Homophone lessons are not exactly my favorite thing to teach, but homophone instruction and practice is so necessary. Homophones are a concept that students can usually grasp in isolation, but are frequently misused in student writing. This blog post shares five lessons and activities you can use to teach homophones, so that you can see […]
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It can be quite challenging to find high quality standards based math assessments. Many times the assessments include more than what I need for authentic standards based assessments, or they’re not a just right match to the standards. Plus, there are multiple types of math assessments that I like to incorporate into the classroom. Short
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Morning work plays a crucial role in my 3rd and 4th grade classroom. It’s what I use for a daily spiral review in math and language arts. Since I’ve been implementing my morning work routine, I’ve seen a significant improvement in students’ overall retention of skills. That retention of skills has reflected in an substantial
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This heat unit includes some of my favorite heat experiments. The heat experiments are easy to prep, and the activities really helps students understand the concept of insulators and conductors (which almost always gives my students trouble). All you need is a glass cup, plastic cup, and 2 Styrofoam cups (one with a lid and
Do any of you have one of those topics that you just dread teaching? You know, that topic that you try to put out of your mind as much as possible. For me, that would be elapsed time. It’s the one topic that I wish I could skip. Since that’s not going to happen, I
In this post I’ve shared how to organize math centers to help you save time and keep organized. Centers can be a great addition to the classroom, but it’s not always easy to organize your center activities. And then once they’re organized, it can be a challenge to KEEP them that way Fortunately, there are
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Magnet activities are the best, because there are so many to choose from. My students have some magnet background knowledge from first grade, and the third grade content isn’t too difficult. Plus, I get to do really fun hands-on activities with my class. I used my Magnet Investigations Booklet that I made several years ago
Teaching through Christmas worksheets and activities can be so much fun! There is something magical about that time of year, and I love being able to share it with my students. The 12 Activities of Christmas are a collection of Christmas worksheets and activities for upper elementary students. This resource is geared toward critical thinking
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Each year around this same time I start feeling crunched for time, because I’m behind the curriculum map, and assemblies and programs start popping into our day. Despite this time crunch, I feel that it’s important to set aside some time for teaching students about Veterans Day. I recently created a Veterans Day Choice Board
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Animal adaptation activities and lessons are so much fun, and there are so many ways to make this topic meaningful to students. This post shares a few of my favorite animal adaptation activities you can use to teach plant and animal adaptations, as well as a link to my Plant and Animal Adaptations unit. Birds’
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