Confession: It was my first year teaching and one month before the state test, I realized that I had failed to expose my students to enough word problems for them to be successful and confident with them. I was so caught up in the pacing guide and using the math textbook that I failed to make the math real world and situational for my students. Big mistake on my part and ... Read More
Free Reading Posters (4th-5th Grade)
Vocabulary is so important in instruction and the vocabulary of the skills and standards we teach is SO important. If the students can't tell you what theme is, they definitely can't apply that to a story or passage. On this post, I will share free reading posters to help you teach the reading vocabulary of the standards and help your students master ... Read More
Free Reading Games and Activities for Launching Reading Centers
In 4th and 5th grade, I want my students independently reading books of their choosing and lots of them. However, I also really love using reading centers a couple of days a week in addition to independent reading. It helps me make sure that I cover my reading standards and allows my students plenty of time to practice them. On this post, I will share some free reading ... Read More
Free Math Puzzles for the Entire Year | Seasonal and Holiday Themes
Do you ever want something a bit different from the normal math fact or number sense practice? These fun math puzzles are just what you need! On this post, I will be giving you all the details about how you can get ten (yes, TEN!) sets of math puzzles to use with your students all year! About the Math Puzzles To solve the problems, the students use their knowledge ... Read More
Guided Math – Collection of Resources and Posts for Guided Math Instruction
When I switched to a guided math approach to teaching math and began using math centers two to three times a week (read what I do the other days on this post), my students' success and confidence with math soared. I was able to truly meet the needs of all my learners and in a way that the students loved. Over the years, I have bogged a ton about guided math and I finally ... Read More
Tips for Teaching Small Groups in Math
The last post in the 4-part blog series about teaching small groups in math is here! This post will be a sort of catch-all post where I will share tips and strategies not discussed in the other three posts in the series. Speaking of the other three posts, click the links below to check out any that you missed! Planning for Small Group Math Instruction <--- Click ... Read More
Small Group Math Assessment and Data Tracking
Data is definitely not a teacher's favorite word, but to be honest, data tracking and assessments are what keep my small groups moving and are what helps me know they are working. In this post, I share quick and easy ways to assess your students during small group math, ways to track your data, and even some goal setting and self-assessments for the students. As a ... Read More
Small Group Math Instruction Resources, Materials, and Activities
Small group math instruction time is precious, and the resources and activities you choose can really maximize that time. In this post, I will share my top resources that I use for my small group math time. As a reminder, this is part of a 4-part blog series all about small group math instruction. See all of the posts below! Planning for Small Group Math ... Read More
Planning for Small Group Math Instruction
Small groups are honestly the backbone of my math instruction. Small group math instruction allows me to really meet the needs of all of the learners in my classroom. Together with whole class instruction and math centers, small groups help me ensure my students master the standards and skills in deeper levels. In this 4-part blog post series, I will share an in-depth ... Read More
Read Alouds for Teaching Text Structures | Mentor Texts for Reading
Informational text structures is one of my favorite nonfiction reading units to teach. Once students start to see how information is organized in a text it really helps their comprehension and understanding of the text and it also helps them become stronger informational text writers. On this post, I will share my favorite read alouds for teaching text structure as well ... Read More
Read Alouds for Teaching Main Idea | Mentor Texts for Reading
Read alouds are definitely the backbone of my reading instruction. But finding engaging nonfiction read alouds can sometimes be tricky. I have spent the last few years collecting the best nonfiction read alouds to use with upper elementary students. This post will share the read alouds I use when introducing and teaching main idea. This post includes Amazon affiliate ... Read More
Free Factors and Multiples Game with Jenga
Jenga is one of those games that I use in the classroom and wonder how I ever reviewed without it! It is right up there with Spoons games as my students' favorite games to play. Since they love it so much (and the Jenga sets are not super cheap), I want to get as much mileage as I can from my sets by using them to review tons of skills (see the bottom of this post for a ... Read More
