Teaching with Jennifer Findley
Upper Elementary Teaching Blog
I am an avid reader of all types of professional development books. Each summer, I choose 2-3 books to read based on my classroom needs. I often choose a new book to read throughout the school year based on the needs of my current classroom or students. Today I want to share with you five of my current favorite reading professional development books that are fairly … [Read more...] about Reading Professional Development Books for Upper Elementary Teachers
I am a huge fan of using read alouds to teach skills and strategies. And I also love using specific read alouds at the beginning of the school year to build community and set expectations. In this post, I want to share six of my favorite back to school read alouds (with free printables and digital activities) for upper elementary grades. This post includes affiliate … [Read more...] about Back to School Read Alouds for Upper Elementary {FREE Printables}
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}
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
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}
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
Teaching reading in 5th grade is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching this grade. The standards and text levels are more rigorous than in primary grades, and the students are much more independent. The books they read are more engaging, making the teaching experience enjoyable. Also, the discussions can be meaningful and deep. When actively in the classroom, I … [Read more...] about How I Taught Reading in 5th Grade
A few months ago, I shared the data tracking forms that I use after giving my students larger benchmark assessments or quarterly tests. You can read that post and grab those forms by clicking here. Now, I want to share with you my favorite form that I use to track data after any formative assessment (formal or informal) that I give. Here is the very simple (but … [Read more...] about Track Data from Assessments with This Simple Form (Freebie)
Students love using math manipulatives, and they often help the students understand key math concepts. Students in the primary grades use manipulatives on a regular basis. As a fifth grade teacher, I try to actively bring in as many manipulatives as I can in my math instruction. In this post, I want to share with you my favorite math manipulatives, ideas about how to use … [Read more...] about Math Manipulatives for 5th Grade (Free Printable Activities)
Do you have a difficult time finding activities to keep other students engaged while you are teaching small group reading lessons? If so, you're not alone! Many teachers feel this way. It can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be! Today, I am sharing reading centers and activities (with lots of free activities) that will keep your other students engaged and reading … [Read more...] about 4th and 5th Grade Reading Centers
I have been a teacher for seven years now, and I would have to say without a doubt that my favorite grade to teach is 5th grade. To me, 5th graders are the perfect age to make teaching enjoyable and make it challenging enough to keep it from getting boring. Teaching 5th graders does have its downsides (middle school attitudes at the end of the year is my least … [Read more...] about What to Expect When Teaching 5th Graders
The first time I taught at a school that used standards based grading, I was a little worried... okay a lot worried. I was so used to giving percentage grades and I worried this would be more difficult and time consuming. However, I quickly realized that that was not the case. In fact, standards based grading has made my job easier. Before standards based grading, I had … [Read more...] about Tips for Standards Based Grading
