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, then they can better contribute to a kinder classroom. Books that offer multiple perspectives are a great way to expose 3rd grade, 4th …
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 this February holiday 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 …
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 …
Check out these free Christmas activities – a fun way for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to celebrate the holidays while still learning! This list includes free activities to help students practice a variety of math and reading skills, as well as some other activities that are just for fun. While some of these freebies are from Teaching Made …
In this age of social media, where visuals are such an integral part of our life, teaching students how to CREATE effective visuals can be an important and real world skill. Set students up for success in the 21st century by giving them opportunities to practice this! Having students create a visual that compares and contrasts two or more topics …
Writing can be hard and frustrating for upper elementary students; writing a compare and contrast essay can be even harder and more frustrating. Often, this skill gets pushed to the back burner. It is a lot easier to practice comparing and contrasting with things that take less time – like by using a Venn Diagram. However, teaching 3rd, 4th, and …