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
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Parts of Speech Review with Jenga | Free Printables
Parts of speech seems to be one of those skills that teachers constantly have to review year after year. To keep it fun and engaging, I created a parts of speech review that works with colored Jenga blocks. Keep reading for all the details and get the review printables for free! Amazon affiliate links provided if you wish to purchase the Jenga blocks mentioned on ... Read More
Outdoor Review Activities and Games
Reviewing concepts and facts can get tedious in the classroom, but not when you take the activity outside for some fun, friendly competition and sunshine. This post has five fun and active games for outdoor review that get your class moving while reviewing the information they need to know. These activities can be used as competitions to gain points for a class reward, or ... Read More
Thanksgiving Writing Activities | Pie Tasting
If you are familiar with my blog or my resources, then you know I love seasonal and holiday resources and activities. I love taking the students' excitement and channeling it into productive, engaging work. My favorite activities to do each year are Thanksgiving writing activities involving pie tasting. Materials Needed At least two different types of pies - I ... Read More
Writing Portfolios in Upper Elementary
Writing portfolios were a game-changer for me in my classroom. Before implementing them, I remember a student asking me for a certain story that she had written that she was really proud of and wanted to share. I didn't have the story and she couldn't find it in her writing folder. At some point, she may have taken it home or it just disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle ... Read More
Writer’s Workshop Procedures to Teach
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
Activities for Early Finishers (Upper Elementary)
What if I told you that you could have plans in place for your early finishers without a ton of prep on your part? What if those "activities" were super meaningful, engaging, and directly aligned with what you were teaching? Well, that is exactly what I am going to describe in this post. Let's take a look at my favorite early finisher activities that will save your ... Read More
Outdoor Learning Activities for Upper Elementary
The spring and summer seasons are the perfect time to take your students out of the classroom for some outdoor learning activities. Your students will be more motivated to work before, during, and after the outdoor learning activity. Outdoor learning is also an excellent behavior motivator for when your students have spring or summer fever. There are so many ways to ... Read More
How I Teach Writing in 5th Grade
Let's be real for a moment. During my first year teaching I did a terrible, horrible, rotten job at teaching writing. My students (3rd graders at the time) were not assessed on writing, and I really didn't know how to teach writing at that point in my career (especially since my students seriously struggled with all things literacy when they came to me). I remember ... Read More
Types of Writing Lessons (Writing Workshop Ideas)
I recently spoke with a teacher who asked me what writing program I use to teach writing. When I told her I didn't use a program, she was a little shocked and wanted to know how I knew what to teach. As I explained to her how I generate my lesson topics, I realized this might be something useful to share on my blog. Keep reading for three types of writing lessons, how I ... Read More
Playing Spoons in the Classroom {Highly Engaging Review Game}
A few years ago, I was introduced to a highly motivating, fast-paced academic version of the games Spoons. After playing a few rounds and having a lot of fun, I knew this was something I wanted to incorporate as much as possible into my classroom. The academic version of Spoons is a great way to motivate your students to review almost any concept! (If you are not ... Read More
How to Get Students Excited About Writing
My first year teaching third grade, I had a student in my class who had very strong feelings toward writing. He hated it with a passion and wasn't afraid to let others know about how he felt. I am not sure that first year that I made that much of an impact one way or another on his feelings toward writing. To be honest, my first year teaching was kind of a big blur. I ... Read More
