One way to increase student engagement is to incorporate task cards into your instruction. You can use task cards with centers, playing Scoot, or even use them digitally. While I love using my more traditional task cards, I'm always on the lookout for out of the box ideas to keep
Place Value Extras
There are so many fun and engaging resources and lessons that I really want to use, but there just isn't time to squeeze it all in.
That's one of the reasons I love adding a "buffer week" at the end of my math units. Whenever I finish a unit, including our unit assessment, I
Fraction Escape Activity
Last week when my students walked in the classroom and saw the escape boxes set-up, they started bubbling with excitement. I was asked no less than 100 times, "Are we going to do an escape today?". I let the suspense build until they just about couldn't take it anymore, and then
Division Escape Room Lesson
This Division Escape Room Lesson is one of my favorite culminating activities to my 4th grade division unit. It incorporates so many skills and concepts into a fun and exciting format for students. I consider any lesson where students are so engaged and motivated that they don't
Christmas Escape Room
I love any and all Christmas related activities. I also love escape lessons in the classroom, so I decided to combine two of my favorite things to create a Christmas Escape activity that is perfect for upper elementary students. Like my End of the Year and Back to School escape
Upper Elementary Math Escape Rooms
I cannot tell you how much my students and I LOVE completing math escape rooms. These escape lessons are some of my favorite activities of the entire school year. Now that I have a little experience and practice, it's a cinch for me to prep and set-up, even when using the
Back to School Breakout
I absolutely LOVE using escape lessons or breakout activities to make my instruction fun and engaging for my students. Earlier, I shared a blog post on how I’ve started using escape rooms in my fourth grade classroom. The post gives step-by-step directions in how to implement and
My Favorite Back to School Game
I want to share with you my new, absolute favorite, back to school game. However, before I share the game, I need to give a little background...
My husband and I went on a cruise where there was a game showed called The Quest. We had no clue what we were getting into, but
End of the Year Escape
As the end of the school year draws closer, I'm constantly looking for new ways to keep my students motivated and engaged. Last week I shared a blog post on how I've started using escape rooms in my fourth grade classroom. The post gives step-by-step directions in how to
A Guide to Using Escape Classrooms
Breakout classrooms and escape classrooms are continuing to grow in popularity in today's elementary classroom. I too ventured into the world of escape classrooms, and my students and I absolutely love it! I'll be real with you and acknowledge that I didn't have a smooth start,
