Questions and activity ideas for teaching the read aloud Last Day Blues to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students at the end of the year

Last Day Blues – Questions and Activity Ideas for an End of Year Read Aloud

If you start the school year off with the read-aloud First Day Jitters, then you need to end the year with Julie Danneberg’s Last Day Blues! At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Hartwell was nervous about teaching her class – but by the end of the year, she is sad to see her students go. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th …

Questions and Activities for teaching the read aloud Those Shoes

Questions and Activity Ideas for Teaching the Read Aloud Those Shoes

Those Shoes is a compelling read aloud about a young boy who cannot afford the pair of shoes that he really wants. The themes of generosity and friendship make it a great picture book to help you set a positive classroom culture in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom. Below, find questions and activity ideas to use in your …

Questions and Activity Ideas for Teaching Jacqueline Woodson's Each Kindness in 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

Each Kindness: Questions and Activity Ideas for Teaching the Read Aloud

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson is a thoughtful story about excluding others and missed opportunities for kindness. The theme of kindness and acceptance makes it a great book to read for back to school, Valentine’s Day, World Kindness Day, or any time during the year that you want to encourage kindness to your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students. The …

questions and activity ideas for the upper elementary read aloud Brave Irene

Questions and Activity Ideas for the Winter Read Aloud Brave Irene

Brave Irene is an interesting story of a young girl that braves a blizzard in order to make sure the duchess has her dress in time for the ball. The vocabulary and figurative language that the author William Steig uses is vivid and captivating.  It lends itself to a variety of different reading activities to do along with reading the …

Questions and Activity Ideas for teaching the book Snowmen at Night to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students

Snowmen At Night: Questions and Activity Ideas for this Winter Read Aloud

Snowmen at Night is a fun winter read aloud that draws out the imaginative side of kids. The text in this snowman book is not complicated, so it is often used for younger grade levels.  However, the whimsy in this story appeals to readers of all ages, and the activity ideas below are geared towards 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade …

The Best biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs to get 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students interested and reading

Best Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs for Upper Elementary

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students don’t often automatically grab biographies and autobiographies off the classroom library shelf.  But the inspiring biographies below will have your upper elementary students begging for more! Written by guest blogger Cindy Koopmans In my classroom I’ve often found that biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs are a bit of a hard sell.  Besides selecting only the …

Multicultural Read Alouds for third, fourth, and fifth grade students that will encourage them to be resilient and overcome obstacles

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Books About Overcoming Obstacles

Helping children learn to become more resilient and be able to overcoming any obstacles or challenges that might come their way is an important job for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers.  The book list below will help you add multicultural, inspiring books to your classroom library and read alouds. Written by guest blogger Amanda Bletsh From a very early …

A list of other books for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to read if they loved Harry Potter

Books Like Harry Potter for Upper Elementary Classroom Libraries

Do you have a 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade student that loved the Harry Potter series and is now wondering what to read next?  The book list below is a great place to start. Written by guest blogger Cindy Koopmans It’s the perfect time to escape into the pages of a good book. Set down the remote, get off …

8 Authors that will bring diversity to your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom library

8 Upper Elementary Authors to Help You Build a Diverse Classroom Library

As teachers, you already know the value of making sure your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students are exposed to diverse, multicultural literature.  Unfortunately, books are expensive.  And when you are trying to stock your classroom library with books you find at garage sales and dollar sales, it can be hard to find quality, multicultural books. (Side note: These tips …

Nonfiction Picture Books / informational books that upper elementary students (third, fourth, and fifth grade) will love

Nonfiction Picture Books that Upper Elementary Students will LOVE

Engaging fiction picture books are easy to find.  3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers usually have plenty of them in their classroom libraries.  However, nonfiction and informational text picture books that are actually engaging and on an appropriate grade level are much harder to find. If you are trying to be intentional about doing more nonfiction read alouds with your …