Written by Guest Blogger Kerry Heino Starting your year off on the right note is always paramount to most teachers. We want students to get a feel for what the year will be like within those first few days. We want to make sure that our students understand what is expected of them, but we also want to instill a …
Written by Guest Blogger Jessica Thompson I remember telling my class we were going to annotate the text. Wait. We are going to anno-what? Very simply put, to annotate is to take notes or add comments. For students in third, fourth, and fifth grade, learning to annotate the text they are reading will be an imperative skill as they get …
Written by Guest Blogger Amy Clancy Formative assessment- getting to know each student by analyzing data that reveals student knowledge and performance. Engagement- Finding a way to engage students in your lesson- to participate in a thinking fashion- and better yet- A way to engage AND assess…. But how? Do you know how many students I have? How do I …
Ever wanted to try genius hour or a passion project in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom? Check out how another teacher has made this work in her classroom! This is a great project to do after testing is over but before the end of the year. Written by Guest Blogger Kelly Honn For a long time I had …
Christmas time lends itself to some fun and engaging writing prompts, activities, and journal writing. The 18 Christmas writing prompt ideas below don’t require any prep, just pencil, paper, and an upper elementary student. However, many of the prompts below can also be easily used to create fun December bulletin boards or activities if you want to spend a little …
Teaching fractions to 3rd and 4th grade students can be stressful and sometimes boring. Engage your upper elementary students with this free winter fraction activity that integrates art and involves coloring. It makes a fun fraction review!Free Snowman Fraction ActivityIn this free winter activity, students must use their knowledge of fractions to draw a snowman. The activity is easy to …
Written by Guest Blogger Taylor Zonin Seesaw is both an app and computer based resource that serves as a student driven online portfolio that also incorporates simple, positive, parent communication. Seesaw is a wonderful platform for all subject areas and promotes student engagement with curriculum while integrating technology. Although Seesaw can be used across all grade levels, 3rd, 4th, and …
Fact or FakedWritten by Guest Blogger Amy Clancy By this point in time- we all realize the power of social media and of the media in general. We know that our students are often left unchecked at home, filling their brains with vivid, interactive experiences, images, and messages. How young is too young to begin teaching credibility of sources? If …
Teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students how to make inferences is hard. We can create anchor charts that remind students that they need to look for clues from the author, think about what they already know, and read between the lines, but that doesn’t make this skill any easier. What students really need is practice – and a lot …
Written by Guest Blogger Laura Brown This is my third-year teaching in a dual language program at my school. In the dual language program, I am responsible for English Language Arts and Social Studies for two classes. Each class has about 20 students, so I share my students with my partner teacher who teaches Math and Science in Spanish. We …