Mandy Robek
Mandy Robek has been teaching for over 20 years. She has taught kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, and currently teaches third grade, where she finds guiding readers and writers fascinating. Mandy has degrees from the State University of New York College at Buffalo and The Ohio State University. You can follow Mandy at her blog Enjoy and Embrace Learning, on Twitter @mandyrobek, and on Instagram @mandyrobek_edu.
Latest Content
Revisiting: Getting to Know My Students
Mandy Robek decided that despite the increasing pressures and time-consuming expectations, she will nourish healthy relationships with students. Here are some tried-and-true practices that she wants to maintain.
Writing About Reading
Mandy Robek is on a quest to make writing about reading feel natural with her elementary students. She shares practical ways to help students change the way they approach writing about reading to lift the level of comprehension and conversation.
Bet You Didn’t Know: Chicken Eggs and Research
Mandy Robek encourages young writers to collect information about a topic. She provides whole-class and individual structures for students to learn that their understanding can change, as well as to be able to access information when they are ready to draft. Don’t miss Mrs. Robek’s digital class book.
Poetry Friday Stretches Into Poetry Slam
Mandy Robek shares an update to her Poetry Friday routine inspired by the professional book Artfully Teaching the Science of Reading by Chase Young, David Page, and Timothy V. Rasinski. You, too, will want to incorporate this poetry routine into your week.
Fostering Math Identities with Picture Books
Mandy Robek uses picture books to help her students build their identities as mathematicians. Mandy shares the process and a book list.
Poetry Surprises
Mandy Robek delights in the surprises that emerge as her students read, write, and share poetry.
Using Mathematics to Connect Home and School
Mandy Robek shares procedures for participation in Family Math. Family Math is a lens into the learning during the week and promotes math literacy at home.
October 7, 2022: Persistence and Progression to Grow Readers
This week’s newsletter is about persistence and progression to grow readers.
Picture Books with Recipes to Foster Math Engagement
Mandy Robek shares a delicious list of picture books with recipes to connect reading and math engagement.
Knowing Genres
Mandy Robek reflects on the importance of knowing genres and empowering students to be part of the organization process of the classroom library.
Creating a Classroom Emotional Intelligence Charter
Mandy Robek outlines the process for creating a class Emotional Intelligence Charter. She includes a booklist to help students expand their vocabulary of different emotions.
Feedback to Writers (Part 2) Podcast
Cathy Mere and Ruth Ayres discuss feedback to writers on the podcast.
Adding Energy to the Classroom Library
Mandy Robek shares ways to reorganize and revamp your classroom library to energize students as readers.
October 8, 2021: Secondary Readers
Secondary readers is the theme of this week’s newsletter.
One Instructional Strategy Changes a Reading Community: Status of the Class
Mandy Robek reminds us of the power of a status of the class to build a reading community.
Reasons to Launch Writer’s Notebooks with Primary Writers
Mandy Robek shares keys to knowing when to launch writer’s notebooks with primary writers.
Fairy Tale Study that Needed a Restart
Mandy Robek takes a step back to relaunch a fairy tale study so students can engage in inquiry work in order to discover key characteristics of the genre.
Adjusting to COVID: A Minimalist Classroom
Mandy Robek adjusts her mindset of preparing her classroom according to COVID guidelines and discovers an open heart and mind as she prepares a “minimalist classroom.”
Word Work Podcast with Mandy Robek
Mandy Robek discusses word work on the podcast.
Using Shared Writing to Nudge Students Toward Conventional Spelling
Mandy Robek shares the tools she uses to transition students to more conventional spelling.
Digital Reading Strategies
Mandy Robek reflects on her identity as a digital and print reader and offers strategies to support students reading digital texts.
Picture Books for Mental Wellness
Mandy Robek learns a lot about worry from her daughter, and discovers a treasure trove of picture books to promote mental wellness and help students cope with difficult emotions.
Letting Students Organize Informational Books
Mandy Robek is a little nervous about setting her students loose to organize informational texts, but she couldn’t be more pleased by what they learn in the process.
Reassuring Worried Children with Picture Books
Mandy Robek learns a lot about worry from her daughter, and at the same time discovers a treasure trove of children’s books to help students overcome worries.
What Writers Need
Mandy Robek commits to two weeks of focused daily writing, and then translates what she learns about what writers need to classroom practice.
Poetry Read-Alouds During Transitions
Mandy Robek finds that quick poetry read-alouds are a great way to transition between activities in her second-grade classroom and build a love of poems.
Adjusting the Classroom Library for Student Needs
Mandy Robek realizes her classroom library isn’t working for her second graders, in part because many of the books are still too difficult for students early in the year. She explains her process of sorting and stowing books for later use.
Kindergarten Reading Conference: Building Confidence
Mandy Robek finds that kindergartner Mikey is lost in knowing how to use his time well during reading workshop. Her conference moves him from deflated to inspired.
Conferring with Jeri in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek demonstrates the strategies of teach, prompt, and reinforce when conferring with kindergartner Jeri.
Quick Take: Starting an Anchor Chart in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek begins an anchor chart with her kindergartners and explains the value of shared writing for creating charts about reading strategies and behaviors.
Shared Writing in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek leads a shared-writing session in kindergarten.
Science Observations in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek helps her kindergarten students complete science observations.
Books for Brain Breaks
Mandy Robek compiles a list of her favorite books for brain breaks with young learners.
Room Tour: Mandy Robek’s Kindergarten Classroom
Mandy Robek gives a tour of her kindergarten classroom, highlighting literacy spaces that build relationships and independence for her young learners.
Launching Writing Workshop: Mentor Texts
Mandy Robek shares her favorite texts for building understanding early in the year of writing workshop with young writers. These books are ideal for launching discussions about how writers find ideas.
Launching Reading Workshop: Mentor Texts
Mandy Robek shares her favorite texts to use early in the year with young students to introduce them to everything from places to read to how to handle books.
Book Choice Conference in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek has a book choice conference with Drew. This is the first installment in her kindergarten conferring series.
Adding to a Word Wall in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek introduces a new word to her kindergartners for their word wall.
Teaching Syllable Breaks in Kindergarten
In kindergarten, table groups are a natural and informal way to help groups of students learn new skills through eavesdropping. In this short video from Mandy Robek's kindergarten class, Mandy targets the same skill of defining syllables during individual conferences at the table so that the learning is reinforced for all.
Kindergarten I-Pick Minilesson
It’s never too early to help students learn to make wise choices for independent reading. Mandy Robek reviews the I-Pick strategy for choosing appropriate books with her kindergarten students.
Letter Practice Transition in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek “warms up” her kindergartners brains for literacy work with a simple one-minute alphabet activity.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Reading and Community in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek leads her kindergartners in a shared reading and performance of the classic tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
A Picture Walk in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek takes her kindergartners through a picture walk using Mrs. Wishy Washy as the text.
Interactive Writing and Formative Assessment in Kindergarten
Not content to use assessments designed for older students, Mandy Robek combines interactive writing and formative assessments in her kindergarten classroom.
Unpacking the Kindergarten Common Core Standards
Mandy Robek shares five tips that can help teachers at any grade level develop strategies for tackling the Common Core.
Revising My Recording Form for Writing Conferences
Mandy Robek shares how she has revised the records she keeps during writing conferences.
More Conferring and Fewer Groups in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek finds she needs fewer reading groups and more conferring with the emergent readers in her kindergarten class. She shares how she structures her brief time with students and a conferring form.
Using Jackdaws to Build Community in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek gives us the how-to as she revises a community-building project to make it a better fit for Kindergarten students.
Mentor Texts to Help Students Monitor Their Actions
Mandy Robek has a delightful list of books that help students reflect upon and monitor their behavior in the classroom.
Spring Reading Interviews (TEMPLATE)
Kindergartners may be too young for reading interviews early in the fall, but Mandy Robek finds spring reading interviews are an excellent bridge to families and summer reading suggestions.
Guiding Readers in Kindergarten: A Planning and Assessment Template
If you’re considering guided reading groups in your kindergarten classroom, you’ll want to read Mandy Robek’s advice for getting started and keeping track with a simple planning and assessment form.
Young Learners and Martin Luther King Day (BOOKLIST)
Teachers of young learners face special challenges in honoring Martin Luther King and dealing with the violent nature of his death at the same time. Mandy Robek offers some insights into how to celebrate King's life with even the youngest students.
Creating a Kindergarten Classroom Library
Mandy Robek finds herself overwhelmed when moving from a 3rd grade to kindergarten classroom. Her therapy? Rolling up her sleeves and designing a kindergarten classroom library.
Redesigning a Classroom: Putting Students First (and Technology in Its Place)
Mandy Robek faces the challenge of creating a warm and inviting classroom environment that still includes some cold, hard computers for student use.
Punctuation Study with Third Graders
Mandy Robek finds a punctuation unit study with her third graders is a fun alternative to yet another genre study. Her essay includes booklists of children's literature and professional texts.
Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature
Mandy Robek shares some of her favorite children’s books for teaching economics.
Rethinking Reading at Home
What’s the value of reading at home? Mandy Robek ponders the home/school connection. Download a copy of a rubric to assess the home reading log.
Questions and Answers about Home Reading Logs
Readers enjoyed Mandy Robek’s explanation of her move to home reading logs in a calendar format, and some wrote in with additional questions about the program. Mandy provides a follow-up article in a question and answer format, addressing issues raised by readers.
Literacy Builds Community: The Jackdaw Project
"School is not summer camp" – this quote reminds Mandy Robek that there are many challenges to building a strong classroom community in the midst of demands for achievement and accountability early in the year. Her "literacy jackdaw" project is a terrific vehicle for classmates to learn about each other, and hone their listening, speaking, and writing skills in the process.
Trusting the Letting-Go Moments
Mandy Robek writes a powerful essay about giving her students more decision-making power in sharing their learning. In the release of letting go, she found ease in the joy of learning.
Picture Books for Naming Emotions
Mandy Robek continues her series on picture books for understanding emotional turmoil in students. In this installment, she shares a list of books that can help children name emotions.
Haiku Writing
Mandy Robek shares the power of publishing poetry with her young writers.
Teaching Punctuation Through Shared Reading in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek explains with a video example how “interruptions” from students can deepen the shared reading experience. In this case, her kindergarten class is exploring punctuation.
Prompting and Support: Understanding the Language of the Common Core in Kindergarten
The words prompting and support appear often in the kindergarten Common Core State Standards. Mandy Robek analyzes what prompting and support looks and sounds like in her kindergarten classroom by using a video example.
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