Changing grade levels is difficult. I still remember crying my eyes out the first time I had to change grade levels. It was devastating! It’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts, resources, and articles to find just what you need to get started. I know how much of a
Teaching Addition and Subtraction
When you teach upper elementary math, teaching addition and subtraction can be....awkward. Generally speaking, your students already understand the concept. Whether you want them to or not, they know and use the standard algorithm. It's easy to question what to focus on within
Introducing Fraction Concepts
Fractions are a critical concept for upper elementary students, and fractions are a topic that often present some difficulty for students. Fortunately, there are MANY ways to make fractions meaningful and fun for students. In this post, I'll share some of my favorite strategies
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
Upper Elementary Math Centers
Whenever I talk to other upper elementary teachers I find that math centers are something teachers either love or hate. There is rarely ever any middle ground when it comes to math centers. When I first started teaching, I tried centers and failed miserably. I didn't use them at
Upper Elementary Vocabulary Instruction
"Vocabulary is the best single indicator of intellectual ability and an accurate predictor of success at school" - W.B. Ellet.
As a reading teacher, this quote certainly hits home. These are such powerful words concerning the importance of upper elementary vocabulary
Teaching Grammar and Parts of Speech
Grammar appears to be a subject that teachers either love or hate to teach. There are also a lot of polarizing opinions on how to teach grammar. Some say it should only be taught in the context of writing instruction, while others believe in a daily grammar block. The purpose of
Teaching Geometry in Upper Elementary
Geometry is typically the one topic in math I run out of time to teach thoroughly. While I certainly believe it's an important topic, I do place my greatest emphasis on my standards that incorporate number sense and operations. With that shortened time frame, I have to make sure
Upper Elementary Guided Reading Groups
When it comes to teaching upper elementary, guided reading groups are one of the most complex areas of planning and instruction. I still remember when I first started teaching thinking, "Okay, I have my groups. Now what do I do?" Hopefully, this blog post will be helpful to
Upper Elementary Independent Reading
My entire teaching career, I've known nothing but reading workshop and guided reading. I've never had a reading series to use, so I've spent an absurd amount of time researching and testing various reading resources, so I could implement that best strategies and practices for my
