things. Transition words are a guide for the reader that helps them understand a piece of writing. Here is a video to help your students understand transition words. Example Sentences After introducing transition words to your students, you will want to show them examples. When looking a
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Coordinating Conjunctions in Complete Sentences
What are Coordinating Conjunctions? Coordinating conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal grammatical importance within a sentence. You can use coordinating conjunctions when you have multiple subjects or verbs in a sentence. You can also use coordinating conjunctions to combine two simple sentences into a compound sentence. Here are the coordinating conjunctions: for and nor but or yet so Here is a video to help your students understand coord
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Adverbs in Complete Sentences
What are Adverbs? Adverbs add information to verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to tell about how, when, where, or to what degree an action or quality occurs. Adverbs are similar to prepositions because they can tell where and when an action happens. Adverbs do other jobs too. In fact, adverbs do so many jobs, it will take several lessons to teach them to your students. Adverbs tell how an action is done. These adverbs often end in -ly, but don’t always. For example, she yel
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Possessive Pronouns in Complete Sentences
What are Possessive Pronouns? Possessive pronouns are pronouns that show possession. Just like possessive nouns, they show when a noun owns another noun. For example, Jim’s pencil can be written as his pencil using possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns are different from the subject and object pronouns we have already learned. Here are the possessive pronouns: my/mine your/yours his her/hers their/theirs our/ours its Notice that there are two forms of many of the possessiv
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Possessive Nouns in Complete Sentences
What are Possessive Nouns? Possessive nouns show when someone or something owns an object. We show a possessive noun by using an apostrophe and the letter s. For example, Sarah’s books are in the car. There are some rules for how to use the apostrophe and letter s with possessive nouns. If one person (or other noun) owns something, use ‘s to create a possessive noun. If more than one person (or other noun) owns something, use s’ to create a possessive noun. If a singular noun
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Helping Verbs in Complete Sentences
What are Helping Verbs? Helping verbs work with action and being verbs to give more information about when or how an action is happening. Some verbs always need action verbs. For example, the action verb “been” needs the helping verb “have.” They have been playing all day. Being verbs act as helping verbs when we combine them with action verbs. For example, in the sentence she is singing, the word is acts as a helping verb. Your students have already been using helping verbs!
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using the Preposition “With” in Complete Sentences
What is the Preposition With? We have already learned that prepositions tell us more about when and where an action is happening in a sentence. We use the preposition with to tell who or what is helping with the action. For example, I went to the store with John. Older students may also use the preposition with when describing how an action is done. This requires using abstract nouns, such as joy, happiness, or anger. For example, She completed her homework with enthusiasm. H
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Object Pronouns in Complete Sentences
What are Object Pronouns? In the last lesson, we learned that objects are nouns that are affected by the action of a verb in a sentence. Just like subject pronouns can replace the noun doing an action in a sentence, object pronouns can replace a noun on which the action is being done. In other words, an object pronoun is a word we use instead of a noun that is affected by an action. For example, instead of saying Kim likes Barbara, we could say Kim likes her. Here are the obj
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Objects in Complete Sentences
What are Objects in a Sentence? The object of a sentence is the person or thing that the action in the sentence is happening to or is affected by. For example, in the sentence Sarah is reading the book, the book is the object because the book is what Sarah is reading. The object of a sentence can be a noun or a pronoun, but this lesson will only teach nouns. The next lesson will be about object pronouns. As students get older, they will learn about direct and indirect objects
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Prepositions in Complete Sentences
What is a preposition? A preposition is a word that tells you where something is or when something happens in a sentence. We usually use prepositions after the verb in a sentence. However, complex sentences can put prepositions before the noun and verb. There are special rules for how to put a preposition at the beginning of a sentence that we will not cover in this lesson. There are also other types of prepositions that students will learn about later in the program. Here is
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Being Verbs in Complete Sentences
What are being verbs? Being verbs tell us what a noun is or what a noun is doing. For example, she is a doctor. We can use adjectives with being verbs. For example, the dress is pink. We can also use action verbs with being verbs. For example, the zebra is running. Using a being verb with an action verb creates a progressive verb tense. If you have older students, this might be helpful information, but most elementary students do not need to know about the progressive verb te
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Adjectives in Complete Sentences
What are Adjectives? Adjectives describe nouns. They can tell what a noun looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes like. Adjectives can also describe the personality or feelings of people and animals. Numbers are adjectives because they describe how many of a noun there are. Adjectives do not change for singular, plural, or proper nouns. Adjectives always have the same form. Here is a video to help your students understand adjectives. Example Sentences After introducing adj
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Subject Pronouns in Complete Sentences
What are subject pronouns? Pronouns replace nouns in sentences. Subject pronouns are pronouns that replace nouns that are doing the action in a sentence. For example, Jack runs can become he runs. Subject pronouns usually come at the beginning of sentences, but as we learn about more complex sentences, we will find subject pronouns in different places. Here is a list of subject pronouns. I you he she they we it Here is a video to help your students understand subject pronouns
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Common and Proper Nouns in Complete Sentences
What are Common and Proper Nouns? Proper nouns are nouns that name a specific person, place, or thing. We capitalize proper nouns. For example, a kid is a noun, but Sally is a proper noun. A theme park is a noun, and Disneyland is a proper noun. Toothpaste is a noun, and Colgate is a proper noun. When things are named as proper nouns, we are usually using a brand name, such as Apple or Kleenex. Things as proper nouns can get a little confusing, so if you have younger students
3 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Past, Present, and Future Verb Tenses in Complete Sentences
What are Past, Present, and Future Verb Tenses? We use past, present, and future verb tenses to tell when an action happens. A past verb tense means an action happened in the past. A future verb tense means an action is happening right now. A future verb tense means an action hasn’t happened yet but will happen in the future. Here is a video to help your students understand past, present, and future verb tenses. Spelling Rules for Past Tense Verbs Most of the time, we simp
4 min read
How to Teach Writing Complete Sentences
Do you feel like writing is the weakest part of your instruction? Are you unsure where to start teaching your students how to write complete sentences? You are not alone! Writing is the subject that is the most intimidating for most elementary teachers because we have never been taught an explicit and systematic system for teaching writing. This program combines grammar and syntax rules and vocabulary with lots of room for student creativity to make teaching writing easy for
2 min read
Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Singular and Plural Nouns and Verbs in Complete Sentences
What are Singular and Plural Nouns? We use singular and plural nouns to tell how many of a noun are in a sentence. Singular nouns mean there is one person, place, or thing. For example, the word house means one house. Plural nouns mean there is more than one person, place, or thing. For example, houses means more than one house. Plural nouns don’t tell us how many. They simply mean there is more than one. If I say I have sisters, I could have two sisters, or I could have twen
4 min read
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