Test prep doesn't have to be boring and stressful for the teachers or the students. We try to keep some of our test prep activities super engaging and high-energy to keep students (and teachers) from getting stressed. This post shares details about one of my favorite engaging test prep activities that works perfectly during the spring, which is right at test prep season … [Read more...] about Test Prep Egg Hunt Activity
Freebies
Common Core Gradebook {Free!}
Grading, grading, and more grading! Honestly, that may be the thing I like the least about teaching. Which is odd because that is what I did the most when I played school as a child. I am not missing the irony there! Last year, I created a CCSS aligned grade book in an attempt to simplify the process of recording and accessing grades. After using it all year and … [Read more...] about Common Core Gradebook {Free!}
Solving Word Problems & Math Constructed Response Tasks with LOVE
Word problems and math constructed response tasks were always a struggle for my students. It was like pulling teeth to get them to write more than just the answer. Almost three years ago, I created a new acronym to help my students think through, represent problems, and show all of the work when they are solving word problems and math constructed response tasks. Keep … [Read more...] about Solving Word Problems & Math Constructed Response Tasks with LOVE
Controlling Excessive Talking in the Classroom
Whew, I can't believe I haven't blogged since school started back. I have several blog posts and ideas that I can't wait to share with you in the coming months. For today, I wanted to share a simple strategy that I have been using successfully for four years to control excessive talking. I call this easy to implement strategy, "Thumbs Up!" Here is how it works: … [Read more...] about Controlling Excessive Talking in the Classroom
Math Problem Solving Strategies
Happy Wednesday! I recently read Chapter 4 of the book, What's your Math Problem? and this was my favorite chapter so far. This chapter is all about the students using math problem solving strategies to get themselves organized before or while they are solving a problem. The math problem solving strategies discussed in this chapter are: Look for a Pattern … [Read more...] about Math Problem Solving Strategies
Common Core Reading: Teaching Story Elements
I am back with post #3 for the Reading Literature Standards Chapter of my book club! This post will discuss Key Ideas and Details Standard 3 (RL.3.3, RL.4.3, RL.5.3) which focuses on teaching story elements. The post about Standard 1 can be found here and Standard 2 can be found here. Make sure you head over to those to grab the free printables for those … [Read more...] about Common Core Reading: Teaching Story Elements
Teaching Theme & Summarizing : FREE Reading Graphic Organizers
When the common core standards first hit my state, I knew I needed to do some research and studying to fully understand the reading standards and how to teach them. One way that I did this was by joining a book club and reading Teaching with the Common Core Standards for ELA. This post will share some of my thoughts and a few free graphic organizers specific to teaching … [Read more...] about Teaching Theme & Summarizing : FREE Reading Graphic Organizers
Making Inferences Freebies
I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! As I mentioned in my last post, I joined another Book Club this summer and we are reading Teaching with the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. This chapter focuses on RL.1 which is about making inferences and using evidence to support those inferences. Check out post for RL.2 by clicking here and RL.3 clicking here. … [Read more...] about Making Inferences Freebies
Division Fun and a Tropical Christmas Freebie
We have been working very hard on long division these past few weeks. My students have huge gaps in their number sense, so this has been somewhat of a struggle for some. We have been working very diligently getting them to understand the partial quotients method of division in a conceptual way. Read more about how I teach partial quotients by clicking here. We have been … [Read more...] about Division Fun and a Tropical Christmas Freebie