What is a rubric? Well, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” and honestly, a rubric is just a fancy name for a user-created table for the distinct purpose of evaluating a student’s work. That’s it! So why would teachers even bother to use rubrics for grading? You and I know that any teacher worth her salt …
Helping students to think and monitor their comprehension while they read is the most important part of reading. Without comprehension, reading is pointless. And while building fluency is an essential stepping stone for comprehension, teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to develop comprehension strategies and the ability to self-monitor is the priority.Common Self-Monitoring Strategies That Don’t Always WorkWe’ve all …
Once students reach 3rd and 4th grade, they have already been introduced to the basics of cause and effect. However, they still need a chance to practice and review this skill in a way that challenges their thinking. Below are some ideas for creating cause and effect centers that will be engaging to upper elementary students. You can use these …
Making inferences in our daily lives comes naturally to most of us. We walk past a bakery and smell the aroma of fresh baked goods and decide to stop in for a treat. But wait – how did we know this establishment would provide us with warm baked goods? Easy, our background knowledge, or prior knowledge, of bakeries and smells …
I don’t know any 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade student that wouldn’t benefit from fraction centers that provide more practice and review with fractions. It’s a difficult skill that requires a solid base of understanding. Drills, worksheets, and other district mandated curriculum can get boring fast, so finding ways to make fractions more engaging is essential if students are going …
Words of a Advice for a New Teacher Written by Veteran Teacher Cindy Koopmans This is Part 2 of a letter giving words of advice for a new teacher from a veteran. The first 5 tips were: Love and enjoy ALL your students. Win their hearts and their minds will follow. Self-care is essential to your success. The word will still …
Written by guest blogger Daniela Garay Are you looking for a fun and meaningful narrative writing unit for your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students? Here it is! Language arts teachers strive for a stronger cross-curricular relationship between reading and writing that interconnects both subjects more purposefully and meaningfully. This point of view writing unit does just that! It takes the …
Tips for a First Year Teacher Written by Veteran Teacher Cindy Koopmans You’ve jumped through all the hoops set before you with aplomb and finally, you have your diploma in your right hand and your teaching license in your left hand. You’re packed to the tip-top of your brain with pedagogy, educational theory, and research. Professors and mentor teachers have …
Sometime this school year, you’ll get sick. Or your kids will get sick. Or you’ll have a family emergency. You’ll need to take a sick day – and then you’ll need to make sub plans, and copies, and instructions, and all those things that you will not have time for. Emergencies pop up. And when this happens, teachers usually don’t …
As teachers, you already know the value of team building and striving for a positive classroom environment – but that’s easier said than done. One of the easiest ways to promote a safe setting in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom is to help students connect with each other. When students realize how much they have in common with …