Teaching with Jennifer Findley
Upper Elementary Teaching Blog
Posting I Can Statements on a regular basis can really help keep your students informed about what they are learning each week. This post will share FREE 5th Grade Math I Can Statements (based on the common core standards). Need 5th Grade Literacy I Can Statements? Click here! About the Math I Can Statements These I Can Statements are based on the common core … [Read more...] about Free Math I Can Statements for 5th Grade
One of my (and my students') favorite math centers and activities is definitely the Find the Error math activity that requires the students to analyze example work to find and explain the error made by the "student". On this post, I will share how you can get multi-step error analysis math tasks for free! Why Use Error Analysis in Math? Error analysis is when … [Read more...] about Free Error Analysis Math Printables for Multi-Step Word Problems
Paired passages are possibly one of the trickiest reading skills for students (second only to text dependent essays). And for good reason. Some students struggle with reading and analyzing one grade-level passage and throwing in two doesn't make it any easier. From my experience, the best way to help students is to provide regular paired passage practice. Along with that … [Read more...] about Free Paired Passages Graphic Organizers
Having I Can Statements prepped and ready-to-go can help make your lesson planning a little easier. This post shares ready-to-print 4th Grade Literacy I Can Statements using the common core standards, including a link to an editable version. Want 5th Grade Literacy I Can Statements? Click here! About the 4th Grade Literacy I Can Statements There is one page for … [Read more...] about Free I Can Statements – 4th Grade Literacy ELA
Breaking down complex or tricky standards into digestible "I Can" statements can be very helpful for students and teachers. This post will share free 5th grade I Can Statements for literacy, including ideas on how to use them in your classroom. Need 4th Grade Literacy I Can Statements? Click here! About the Literacy I Can Statements This free set of I Can … [Read more...] about Free I Can Statements – 5th Grade Literacy ELA
Close reading became the new buzz word in education with the coming of the common core standards and new rigorous high-stakes testing. It is an extremely effective strategy at helping students reach higher levels of text analysis, however it can also be challenging to implement (as with any strategy that promotes struggle and critical analysis). On this post, we will … [Read more...] about Close Reading Strategies – Overcoming Common Challenges
Have you seen that popular meme where the student highlights two entire pages of a text? It cracks me up every time I see it. One reason that meme resonates with teachers is because it is a very real struggle. Each year, it seems I have some students who annotate like crazy. Or the opposite and the students don't pick up a pencil or annotating tool the entire time they … [Read more...] about Annotating Tips for Close Reading
Close reading is a great way to get students to dig in and analyze a text. Close reading, when done right, allows for rich discussion and reflection while growing your students as critical, analytical readers. In this post, I will share close reading tips and strategies to help you implement this reading strategy into your instruction. Close Reading Tips and … [Read more...] about Close Reading Tips and Strategies for Upper Elementary
Using sorts as part of instruction or practice is one of my (and my students') favorite reading activities. I feel like you can never have enough hands-on activities and they are honestly few and far between when it comes to upper elementary reading. This post will share some FREE reading sorts for 4th and 5th grade with ideas for implementing them in your classroom, … [Read more...] about Free 4th and 5th Grade Reading Sorts
It seems like I am always on the hunt for new ways to review reading skills with my students. And especially ways that are engaging and don't involve reading a ton of lengthy passages or worse...stapled worksheets that don't excite or engage my students. One of my new favorite ways to review is through reading review mini-booklets. Keep reading to get all of the details … [Read more...] about Free Reading Review Mini-Booklets for 4th and 5th Grade
Getting through those last few weeks of school can be challenging. Students are ready to be done and teachers are just as ready for a (much needed) break. Incorporating fun end of year celebration activities into those weeks can be a lifesaver (and work really as behavior incentives)! Here are a few of my favorite end of year celebration ideas that work really well with … [Read more...] about End of Year Celebration Ideas and Activities (4th and 5th Graders)
The end of the year and making solar ovens seem to go hand and hand. The sun is shining, students are excited for summer break, and we need to pull out the stops to keep them engaged and learning. Enter...the solar oven project! This post will share the materials and directions to have your students make their own solar oven projects, including lots of free printables to … [Read more...] about Solar Oven Project with Free Printables
