Are you wanting an activity that will boost your 4th and 5th grade students' vocabulary and morphology skills? Having a morphology word of the day routine is a great way to engage students and increase morphology and vocabulary skills. Read more about this morphology activity and grab free templates on this post. Morphology of the Day Routine There are many ways to ... Read More
Teaching Students to Restate the Question (with Freebies)
I remember being shocked (and more than a little frustrated) when I realized my fifth graders couldn’t restate questions in complete sentences... even simple questions. On the spot, I had to pivot my lesson. If your students struggle with restating questions, this post will share the tips and strategies I have learned and put in place that helped my students. Tip #1: ... Read More
Free Groundhog Day Activities (4th & 5th Grade Reading)
During those first few months following the holidays, teachers and students can find themselves stuck in the winter blues. When February 2nd rolls around, I am always excited to implement a few easy-to-use activities for Groundhog Day to spice things up a bit in the classroom. This post will share free Groundhog Day activities for reading skills and comprehension. ... Read More
100th Day of School Activities for Upper Elementary
Are you looking for fun and engaging ways to celebrate the 100th day of school with your 4th and 5th grade students? As the years go on, the magic and fun of school slowly goes away for some students. However, 4th and 5th graders can have some "fun" celebrating the 100th day of school (and in a way that supports learning). This post shares ideas for math and literacy, as ... Read More
Using Word Matrix Activities to Increase Vocabulary (Free Posters)
Teachers know that vocabulary is an important part of reading and language comprehension but teaching vocabulary can be a challenge. One tool that teachers can use to increase student vocabulary is word matrix activities. This post will go into more detail about what word matrixes (matrices) are, activities you can do with them, and free teaching posters to help you get ... Read More
Using a Morphology Wall in Grades 4-5
Word walls for upper elementary? Try a morphology wall! Morphology walls are a great tool for teaching and reviewing prefixes, suffixes, bases, and roots. By using a "Morphology Wall" in your classroom, you can help your students better understand how words are put together and how to use that knowledge to determine the meaning of unknown words. This post will share ... Read More
Free Prefix, Suffix, and Roots Posters (Morphology Posters)
In order to become strong readers (and writers), students need to understand the meaning of words. Breaking words down into prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases is a great way to help students understand how words are put together and what they mean. These free morphology posters (printable and digital!) will help your students (and you!) remember the most common prefixes, ... Read More
Decoding Multisyllabic Words in Grades 4-5
The ability to decode multisyllabic words in reading is (to me) equivalent to knowing basic multiplication and division facts. Multisyllabic words make up the foundation of many texts our students read, just like multiplication and division facts are embedded in so many grade level skills. And just like with basic math facts, our students need strategies for tackling ... Read More
3 Christmas STEM Activities for Upper Elementary
Christmas is a time for family, friends, and fun. But it can also be a time for learning! If you're looking for some fun Christmas-themed STEM activities to do with your upper elementary students, you've come to the right place. In this blog post, we'll discuss three STEM activities that will keep your students engaged and learning during the holiday season. Let's get ... Read More
Teaching Morphology in Grades 4-5 (with Free Resources)
Confession: I used to spend a week teaching affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and then another couple of weeks teaching roots. I’d assess and we'd move on to my next language/grammar standard. Sure, I may have spiraled them through grammar review and even mentioned them implicitly if it came up in texts we were reading. But I didn’t explicitly plan for morphology ... Read More
Free Veterans Day Reading Activities
Are you looking for a way to celebrate Veterans Day in your classroom? Do you want to teach students about the significance of honoring the day and recognizing the people it celebrates? In this post, I am sharing a free set of Veterans Day reading activities that will combine reading instruction and teaching the importance of Veterans Day. About the Veterans Day ... Read More
Teaching Division Word Problems: Tips and Free Activities
Division can be one of the trickiest skills to teach. Part of the reason is that by the time students get to 4th & 5th grade, they're dealing with much larger numbers that are more difficult to visualize. 5th graders are working with 4-5-digit numbers 2-digit divisors (not to mention decimal division but that’s for another blog post). If students don't have a strong ... Read More
