If you are anything like me, you want writing time in your classroom to be sacred and productive. You want your students writing, writing, and writing even more daily. You also want them discussing and sharing writing. And of course, you need to teach new skills and strategies. In order to accomplish these goals, you need a strong foundation in place. In order to get this ... Read More
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FREE Math Pre-Assessments (Grades 3-5)
At the beginning of the year, it is sometimes difficult to get a clear picture of how our students are performing in math. I know I have been fooled a time or two by test scores or class performance at the beginning of the year. I put together these one-page quick pre-assessments for math to serve two purposes: 1.) allow me to group my students effectively for math ... Read More
How to Launch Guided Math Centers in Upper Elementary
Do you want your guided math centers running smoothly from the start of the year to the end of the year? *raises hand*. Then, you need a strong launch. On this post, we will take a look at some guidelines to follow when you launch guided math centers in your classroom AND I will be linking to FREE starter packs for grades 3-5 so you will have all the math center resources ... Read More
Math Bulletin Boards for Upper Elementary
Pinterest is full of well-designed and authentic bulletin boards for literacy, but very few for math. In fact, when I am planning my classroom, my mind goes straight to literacy instead of math. Once I realized I was doing that, I actively worked to change and add in more relevant and meaningful math bulletin boards in my classroom. This post shares SIX low prep, but ... Read More
Guided Math Procedures
Guided math instruction (whole group instruction + small group instruction + math centers) is a super powerful way of reaching all of your students. But, things can go south quickly. Just like any other aspect of school, students need to be taught procedures and expectations for guided math. In this post, we will take a detailed look at the must teach procedures to ... Read More
Lesson Plan Tips | How I Plan My Lessons
Lesson planning can be a serious cause for frustration for teachers, both new and experienced. You want to have good lesson plans to both guide your instruction and meet the needs of your school requirements, but you don't won't to spend all of your time planning for your lessons with little time to prepare the actual lessons. Or worse, you don't want to spend your ... Read More
Organizing Anchor Charts
I don't know about you, but I love anchor charts. They are a regular part of my daily instruction in all subjects. Some (okay, most) are not Pinterest worthy, but they are a great anchor for what we are learning and a valuable reference for the students. However, with anchor charts comes the issue of displaying and storing them. Which ones do you hang? Which ones ... Read More
Classroom Management Tips for Upper Elementary
Over the years of teaching 3rd through 7th grade, I have learned a few classroom management tips that were life savers for my management and classroom. I spent the first four years of my teaching career in an inner city, urban school. Teaching in that type of environment really allowed me to fine tune my management. Now, I would not be honest if I said I never had ... Read More
Back to School Read Alouds for Upper Elementary {FREE Printables}
I am a huge fan of using read alouds to teach skills and strategies. 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) for upper elementary grades. This post includes affiliate links if you wish to purchase ... Read More
Engaging Reading Interest Survey Activity {Free}
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
New to Teaching 5th Grade
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
A Simple Strategy to Stop Arguing and Talking Back
Those first few weeks of school can be rough when you have students who test authority and like to talk back or argue when given a reminder or asked to do a simple task. It is even harder in the beginning because you have not had time to build a mutual relationship of respect. While you are building this relationship, you need something simple but effective to stop any ... Read More
