Each year, I give my students a printable to gauge their interests in reading. I enjoy reading their responses, and they often do give valuable insight to their reading behaviors and interests. This past school year, I decided to change my reading interest survey activity up. By making a pretty simple change, I got more thoughtful responses and my students actually … [Read more...] about Engaging Reading Interest Survey Activity {Free}
Archives for July 2016
New to Teaching 5th Grade
Are you teaching 5th grade for the first time this year (or the upcoming school year)? If you are anything like me when I was moved to 5th grade (from 3rd after teaching for only one year), I was a bit overwhelmed by the idea of teaching 5th grade. I remember spending the summer before that year googling all things related to 5th grade in between taking long walks with … [Read more...] about New to Teaching 5th Grade
Math Tools {Lots of Freebies}
After seeing Create Teach Share's post about her Close Reading Toolkits, I knew I wanted to do something similar for math tools. Math centers are a huge part of math instruction in my classroom, so I created a toolbox of math tools and hands-on math supplies that my students use on a regular basis. I have included quite a bit of stuff in my toolbox, but some of the charts … [Read more...] about Math Tools {Lots of Freebies}
10 Ways to Get Students Writing in Math
Writing in math is more common and important in the elementary years than ever before. When I was in school, I barely remember writing more than a sentence in math class. Now, students are required and expected to write several sentences and even paragraphs explaining their math and justifying their answer. This can definitely be tricky as many students still think … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Get Students Writing in Math
How I Teach Reading in 5th Grade
Teaching reading in 5th grade is one of the best parts of teaching 5th grade. The standards and text level are more rigorous than in primary grades, but the students are much more independent. The books the students read are much more entertaining and interesting to read as a teacher. The discussions can be quite meaningful and deep as well. I have always taught … [Read more...] about How I Teach Reading in 5th Grade