Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays by far! You can find several Thanksgiving activities for math and literacy (including free writing prompts) HERE in a previous post I wrote. In this post, I will share two of my favorite Thanksgiving read alouds and the activities I use with them. These read aloud and the accompanying activities are perfect for literacy ... Read More
Browse the archives below for even more great ideas
Planning Read Alouds in Upper Elementary
If you have followed my blog for while, you know that I love using read alouds in my classroom. They are a great way to build community, expose students to a variety of text, and to teach reading skills. For more information about the benefits of using read alouds in upper elementary classrooms (with implementation tips), click HERE to read a previous post I wrote. ... Read More
Halloween Read Alouds for Upper Elementary {Free Printables}
Using read alouds in my classroom is right up there with math centers on my list of favorite classroom activities. And I LOVE integrating holidays into my read alouds. Today, I want to share with you my favorite Halloween read alouds suitable for upper elementary classrooms. To read more about implementing read alouds in your classroom and the benefits, click ... Read More
Guided Reading Binder for Upper Elementary {Free Forms}
Guided reading has always been a staple in my reading instruction. But, as much as I love guided reading, it is so easy (like scary easy) to have a jumbled mess of lesson plans, running records, and other random forms in piles upon piles at my guided reading table. To combat this, I streamlined my guided reading binder into a super functional organizational tool with all ... Read More
Read Alouds in Upper Elementary
One of my favorite times of the day is sharing a read aloud with my students. In today's post, I want to share some reasons why upper elementary students should still be read to, what you can read to them, tips for managing read alouds, and how to use read alouds in upper elementary classrooms to help the students master the standards. Why are read alouds in upper ... Read More
September 11th Lesson Idea (Free Printables to Use with Paired Read Alouds)
September 11th is quickly becoming a forgotten tragedy in many students' minds. The students we teach in elementary schools today were not even alive on this day in 2001. However, I still spend September 11th (or the week after if it falls on a Sunday) remembering the day. I like to focus heavily on the heroes of the day and how people came together, instead of the ... Read More
Guided Reading Materials for Upper Elementary
I have been using guided reading for the past 7 years, and I really can't imagine teaching reading without using this model. I plan to write a few blog posts about how I implement guided reading in my classroom. To start, I want to share with you the guided reading materials that I use. This post includes affiliate links if you wish to purchase the guided reading ... Read More
Reading Professional Development Books for Upper Elementary Teachers
I am an avid reader of all types of professional development books. Each summer, I choose 2-3 books to read based on my classroom needs. I often choose a new book to read throughout the school year based on the needs of my current classroom or students. Today I want to share with you five of my current favorite reading professional development books that are fairly ... 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
How I Teach Reading in 5th Grade
Teaching reading in 5th grade is one of the best parts of teaching 5th grade. The standards and text level are more rigorous than in primary grades, but the students are much more independent. The books the students read are much more entertaining and interesting to read as a teacher. The discussions can be quite meaningful and deep as well. I have always taught ... Read More
