Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions I receive. If you have a question that isn’t addressed, please contact me.
I am still transferring resources over to this site. My social studies and reading resources can be found at Read Like A Rock Star.
Please send requests and message through my contact page.
Check my IG feed. Also Check out @thetututeacher on IG. Vera has blog posts about diverse books and rates them!
Picture books and TV shows are a great place to start. Point out who is being represented and who is not. Ask them about their experiences and thoughts. They probably know a lot more than you think they do. Clear up misconceptions they may have. Kids are very honest about how they feel at young ages. This is an opportunity to learn. Thank them for their honesty, even if they express ideas that you don’t agree with and talk to them about why those ideas are acceptable or unacceptable. Talk about the difference between bullying and racism. Teach white kids to stand up against racism and to call it out when they see it. Teach Black kids and kids of color to advocate for themselves against racism.
I use Microsoft PowerPoint and Publisher. I use fonts and clipart purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers.
I am upfront at the beginning of the year during meet the teacher about what we’ll be covering and why. I send home the topics we’ll be covering in a monthly newsletter as well.
Example: November is Native American Heritage Month! We will learn the truth about the first Thanksgiving, celebrate notable Indigenous people that are doing amazing things today, and discuss stereotypes that have been said to be hurtful by people from this group.
He is hyperlexic. He has had a natural interest in letters and sounds since he was one and half. We started with letters and their sounds after we noticed that he memorized all of them on his own by age two. We moved on to CVC words next. He memorized a lot of words from books we read also. I taught him about silent e, diphthongs, digraphs and consonant blends over time, as he expressed he was ready. Make everything a game or song. Just have fun!
