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 …
What teacher doesn’t love the lack of self control we see every October around Halloween? Between the inevitable sugar high, the excitement of costumes, and trick-or-treating, trying to teach upper elementary students around the end of October can seem like a hopeless cause. However, it is possible to take advantage of the excitement our students have towards Halloween. By planning …
For an engaging activity that also integrates technology, use MakeBeliefsComix in a point of view lesson for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. The video below explains how this online comic strip maker can be utilized when teaching point of view, or read on below. Check out more point of view lessons and activities here. The text below does contain …
I really struggled when I first began to teach main idea. It seemed like curriculums only provided one way to teach it – read a short paragraph and determine the main idea of the paragraph. But there are other ways to teach main idea – and using the word cloud activity outlined below is an engaging and visual way to …
When teaching point of view, a lot of teachers focus exclusively on teaching about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person point of view. In fact, when I googled “teaching point of view,” almost the entire first page of results were lessons on what point of view the narrator tells the story in. But point of view is so much more than …
Whether you are a first year teacher or a veteran, there are some things that every 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom needs. Below are what I considered the 11 teacher must-haves in my upper elementary classroom. Without them, I would have had a difficult time surviving the school year! This isn’t really a list of must have classroom supplies. Instead, …
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers love creating engaging, hands on lessons. But often those Instagram- worthy lessons require a lot of prep work, and sometimes they cost a lot of out of pocket money. The 8 reusable, no prep activities below are engaging for upper elementary students, but they are much more practical for daily use. Use them to …