It’s a no brainer that when you head back to school, you will teach your students procedures for entering the classroom in the morning, going to the bathroom, and dismissal. But are you teaching students a procedure to pair up and find a partner? Although there are a lot of fun ways to group students, having a go-to pairing up …
I really don’t know what I would have done if I had to teach in a time before personal whiteboards and dry erase markers. They were essential to my classroom – so essential that they are one of my 11 Must Haves for Upper Elementary Teachers. We didn’t just use them on a daily basis in my classroom – we …
“Would You Rather” questions are often used as ice breakers or team builders in the upper elementary classroom. You might have used them to get your kids talking at the during a Christmas party or end of year party. If used thoughtfully, however, “Would You Rather” questions can be used as a fun way to practice comparing and contrasting with …
Teaching summarizing seems like it should be easy. When 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students summarize, they don’t have to come up with any of their own ideas – all they have to do is briefly tell the most important parts of a book or reading passage that they read. Sounds pretty easy…but it’s not. Teachers have all sorts of …
I love teaching students to think about different points of view! This is such an essential skill – not only academically, but also behaviorally. When students are able to look at things from different points of view, they become more empathetic and kind. Books that offer multiple perspectives are a great way to expose 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th …
Find the Fib (sometimes known as 2 Truths and a Lie) is one of my favorite activities to use and reuse in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms. It requires little to no prep, can be easily adapted for use in all subject areas, requires higher level thinking, and upper elementary students never seem to get tired of it. No prep, …
Rankings are a fun way to spice up your compare and contrast lessons for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. This is a no prep idea that is easily adaptable to your reading lessons, but can also be used in social studies and science. This is one of my favorite of these 9 different ways to compare and contrast in your …
Check out these free Valentine’s Day activities – a fun way for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to celebrate the holidays while still learning! These free resources have been created by a variety of upper elementary teachers, not just Teaching Made Practical. Find math activities, ELA activities, and some some just for fun Valentine’s Day Activities.Free Valentine’s Day Math …
Christmas always sneaks up on me as a teacher. The week of our Christmas / holiday party, I would begin scrambling around for activities and gift ideas. If your brain is fried, then these Christmas party ideas for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms should help! There are Christmas class party activities and ideas that require little to no prep …
My first year teaching – when I was constantly running on empty – I slipped several movie watching afternoons into my lesson plans. I defended this as educational, claiming that we were going to compare and contrast the book and movie. Really, however, I just needed some time to play catch up. Now, we did actually spend some time comparing …