There is definitely an art and science to teaching elementary math. Despite what you may read or hear, there is also no one right way to teach math. Far too often experts support an all-or-nothing approach. However, those of us in the classroom realize that our students have varied needs, and we have to tailor […]
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This end of the year project is the perfect activity to wind down the school year! It’s low prep and lots of fun! I’ve felt so guilty the past few days. I know my students want me to be fun, exciting, and playful, but I am SO TIRED. It’s a struggle just to keep my
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I love teaching area and perimeter activities and lessons. There are so many ways to make the lessons engaging and relevant to students. This post if full of ideas for teaching area and perimeter activities that students will LOVE. These lessons were created for my fourth grade class but can be adapted to any grade
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In this post I can’t offer you any eye-catching graphics or fun classroom displays. But, I would feel like I was holding out if I didn’t share one of our new favorite classroom games. Notice the “our”. My students and I agree on this one! Typically they favor games that offer a lot of fun-but
Why Students Need to Play Nerdle Read More »
As summer break quickly {but not quickly enough} approaches, it’s important to find engaging and creative ways to enrich and review our reading and writing standards. One of my favorite ways to change things up is with this mini unit which is centered round five summer themed books. There are three activities incorporated with each
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This project-based learning activity began as a single lesson that was so well received by students that I added an extra part, and then another. Eventually, it turned into a full-fledged math project. The premise of the math project is that students are planning to open a restaurant called The Snack Shack, and they incorporate
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In this post you’ll find FUN research project ideas for upper elementary students! I certainly remember completing my fair share of boring research projects in elementary school. We go to the library to find an encyclopedia to take notes on our topic. Then, we would write a traditional five paragraph essay. Fun stuff! Maybe I’m
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It’s not a big revelation that this year is an incredibly challenging school year. What has been surprising is that academics aren’t most teachers’ biggest concern. Yes, there is an academic impact from the past two years, but the behavioral effects appears to be even more significant. Due to the conditions of the past two
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After finishing division, it’s time to move on to my fraction unit. With so many great resources available, it can be hard to pick and choose what works for your classroom. It can also be a challenge to determine how to incorporate all of your resources. In this series, I share my personal lesson plans
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It’s important to spend time teaching or reviewing division strategies before moving on to multi-digit division. Most students are fairly confident and solid with multiplication concepts. But, many students need a little review of division strategies before moving into multi-digit division. I created a Conquering Division booklet that I used to guide our review of
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