Teaching with Jennifer Findley
Upper Elementary Teaching Blog
As promised I am back with another test prep activity that we have been doing lately to get ready for our state tests. This specific test prep activity may be my favorite and I can definitely see myself doing this all year long. It is a spin off a traditional gallery walk and gets the kids moving, reviewing, and critiquing each other's work. I prepared the activity by … [Read more...] about Test Prep Activity | Gallery Walk: Get Them Moving!
Test prep doesn't have to be the same old monotonous review and work. In fact, I prefer to spice up my test prep activities to keep my students engaged and to keep the work relevant and interesting. On this post I will share a test prep activity that works well with any subject and any type of question. If you have never seen this before, students respond to a text or … [Read more...] about Test Prep: Graffiti Style
My first year or two teaching I was very guilty of thinking that engaging science needed to involve some sort of complex science experiment. Thank goodness I learned a few years in that that was not true. I learned that drawing, designing, and even reflective discussions were a great way to engage my students in science topics we were studying. Last week this was put … [Read more...] about Roller Coaster Fun: Potential and Kinetic Energy Review
Every now and then I get questions from teachers wanting to start creating and selling their own resources on TeachersayTeachers. On this post, I want to share with you some information I put together for some teachers at school with some Teachers Pay Teachers tips and advice for getting started with selling teacher created resources. I am by no means an expert, but here … [Read more...] about Teachers Pay Teachers Tips and Advice
I don't know about you guys, but I am beginning to feel the pressure of standardized tests! We have been working hard all year on comprehension strategies that really make the students think about a story. You can read about that here and here. Now, I am trying to be much more deliberate about teaching the students some specific strategies and test taking tips to help … [Read more...] about Test Taking Tips for Reading
In reading, we recently finished up a week long unit teaching theme, and for the first time ever, it went fabulous! As of this blog post's original date, this is my 3rd time teaching theme of literature, and to be honest, I have always struggled to find theme activities and resources to help my students really understand this tricky concept. This year, the stars aligned … [Read more...] about Teaching Theme in the Upper Grades and a FREEBIE!
One more day to go till the weekend! I wanted to write a quick post to share with you how to make simple math assessment accommodations for students with IEPs or on RTI plans. First, I must tell you this was not my idea or my work. I was in a fellow teacher's (4th grade) room when I saw this on a student's desk. I was immediately impressed and knew I had to share it! I … [Read more...] about Math Assessment Accommodations Made Easy!
Well it is Monday, and RAINING! Notice all those capital letters. We may even have a delay tomorrow if all this rain keeps up. So on this rainy day, I am going to share how I made the leap to binders for my handout/printables/worksheets (whatever you want to call them!) storage. Going from files to binders will help keep you organized! First, a little background as to … [Read more...] about Going From Files to Binders
Teaching readers who struggle to construct meaning during reading is a challenge. It is a challenge for the students because they struggle connecting to and getting immersed in books. Teachers are challenged with making complex texts comprehensible and engaging, while teaching grade-level reading skills. One way that I help with this is to teach my students to mark their … [Read more...] about Reading Is Thinking: Using Thinkmarks with Reading Strategies
Well my friends, I don't know about you, but the new year has always brought me testing anxiety! Gotta get those kids ready to take the TEST. However, this year I have a little less stress than usual. Did I get the gifted students? Nope! Do all my kids read on grade level? I wish! Did I learn some test taking strategies in the past few years that work? Yes, and this … [Read more...] about Test Taking Strategies {Teaching Students to “Work the Text”}
Since blogging about my 6 Traits writing board earlier this year, I have gotten a few emails from teachers wanting to see how it looks in action. This post will share a look at how the 6 traits writing board looks now and how I display my mini-lesson statements. Remember that you can grab the FREE 6 traits writing checklist to help you come up with writing mini-lessons by … [Read more...] about 6 Traits Writing and a Secret Code to Improve Narrative Writing
December can be one of the looongest months for teaching because of the antsy students (and teachers). I often have to mix things up a little when my students are excited and ready for a break from school. This excitement definitely affects their behavior and attention span. So, here is my behavior management tip that has been keeping me sane! We do colors at my … [Read more...] about A Behavior Management Tip to Keeping Your Sanity During the Holidays
