Teaching figurative language is one of my favorite literacy skills to teach and my students always love learning about the different types. On this post, I will share my favorite read alouds for teaching the types of figurative language (similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification) and then my favorite read alouds that use figurative language naturally and ... Read More
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Free Book Recommendation Templates
One of my favorite parts of being a reader is sharing books that I love with others and reading book recommendations and book reviews online. And I love bringing this type of activity into the classroom with my own students. On this post, I will share some of my new favorite book recommendation templates that get students excited to recommend books and read ... Read More
Free Reading Exit Slips for 4th and 5th Grade
Since I prefer to teach using a reader's workshop model (read more about how I teach reading in 5th grade here), I do a lot of assessing my students on their reading strategies and behaviors authentically. However, assessing them on specific reading skills and standards I have taught has proved tricky in the past. That was before I started using reading exit slips. ... Read More
Videos for Teaching and Reviewing Figurative Language
Figurative language is always one of my favorite ELA skills to teach. It lends itself to fun, engaging lessons. This post will share videos for reviewing or teaching figurative language. (As with any videos that I share, I recommend that you watch the videos before showing them to your students.) Figurative Language Explained Running Time: 1:58 This short, ... Read More
How to Get Upper Elementary Students Excited to Read
If you have ever taught 4th or 5th grade, you know that by this grade, students start to form strong opinions about certain school subjects. One of those subjects is reading. Some students love it, some openly resist it, and some are just meh about it. Our job as teachers is to turn those resisters and students who are meh about it into avid readers before they leave us. ... Read More
Reading Notebooks in 4th and 5th Grade
One of the things I do every year that really makes a difference in my students' learning is having them use notebooks to store notes, examples, work, and basically house all of the learning they have done that year. Having these notebooks makes it so easy to spiral content because the students have a ready-made resource to refer back to. On this post, I will share how I ... Read More
Parent-Teacher Conference Tips : Supporting 4th and 5th Grade Readers at Home
I'll never forget one of the very first parent-teacher conferences I held. I had just gotten done explaining that the student, this couple's daughter, was struggling with comprehension. Her mother nodded and said, "Okay. How can we support her reading at home?" In that moment, I was both ecstatic that they wanted to support their 5th grade reader at home, and panicked, ... Read More
Write About Reading Ideas for Upper Elementary
Having students write about what they are reading is a great way to help students dive into analyzing a story, help make comprehension visible to the teacher, allow students to share their reading easily, and hold students accountable for reading. Whew, there is a lot of benefits for sure! However, sometimes as a teacher I found that I needed fresh ideas to keep my ... 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
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
