As summer break quickly {but not quickly enough} approaches, it’s important to find engaging and creative ways to enrich and review our reading and writing standards. One of my favorite ways to change things up is with this mini unit which is centered round five summer themed books. There are three activities incorporated with each […]
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With all the craziness of the past two years, I almost forgot about the Winter Olympics. I absolutely love all things related to the Olympics and love incorporating them into my instruction. One of my favorite resources is my Winter Olympics Close Reading packet. When I originally wrote these passages, I had to do a
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Fictional narrative lessons are almost always fun for students! In fact, most upper elementary students love writing fictional narratives. They get to let their creative juices flow and have fun with writing. However, this may be the most challenging writing genre for students. Even though fictional narratives are “fun” they require considerable planning and technique.
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Nonfiction text structures can be a challenging concept for students to grasp. Because of this challenge, I used to wait until later in the school year to introduce these text structures. But, I realized that was a disservice to my students. They need time to process and and apply nonfiction structures in all content areas
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Lessons to teach prefixes and suffixes used to be one of those things I saved until the end of the year and would try to squeeze in right before testing. I don’t recommend that strategy. Mainly because it doesn’t work, at least not well. I have no doubt that my students left my classroom and
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First Chapter Friday is one of those ideas that checks all the boxes. Easy to implement No prep Students love it It gets kids reading First Chapter Friday is an easy way to introduce new books to your students and to encourage independent reading. Truthfully, it doesn’t need to be on a Friday. I just
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Do you ever wonder what 4th graders should know or be able to do? Changing grade levels is difficult. I still remember crying my eyes out the first time I had to change grade levels. It was devastating! It’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts, resources, and articles to find just what
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Do you wonder what 3rd graders should know? Are you new to teaching third grade? Or, is it your first time teaching third grade in a long time? If so, you’re in the right place! If you’re looking for the same post for fourth grade teachers look here! It’s no secret that changing grade levels
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It’s hard to believe it’s already time to begin thinking about end of the year activities. In early spring of 2020, I made several new resources for the end of the year and then……COVID, quarantine, digital learning, etc. All the new resources were unused and forgotten. This year getting to finish the school year in-person
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Reading worksheets have gotten a bad rap, and that doesn’t have to been the case. My favorite way to teach reading is through authentic and high-quality children’s literature. Students participate in read alouds, book clubs, novel studies, literature circles, guided reading groups, and book talks. However, there is a need for reading practice through reading
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