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
Leaf Salt Crystal Experiment
Adding seasonal activities to your day to day plans can keep students engaged and interested in what they're learning. Science experiments are no different! If you are looking for a great science activity to do with your upper elementary students this fall, this salt crystal experiment with leaves is one you don't want to miss. Keep reading for a full list of materials ... Read More
Leaf Chromatography Experiment
This is a fun and informative fall science activity that has a great content focus. This experiment explores how leaves change color in the fall. The purpose of the experiment is to get the students to understand that chlorophyll (which gives leaves the green color) masks the other colors in the leaves. In the winter, trees block water to the leaves breaking down the ... Read More
Decoding Multisyllabic Words: Using Syllable Types (Free Posters)
There are two specific core memories I have from my teaching career when I needed syllable type instruction to help my students with decoding multisyllabic words...and I didn't know it. During my first teaching observation, I presented a student with the word "udder." He said he couldn't read it because it had two ds. I had no idea what to do to guide him. Now, I ... Read More
Helping Students with Word Problems – Free Questions & Prompts
Word problems can be overwhelming for students and honestly for teachers, too. Teaching students how to use strategies and confidently work through word problems can be tough. This post will share a list of questions and prompts you can use as you support your students before and after they solve word problems. This will help you guide the students through solving the ... Read More
Using Math Warmup Activities (Free Starter Pack)
Transitions in the classroom are extremely important. This is when so much time can be wasted, and misbehavior can occur easily. One way to help transition into a new subject is to have routines in place that the students know to expect each day. One routine could be using a warmup to start the lesson. Not only do using warmup activities help transition students quickly ... Read More
Free Parts of Speech Activities for 4th and 5th Grade
Understanding parts of speech is a skill that is beneficial to students in so many different ways. Finding parts of speech activities for your students can be challenging - especially if you're looking for engaging ones that will keep them interested while they're learning! This post will share my favorite free parts of speech activities for 4th and 5th graders. ... Read More
