My name is Jennifer Findley and I have been teaching in Chattanooga TN for the best 4 years. I have spent all four years in intermediate grades in an inner city school. I love it! I went into education to make a difference in the lives of students, particularly those living in poverty. I remember the first time I read Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty. From that moment on, I knew I needed to do something that would help our youth overcome the endless cycle of poverty. It is heartbreaking at times, and extremely hard to say goodbye when the year is up. However, I truly hope that I am giving the gift of an education and a life time love of learning to my students each year.
Teaching inner city children is tough because they come to me lacking many of the necessary skills that most children their age have. One thing that I have always done to combat this is create sentence stems to help my students communicate verbally or using written language. I have compiled a list of my favorite sentences stems for reading comprehension into one pdf which can be in my TPT store for free. Click on the image or here to download your copy today!
Another strategy that I use is to make sure my items are carefully aligned to the standards. I don’t want my students to be surprised on a state test at the end of year! I want them to be as successful possible in whatever they do, even on those dreaded tests! With that in mind, I have created Test Prep Helpers that are directly aligned to the 5th grade Common Core standards. I have several individual test prep helpers and one awesome bundle that covers 19 of the standards that are trickiest for my students. Check it out by clicking here or on the image!
Last, but not least, come visit me at my blog and my TPT store! I would love to see you there!
