When I was in elementary school reading was reading, writing was writing, and math was math. Each subject area was defined and limited to one thing. Now it seems like one subject blurs into another. We have students writing about what they're reading and reading about what they
Test Prep Ideas and Products
High-stake testing evokes a passionate response in almost all teachers. While I have strong feelings about testing, I recognize that standardized tests are going to be part of my life for the immediate future. Regardless of my thoughts, my students will have to take a high-stakes
100th Day of School
Having only taught upper elementary, I've never done anything for the 100th day of school. It all just seemed a little too young to me.
I always start feeling the pressure of our state testing after Christmas, so I don't like giving up class time for anything other that
Language Arts Assessments
After I made my Common Core Math Assessments, I had many requests for a similar language arts assessment version. After months of work, I'm thrilled to announce that I finally finished them and let me just way "Whew!" That was a big project-much, MUCH bigger than I expected!
Twas the Week Before Christmas Activities
No matter how crazy it is, the week before Christmas vacation is one of my favorite weeks of the school year. I feel like I have more flexibility to let loose a little and have some fun with my students. I have a little Christmas tree and string some lights around the room, and
Halloween Math Activities
There is something about this time of year when I start getting excited about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas! I love, love, love all of the fun and craziness that the holidays bring. In this post, I've shared some of my favorite Halloween math activities. I may have
Teaching Nouns – Lessons and Activities
I never thought writing a post on noun lessons and activities would be exciting. To be perfectly honest, I've always dreaded teaching parts of speech. I know that if I was bored teaching it, my students had to be extremely bored studying it! I integrate parts of speech and
Lessons & Activities to Teach Homophones
Homophones 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
Standards Based Math Assessments
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
3rd Grade & 4th Grade Morning Work
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
