TeamTom Education Blog
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The “Netflix Binge” Strategy for Reading Comprehension
Struggle with student reading stamina? Learn how to use the “Netflix Binge” strategy to hook your classroom with serialized narratives and turn reluctant readers into eager ones.
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New Task Cards for 2026: How to Teach Making Inferences (TEKS 3.6F)
Based on the content visible in your editor, here are three keyword-rich options for the Excerpt field (located in the right sidebar of your screenshot). These are designed to appear on your blog’s “archive” page and usually feed into social media previews when the link is shared. Option 1: The “Problem/Solution” Approach (Recommended) Is TEKS…
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5 Effective Strategies for Teaching Integer Operations in Middle School
Transform your math classroom with these 5 effective strategies for teaching integer operations. Engage and motivate middle school students.
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Formative Assessments for Middle School Math: 5 Tips to Inform Instruction
Boost student success with these 5 practical formative assessment tools for middle school math teachers. Learn how to monitor progress and adjust instruction for effective math learning.
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Using Text-Dependent Questions to Foster Deeper Understanding
Text-dependent questions are a powerful tool in the classroom, requiring students to return to the text to support their answers. This process of rereading fosters deep thinking, which is the ultimate goal of text-dependent questions. But it’s not just for reading classrooms. Text-dependent questions can create deeper understanding in writing, science, and history classrooms too!…
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Crafting Text-Dependent Questions: A Step-by-Step Guide for Reading Teachers
Learn how to create effective text-dependent questions that foster deep understanding and critical thinking in your students. This guide provides step-by-step instructions and practical examples for educators at all levels.
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New Research, DRTA: A Boost for Third-Grade Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension, a cornerstone of academic success, often poses challenges for young learners. While traditional teaching methods have their place, educators are continually seeking innovative approaches to enhance students’ understanding of written text. One such method, the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA), has garnered attention for its potential to significantly improve reading comprehension. The funny…
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Unlock the Power of Questions: Questioning Strategies for Reading Comprehension
Imagine a classroom where books aren’t just pages to be flipped, but doorways to adventure and discovery. Where students don’t passively consume information, but actively engage with it, asking questions, making connections, and constructing their own meaning. This transformative scenario becomes a reality when effective questioning strategies are woven into the fabric of reading instruction.…
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How to Use Text Dependent Questions
Tired of rote recall and surface-level comprehension? Text-dependent questions are here to spark critical thinking and engage students in meaningful dialogue with the text! What are Text-Dependent Questions? Forget “yes/no” or “summarize the main points.” Text-dependent questions require students to dig deeper, providing evidence from the text itself to support their answers. This active process…
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Beyond “What’s the Answer?”: How Questioning Sparks Student Critical Thinking
Critical thinking isn’t just about finding the right answer – it’s about digging deeper, analyzing, and building upon information. So, how can teachers encourage this skill in their classrooms? This case study explores the power of questioning as a tool to ignite student critical thinking, showcasing the impact of question type on student engagement and…
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Rules, Procedures, and Classroom Climate on the First Days of School
If you’re a teacher, you know how important it is to establish clear rules and procedures for your classroom. But how do you make them fun and engaging for your students? Here are five activities and seven games that will help you introduce your rules and procedures in a funny and memorable way. these back…
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This Summer’s Best Books for Teachers – Summer Reads 2023
Looking for some great books to enjoy this summer as a teacher? Whether you want to relax by the pool, curl up in bed, or sharpen your skills, we have some recommendations for you. Here are a few recommended books for teachers to read for fun, followed by some more serious and inspiring reads, and…
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How to Avoid Teacher Burnout in 5 Easy Steps
By following these steps, you can avoid teacher burnout and rediscover the joy of teaching. Remember, you are not alone in this journey. You are a valuable and amazing teacher who deserves happiness and fulfillment. There are also several books that can help support teachers and offer strategies and insights to help teachers overcome burnout…
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This Summer’s Best Books for Teachers – Summer Reads 2022
What are the best books for teachers this summer (see our newest list)? Not for the students or for the classroom, but the best books for you – the teacher. We’ll start off with the top 5 poolside books for teachers, and then we’ll move into some more early morning reads, and then the best…
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32 Open-Ended Questions for Reading Comprehension
Improving reading comprehension is the goal of reading instruction, and open-ended questions can help! Reading comprehension can be a challenge to achieve because it’s such a complex set of skills. There are many reading comprehension strategies for readers to employ across many genres at different reading levels. Close-ended questions could require a simple yes or…
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Mojo 2020 – Sale, Summarizing, Spanish
The Mojo is Back! Monthly Mojo for TeamTom Teachers Aug 2019 – Free Resources, Strategies, and Support to increase your Impact on Learning!
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Guided Reading Documentation Tool
Our friends over at SpiralWarmUps.com have prepared this amazing guided reading documentation tool that we believe all reading teachers should check out! Here’s a quick video that highlights the tool. What are the benefits of the guided reading documentation tool? Grab the free guided reading documentation tool and free resources by clicking the button. Explore…
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Gift Ideas for Teachers
What’s the best gift to get a teacher? That’s what we asked, and here are the answers for the best gift ideas for teachers. Gift season is in mid-stride. Black Friday – survived. Cyber Monday – underwhelming. Oh well, whether you’ve bought all your gifts already or haven’t spent a dime, we’re in the flurry…