I know the “rules” anchor charts are best made with students. It gives context when referring to the charts and provides students with ownership. I get it, but it wasn’t working for me. I didn’t want to sacrifice my students’ attention by breaking the momentum of my lesson to add to my anchor chart.

Plus, if I made them with my students, I’d have to do it twice, since I teach two groups of students. Chart paper gets expensive!

I found myself recreating everything at the end of the day. This was time-consuming and felt wasteful. I knew I had to find a way to simplify.

That’s exactly why I created this set of third and fourth grade math anchor charts—to save time, support instruction, and give students a go-to reference that students actually use. I speak from years of experience-they used these charts.

If you’re looking to upgrade your math visuals without spending hours at the easel, here’s why these anchor charts are about to become your new favorite classroom tool.

✅ 1. Covers Every Standard—Without the Stress

No more wondering if you’ve covered it all. These charts are aligned to every 3rd grade and 4th grade math standard. From operations and algebraic thinking to geometry, fractions, measurement, and base ten, every major topic is clearly laid out with age-appropriate language and visuals.

✅ 2. Print-and-Go Convenience

Forget about the markers and chart paper. These charts are designed to be ready when you are.

You get two size options for every standard:

• Large Posters (18×24) – Great for whole-class lessons. Print on 6 standard pages and tape them together or send them to a low-cost poster printer.

• Small Posters (8.5×11) – Perfect for math folders, stations, or one-on-one support.

✅ 3. Supports Visual Learners & Struggling Students

Let’s face it—math can be abstract. That’s where visuals become your best friend.

These anchor charts are clean, consistent, and easy to read. Students with reading challenges, visual processing issues, or attention difficulties benefit from seeing clear text, bold headers, and structured layouts they can return to over and over again.

✅ 4. Creates a Cohesive, Polished Math Environment

There’s something powerful about a classroom that looks put together. These anchor charts give your room that unified, intentional look—which not only helps you stay organized but also signals to students that math matters.

It’s a small change that makes a big impact.

Ready to Simplify Your Math Instruction?

These math anchor charts are the kind of resource you’ll use every day. And best of all? Once you print them, you’re set for years to come.

Click on what you need to grab your set now and give your students the consistent support they need to succeed in math.

3rd Grade Math Anchor Charts

4th Grade Math Anchor Charts

I had a lot of request for other subjects, so here’s more of what you may need!

Reading Anchor Charts

Social Studies Anchor Charts

Science Anchor Charts

Let’s make math visual, accessible, and a whole lot easier—for everyone.

The post My Math Anchor Chart Hack appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

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I image you only see this on days that end in Y. (My students never get that joke.)

This is a common problem in the classroom, and it appears to be getting worse. While I don’t think we can ever completely eliminate this lack of listening and following directions, there are steps we can take to help students become more independent.

I post this chart in my classroom, but I don’t stop at hanging it up. We discuss and practice each strategy. Then, I refer to it when students ask questions that indicate learned helplessness or lack of initiative. I don’t do this because I don’t want to help students or to prove a point. I do it to support students in becoming independent and confident in their ability to problem solve-not just academically but in day-to-day life.

Read the Room

Reading the room is a social skill that helps students understand the dynamics of a situation and adjust their behavior to fit in to those dynamics. It includes observing classmates body language, conversations, and the general atmosphere.

You can help students practice reading the room by creating scenarios for groups of students to act out-taking a test, playing a game, independent reading, etc. Have the audience (who doesn’t know the scenario) explain what they should do if they entered the classroom without hearing directions or knowing exactly what was going on.

You can also help students individually. For example, if you have a student who struggles with this instead of telling them what to do, quietly guide them into leading questions on reading the room.

I like to use the following for practice reading the room. In one example students are given scenarios and describe how they would read the room. In the other example, I display popular memes and have students describe what the facial expressions communicate.

You can download the practice activities here.

Look at Charts

Using charts can help with both academics and procedures. Almost everything in my classroom serves a purpose and is intentionally displayed.

Of course not all questions can be answered by these charts, but they do give students a good starting place. Many times if students see an example, their memory is activated.

A lot of times most of what is display in my classroom is based upon my students’ most frequent questions or areas of confusion. Let their needs guide you.

Look at the Screen

I like to display detailed directions on my big classroom screen. This can be something as simple as Google Slides, or you can get fancy with something like Classroom Screens.

I haven’t fully learned Classroom Screen, so I can share about it as an expert. I’m still in the learning phase!

Read the directions

It sounds simple, but it’s often skipped. The primary way I teach this is to redirect students when they ask a question with easily accessible directions. Rather than giving the answer, I direct students to where the answer to the question is located. This is typically more time consuming that giving students what they need, but we need to think big picture.

It’s important to remember that there are situations where the student may not be able to read the directions, or when students truly don’t understand the directions. That’s a different situation and will likely need modifications that will depend on the individual. Some may benefit from visual checklists, nonverbal cues, and other scaffolded resources.

Hopefully these ideas help you and your students out!

The post Solving “I Don’t Know What To Do” appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

For the most part, my classroom runs smoothly. When working with students, I’m flexible, accommodating, and choose my battles carefully. But, there are some things that absolutely drive me up the wall.

This year I’m going to use these teacher pet peeves as part of my back to school procedural lessons. I’ll keep it light and silly, but I do want to put them out there to help students adapt to the culture of the classroom. (BTW-This chart is in my house, not my classroom).

My Top 10 Teacher Pet Peeves

In this post, I’ve shared my top ten teacher pet peeves. But, I don’t want to complain for the sake of complaining. I’ve also shared strategies I’ve used to reduce these issues.

1. Asking a question that has literally JUST been answered

This is my absolutely my top, and it’s the one that occurs most frequently. I totally and completely understand that some students struggle to pay attention. I know I do! But, I can give a direction five times, include written directions and examples on an assignment, and display directions on my classroom screen, and I can almost guarantee that someone will ask, “What do we do…”.

I want to clarify that this is not talking about students who are confused with content or even organizing thoughts. I can work with that all day. That’s completely different from having students expect to be individually told the directions.

I’m a strong advocate for teaching students how to be independent and self-reliant, so I teach students what to do when they are stuck, confused, or generally have no idea what to do. I don’t expect them to walk in the door with those skills, so I will make that part of my instruction.

You can see this blog post for how to teach students these skills.

2. Not Taking Responsibility

Children, and some adults, have a way of wanting to pass the blame. I want my students to learn to take responsibility for their actions.

If I catch a student doing something wrong, I do not want to hear, “But he did it first” or “But she told me to”. I teach students that’s not okay in my classroom. If you did it, own up to it.

I also don’t let my students place the blame on their parents. Far too often children try to make their parents responsible for things that are completely age-appropriate, “But my mom didn’t remind me to do my homework” or “My dad didn’t check my backpack”.

Of course, some things are outside students’ control, and I’m not talking about those things. I’ll be the first to admit that I have thrown away my own children’s homework, so I get that it happens. These are things that are within their control.

3. Not Giving Best Effort

There are few things more frustrating than seeing a student not reach their potential due to them choosing to not put much effort into their work. Apathetic students are typically not self-motivated and often cause disruptions to those that are trying to learn.

There can be various reasons why a student may not be putting in the effort they are capable of. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Some students don’t try because they feel as if they can’t succeed, so there is no point in trying.
• Some students don’t try because they are afraid of trying and failing. Many time perfectionist don’t want to put in effort if they feel like they can’t do something perfectly.
• Students may not see the value or relevance of the work they are being asked to do.
• Students may have personal issues or challenges outside of school, which commonly impact school performance and behavior.

I try to understand the reasons behind low effort and work with students to address any underlying issues. When I understand the bigger picture, I can provide more support for the student.

I do believe some students give minimal effort because they just want to be finished. Somehow they have developed a mindset of I can play as soon as I complete my work, so let me rush through it as fast as I can. It takes me months to undo this mindset.

4. Exclusiveness

We all know that being excluded hurts. It breaks my heart to hear, “You can’t join” or “Don’t sit here.” or “I’m saving this seat” or “I already have a partner”.  It also hurts to see children hurt listening to classmates talk about sleepovers and birthday parties they weren’t invited to.

I get it. Students are not always going to be friends with all of their classmates. Sometimes they can’t invite everyone to a party. It’s reality, but I can’t allow intentional exclusiveness in the classroom.

At the beginning of the year I try to closely observe the social dynamics of my new class. It’s easy to forget that these are young children who are still learning to navigate complex social structures. It’s why I always start the year with this resource that helps teach social skills. For most students, an awareness is all that it takes.

It’s also why I love these partner cards! I bought the cards last year, and my students LOVED them. My students were able to articulate how stressful it was when they needed to find a partner in class. This took the stress out of the equation.

5. Arguing and Back Talk

I do not argue with students or allow back talk. We are all going to have students who try to test their limits and push our buttons with arguing and back talk. When that happens, do not engage.

Some students are truly not aware of how argumentative they sound. You may need to teach appropriate responses for different situations. For example, if I tell Joey to close the game on his Chromebook, how should he respond?  You can even make a chart of responses.

When a student argues or back talks, don’t take the bait and argue back or show frustration. Stay calm and to the point. Then, move on. In the moment, it’s typically not a good time to have a conversation about the issue.

When the child’s emotions are regulated, we may have a conversation about the situation. That’s when we can begin to get to the root of the problem and alternative responses. You can teach a lot during these informal chats-tone, body language, timing, etc.

6. Whining and Baby Talk

Baby talk is like nails on a chalkboard. To be clear, I am not talking about speech issues. Apparently this is a trend that has extended as far as high school. I also don’t put up with a lot of whining. I’m not talking about isolated incidents. I’m talking about students who moan about having to do work-every single day. When this happens I usually give “the look” and have students try again.

We do have conversations about asking “why”. It’s often a valid question, but I do teach students when and how to appropriately ask why. I also explain that there could be emergency situations where I need directions followed immediately and don’t have time to explain why. These conversations are powerful, because it helps students to see things from a bigger picture or a different angle.

7. Attention Seekers

Have you ever taught a student who needed to be the absolute center of attention, at all times? It’s exhausting and unfair to the other students. I always read The Invisible Boy to illustrate how this makes others feel.

Some students need more attention that others, and I want to provide them with what they need. However, once again, students have to be taught how to appropriately seek attention and what behaviors to avoid. Many times a student so desperately seeks attention, it results in them pushing away their classmates, which exacerbates the problem.

8. Helplessness

Academic learned helplessness isn’t new. I wouldn’t even call it a teacher pet peeve. It’s more of a concern, because it impairs students academically. In fact, I wrote a blog post that focuses on learned helplessness, which you can find here. The post discusses the importance of productive struggle and how to help students learn to utilize the resources in place for the extra help they may need.

What I’m seeing now is learned helplessness with executive functioning. To be clear, this is different from students who can’t or aren’t equipped to perform these executive functioning actions (yet). This is more along the line of not getting a new pencil if your current pencil breaks, not picking up a jacket after recess after being reminded, not being able to log in to a website (that has the username and password stored), not attempting to clean up a mess, not turning in a field trip form, etc.

Learned helplessness develops when children perceive that they can’t do thing on their own. Eventually, they determine it’s easier if someone else just does it all for them, which decreases their independence. This is why it’s critical that children learn to complete tasks on their own. I recently read an article by Ryan Wexelblatt who stated:

Kids who are diagnosed with ADHD and related challenges need to be taught concrete strategies to help them develop their executive functioning and reach a level of age-expected independence. They need repetition, consistency and most importantly, they need the ability to learn from their mistakes.

Regardless of your good intentions, if you are acting as your child’s executive functioning and not placing any demands on your child aside from academic performance you are inhibiting his or her ability to develop their executive function skills. If you can provide your child with “kid-friendly” strategies to help them improve their executive functioning and move towards independence you are preparing them for future success. I use the term “kid-friendly” because I find many executive functioning strategies are not practical because they are not designed for this generation of visual learners.

My goal for this school year is to find or develop more kid friendly strategies that can be used in the classroom.

9. Interruptions

Why is it so hard to recover after an interruption? I can be right in the middle of a great lesson. The momentum is going, and everyone’s engaged, and the smallest interruption can derail everything. After over 20 years in the classroom, I realize it can’t be avoided. We’re in the real world, and it comes with the territory. However, there are things we can do to minimize interruptions.

At the beginning of the year, I explicitly teach procedures on potential interruptions such as when to sharpen pencils or leaving for the restroom. We also discuss what types issues justify interrupting small group instruction. You need a sip of water-no. You are missing cards required for a sort-yes.

I never want to be a teacher who squelches a child’s spirit, so I’m careful with how I react to questions and comments not relevant to the lesson. How I respond typically depends of the child and the situation. Sometimes I may say something like, “Wow! That’s awesome! I can’t wait for you to tell me about it at recess.” Sometimes I may simply say, “Great, let’s save that for later so we an keep on track.”

Some interruptions are unavoidable. We’re required to keep our doors locked and closed, so I cannot count the number of knocks I hear in the day. It’s unreal.

10. Wastefulness

I pay for a lot of what we use in the classroom, and it really bothers me to see students wasting resources for no good reason. They may pull off the eraser on their pencils, break pencils, cut up erasers, stab erasers with their pencils (my son insists that this is fun), or pour glue on their hands. There can also be careless behaviors such as not putting lids back on glue sticks or the caps on markers that cause waste. Some students go through boxes of crayons like candy or lose their earbuds daily.

This is an issue that I am conflicted on how to best solve, because I see it from different perspectives. I know I can get these supplies donated, and I could just continuously distribute them as needed. But, I worry that I’m enabling wasteful behavior. On the other hand, I never want a student’s academics to suffer, so I don’t want to ever keep them from an activity because of a supply issue. Right now, I handle this on a case by case basis.

Student Pet Peeves

I’m all for fairness, so while teachers may have their teacher pet peeves, students have their own pet peeves! As a part of my open house activity, I’m going to have students one of their pet peeves.

I’m not certain what I’ll discover, but I anticipate a few things.  I’m anxious to see how accurate these predictions are.

• Homework
• When one student gets in trouble for something but another student does it and doesn’t get in trouble
• Being late to lunch or recess
• Whole class consequences
• People going through their things

Isolated none of the above would be too bad. It’s the sheer volume and frequency of all of the above on a daily basis. On top of actually teaching that makes them so frustrating. Hopefully, some of these tips will reduce your frustrations. I’ve also starting a blog series that takes a deep look at solutions to each of these issues. The first one is ready to go!

The post Teacher Pet Peeves appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

If yes, keep reading.

You’ll see that this article is full of contradictions. That’s appropriate, because teaching is full of contradictions. Differentiate for your students, but they will all be taking the same standardized test. Be sure to practice self-care, but don’t take any time off of work or try to leave early. Meet your students where they are, but stick to the curriculum map. You get the point. You’ll soon see that finding and maintaining a balance is your key to success.

I write this as a former first year teacher, a new(er) teacher who changed grade levels, and a veteran teacher who changed schools. Over the years, I’ve seen many new teachers, some who have flourished and some who have floundered. I’ve taken my own experiences and observations to share my best (and brutally honest) advice for new teachers.

Be Yourself but Be Open to Change

It is okay to be different. You don’t have to be like everyone else or do things like everyone else. After 14 years in one school, I transferred to a different school, and I felt like I did not fit into the existing mold. My personal style was just…different.

Guess what? It was okay. You don’t have to be just like everyone else. That’s what keeps life interesting. My coworkers became some of my most influential role models and biggest supporters.

That being said, don’t expect everyone to do things your way either. Just as students won’t all fit into the same mold, neither will teachers. And always remember, it doesn’t make one teacher better than the other.

While it’s okay to be different, keep an open mind and be willing to change and grow. The best teachers are always looking for ways to improve. You may be surprised to see how much you can learn from your coworkers.

Avoid Negativity but Be Able to Listen

Try to surround yourself with positive coworkers. Negativity will suck you in and drown your enthusiasm and optimism. If you find yourself in a complaint or gossip session, think of something “pressing” you need to do and remove yourself. Do not engage.

However, there’s a difference between toxic negativity and venting. At some point, you will likely vent to a coworker and a coworker will vent to you. Be ready to listen and to discern whether you need to simply listen, offer encouragement, or work together to find solutions. Always keep what was said in confidence.

Find a way to laugh-many times it’s either laugh or cry. Remember that some things are outside of your control. Try not to dwell on those things and focus on the things you can control.

School Procedures Before Classroom Procedures

Every organization has its own culture and way of doing things. I think of those as the unstated rules, procedures, or expectations, and it’s important to learn about these procedures before you plan your own. There are few things more annoying that having to completely redo your plans or recreate what you’ve made due to policies you weren’t aware of. For instance, you have your whole morning routine ready, but then on the first day of school you learn that students take their breakfast to the classroom to eat, which changes everything.

Ideally, every school will provide new teachers with this information, but that’s not always the case. You may need to reach out to your administration, coach, or a coworker for this. It may seem trivial right now, but this is the type of thing that will exhaust you! Here are things to consider:

• Arrival Procedures
• Dismissal Procedures
• Transportation Changes
• Attendance
• Lunch Count
• Staff Sign-In
• Lock Down Procedures
• Fire Drill Procedures
• Tornado Drill Procedures
• Accident Forms
• Office Referral
• Faculty Staff Dress Code
• Lesson Plan Expectations
• Lunchroom Procedures
• Playground Procedures
• Student Bathroom
• Receipt Procedures
• Teacher Absence
• Grading Expectations

Once you understand the school procedures, then begin working on your own classroom procedures. You can dig deeper into teaching classroom procedures here or find the resource here.

Advice For New Teaches – Organize

There’s no contradiction here. You’ve got to be organized from the start. It won’t be long until you are drowning in paperwork. Have a plan and be ready for it.

Remember, less is more. Your time is better spent purging than decorating. Many teachers who move into a new classroom inherit a lot of….stuff. You don’t have to keep it all. Before throwing anything away, determine whether the item(s) were purchased with district, school, or personal money, so you can know the correct procedure for removing items from the classroom. If there are items you’re unsure if you will use or not, find out if you have access to a storage closest or other storage area. This will allow you to declutter your classroom without losing access to resources you may later want.

Don’t get too caught up in decorating and making everything look perfect. Yes, it’s fun (for some), and you want a comfortable learning environment, but a Pintrest classroom is not a necessity. Don’t worry about going out and buying tons of things yet either. Just focus on some of the essentials. Here are some of my favorite resources.

I’ve also linked a great post with ideas for classroom organization. It can help you out when you’re getting started.

Be Structured and Be Flexible

Students thrive in a structured environment. Yes, our instruction should be novel and engaging, but there should also be a predictable pattern of the day. I know I’ve hit the mark when my class reaches a point where it could flow without my directions. When it comes to classroom management, consistency is key. Students should know exactly what is expected of them. If you tell your students you’re going to do something-do it.

Despite all your best efforts, you will be inundated changes outside of your control (typically last minute) that will almost always disrupt your schedule and routine. Be flexible and try not to let it ruin your day. Be ready to roll with the punches:  fire alarms, surprise assemblies, modified schedules for testing, picture day, an insect found in your classroom, extreme weather, surprise meetings, etc….

It’s also important to be flexible with your students. While consistency is key, you do have to keep in mind that students are dealing with their own issues and challenges. Don’t try to fit children into a one-size-fits-all mold. Sometimes you have to be flexible and not draw the line in the sand.

Advice For New Teachers – Begin With the End

Don’t wait until the year gets started to think about your plans. There are few things as exhausting as the start of the school year, and planning ahead will alleviate some of that stress. You can read about how I plan for the new school year here.

When it comes to planning, my best advice is to begin with the end in mind. Don’t start with your first units and go from there. I can almost guarantee that you’ll find yourself with far too much left to teach at the end of the school year. Instead, determine what your students need to be able to know and do by the end of the year. Definitely check out the post I linked. It’s so helpful!

Be Confident but Not Arrogant

I started my first year teaching when I was only 21. I graduated in December and took over a classroom that had run-off their teacher. I was truly thrown into the fire. A veteran teacher gave me advice for a new teacher that I took to heart, and it helped me survive the year.

She told me that when I was in my classroom, I needed to exude confidence in myself as a teacher. When I gave a direction, it’s not a request, suggestion, or a question. Make sure your tone and facial expressions convey that you mean business and that not following directions wasn’t an option.

She wasn’t telling me to be overly strict or against joking around and having a laid-back classroom. She just let me know I couldn’t appear meek, hesitant, or timid in front of my students. Many students will take advantage of perceived weakness.

Now, was I actually confident? No way! But, as far as those 4th graders know, I was in complete control over the classroom.

It’s okay to be confident outside of the classroom with your coworkers. Even though you’re new, you are bringing new ideas and energy to the school, and that’s valuable. While confidence is great, you don’t want to be arrogant. Yes, there are arrogant veteran teachers, but let’s hope those are the outliers.

The line from confident to arrogant is crossed when you begin judging or feel superior to others. Be willing to admit you don’t know something. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Recognize that “old school” isn’t necessarily bad. Veteran teachers are often willing to let you learn from their early mistakes. Listen and save yourself from making those same mistakes.

Utilize a Mentor Teacher

You may be assigned a mentor teacher or may need to develop a relationship with someone who can take on that role. Either way, don’t try to navigate your first year on your own. Ideally, you will work with someone in the same grade or subject areas. This needs to be a relationship with someone you respect and trust. You will need to have a consistent time and place to meet. Ideally, your mentee will be able to spend some time in your classroom, which of course is a challenge is s/he has his/her own classroom.

One role of a mentor is to concentrate on instructional improvement. That doesn’t mean your instruction is bad or weak! Every great teacher wants to concentrate on instructional improvement. A good mentee will also learn from you!

Some schools may utilize an academic coach for this mentorship. The advantage of this is that the coach has a more flexible schedule and can more easily spend time in your classroom. The challenge is that it’s important to work with an experienced teacher in your content area or grade level, which isn’t always feasible with a coach. You want to work with someone who has been in your shoes and has an in-depth understanding of the curriculum, standards, and challenges of that age and subject areas.

Hopefully, this advice for new teachers has given you a good starting place! You can aways reach out if you have any questions!

The post Advice for New Teachers appeared first on Ashleigh's Education Journey.

However, time is never our friend. As teachers, we know how valuable time is. We need more time to plan and develop lessons. There’s almost always a time crunch when we try to squeeze in all our lessons into the school day. Plus, there’s never enough time in the school year to properly teach all our standards.

Since time is a factor that we can’t ignore, I’ve created short, but powerful, lessons that introduce and review morphology and vocabulary content. These lessons provide a year’s worth of instruction.

Teaching Prefixes and Suffixes

Day 1-Word Matrix

A word matrix great tool for teaching prefixes and suffixes. It shows how morphemes can be combined to construct words. The prefix is on the left, a base or root word is in the center column, and the suffix is on the right. When students construct words with the matrix, the new word must contain the base word that is shown in the center of the matrix.

Each week’s word matrix consists of two root or base words. The focused prefix or suffix is included in the matrix. The additional prefixes and suffixes may be used for pre-teaching and reteaching morphemes. As you complete the matrix, the power of the activity, is in the conversations held as building words.

Day 2-Word Sort

On the second day of instruction, students are given 10-12 root or base words to sort by either prefix or suffix. Since the weekly prefixes and suffixes are grouped by meaning, this is a bit more challenging for students. For example, students may be given “opposite of allow” and determine whether they should use the prefix de- or dis-. This is also a great time to review spelling rules, because there are sometimes slight changes to the base or root word.

Day 3-Word Chains

Word chains are a lot of fun for teaching prefixes and suffixes. Each word chain starts with a base word and gives students a series of six steps to form new words using new bases, roots, prefixes, and suffixes. As students complete the word chain, they write a brief definition of each word they form. Once again, the power of this action is in the conversations held as students develop each word.

Day 4-Sentence Level Comprehension

Using the prefix or suffix of the week, students are given four thought-provoking questions that require a deep understanding of the vocabulary word. Each word is age-appropriate and are not easy enough for most elementary students to immediately recognize. Students can use the word parts to determine the meaning of each word.

Teaching Suffixes Day 5-Paragraph Comprehension

Students read a brief paragraph and identify the prefixes or suffixes in each paragraph. Then, they select three of the words they highlighted and write the meaning of that word. If you prefer, you may have students only highlight five or six words per paragraph and omit inflectional endings.

Multiple Meaning Words

In the past, I didn’t spend much, if any, time focusing on multiple meaning words. I assumed that was instinctive. How could anyone possibly confuse the bark on a tree with the bark of a dog, right??? Well, my students’ MAPS scores indicated otherwise.

After diving into MAPS data, I saw that there was a need for teaching multiple meaning words. While there is not as much time and attention given to multiple meaning words, I did want to provide consistent instruction. Plus, this has helped build my students’ vocabulary.

Day 1-Dictionaries

Students are given two dictionary entries of words with multiple meanings. For each entry, students are given three sentences and must select which meaning of the word is used for each sentence. This is also a great time to review reference skills.

Day 2-Paragraph Comprehension

Students are given two paragraphs that each include a multiple meaning word. The definitions of the multiple are listed below each paragraph. After reading the paragraph, students determine which meaning of the word was used in the paragraph. This is a great time to review parts of speech.

Teaching Multiple Meaning Words Day 3-Application

On Day 3, students write two sentences. In each sentence, students are given a multiple meaning word, and they write one sentence that uses the multiple meaning word two times to mean two different things. By the end of Day 3, students will have worked with six multiple meaning words. These are often commonly used words, so it’s feasible to cover a broader range of vocabulary.

Shades of Meaning

I love teaching shades of meaning. It helps students with their word choice in writing and drastically improves their vocabulary. I’ve noticed that it can also transfer into reading comprehension, because students have a larger schema to better understand character development, setting, and even mood. It lets students dig deeper into comprehension.

Day 4-Word Choice

Students are given four synonyms of commonly used words such as “good” or “bad”. They use their understanding of shades of meaning to determine which word best completes each of the four sentences. Some of the included synonyms are quite similar, so there may be some disagreements among best answer choices. That’s okay! There is so much power in those conversations.

Day 5-Thesaurus & Shades of Meaning

My favorite activity is on the last day. Students are given a thesaurus entry with multiple synonyms of commonly used words. They use the thesaurus entry to list six synonyms for the word in order from most intense to least intense. Once again, while some responses may have clear right and wrong answers, others may have multiple correct options.

Teaching Prefixes, Suffixes, and Multiple Meaning Words – Organization

Since the typical school year is 180 days, which is 36 weeks, this resource includes 36 weeks of vocabulary instruction. The 36 weeks are broken into three sections: prefixes, suffixes, and multiple meaning words.

• This resource is organized in two different ways. The first section is organized by prefix, suffix, and multiple meaning words.
  Pages 8-33 Prefixes
  Pages 34-60 Suffixes
  Pages 61-87 Multiple Meaning Words

I like to alternate between prefixes, suffixes, and multiple meaning words, so I created a separate file that rotates between prefixes, suffixes, and multiple meaning words. This allows you to intermix the three sections when teaching prefixes, suffixes, and multiple meaning words. You can find this vocabulary resource here.

This is by far my favorite way to teach prefixes and suffixes! If you’re looking for more ideas, be sure to check out this post.

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Adjective Acrostic

To incorporate a little art, have students write their names vertically on a piece of construction paper. If you’d rather everyone work with the same letters, you could use your school’s mascot, such as “EAGLES” or even grade level “THIRD GRADE”. Students should then write an adjective for each letter of their name that describes themselves.
Allow students to decorate their construction paper when they finish.

You can also use one of the included pre-made templates. This can save you a little time.

Adjective Wordle

Here’s another great way to integrate social studies and science with language arts, as well as integrate technology into your instruction! I use this to reinforce my habitats unit, but this can be used with almost any social studies and science topic. Have students write 15 adjectives to describe the noun being studied. For example, if we’re studying swamps, my students have to write 15 adjectives that describe a swamp. Make sure students check for spelling mistakes, because it is important that all words are spelled correctly. Students should then use a computer to create their own Wordle. Students can save their Wordle, and they can be printed to create an adorable display.

Adjective Practice

Task cards are a great way to practice and review. This can be done digitally or on paper.

There are also task cards for comparative and superlative adjectives.

A great way to review adjectives is with this Guess My Noun Game. Player One should look around the room and choose a noun that is clearly visible and write it down secretly on the back of a piece of paper. Then, Player One write an adjective in the “Adjective” column. Player Two should try to guess the noun by writing their guess underneath “Noun Guessed”. Continue the same steps until Player Two guesses the correct noun. Then, it is Player Two’s turn to identify a noun.

Adverb Charades

Adverb charades are a great way to review adverbs. Students can play this game just like they would play charades. However, instead of choosing a noun, students must choose what adverb is being acted out. Select one student to be “it” and have that student draw an adverb charade card. Show the card to the student, without letting anyone else see the card. The student should act out the adverb until another student is able to guess the adverb. The student who guesses correctly should have the next turn.

Adverb Scavenger Hunt

One option for completing this adverb scavenger hunt, is to allow students to go outside with their recording sheet to look for examples of listed adverbs. For example, if one of the adverbs is “fast”, the student should look for someone or something that is moving fast. The student would then record what they saw on the recording sheet. I really enjoy this method, because it gets students up and moving around, which helps students internalize the concept of adverbs. However, if going outside or other areas in the school is not practical for your students, provide students with a large collection of picture books. Students can then browse through the books to find examples of images of or representations of the given adverbs.

A similar activity would be when students go on an adverb search to look for examples of adverbs in books they are currently reading.

Change It Around

I like to have students practice rewriting sentences that use the description as an adverb. It’s a great way to help students think about sentence structure.

Color Coding

I love to have students color code different types of adverbs. They underline adverbs that tell where with red, adverbs that tell when with green, and adverbs that tell how with yellow.

Adverb Review

Students can review adverbs with task cards. These can be completed digitally or on paper.

After Teaching Adjectives and Adverbs

After teaching adjectives and adverbs, you can review through game-like activities.

Students also love this categories game. They use a paper clip and pencil to make a spinner. Students write the letter where the paper clip landed on the left column of the recording sheet. The student will name a word for each category that starts with the letter rolled. They roll again and repeat the same process for each row of the recording sheet.

Each of the activities (and much more) are from my Adjectives and Adverbs Unit that was written for third grade students but could be used with other grade levels. If you’d like to read more about teaching parts of speech, be sure to check out this post.

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This decimal escape activity is a math lesson your students won’t forget. To be over-the-top cheesy, some might say it’s out of this world!

In the decimal escape, students must work together to escape from outer space. To escape, students unlock a series of locks to acquire the extra fuel from the international space station. There are multiple versions of this activity to meet various classroom needs.

• One version is for a physical set-up of the activity that uses locks and boxes.
• The second version is for a hybrid digital version of the activity that does not require boxes or locks. Instead, students will enter the codes on their device through Google Forms. They use a printed version of the actual activities.
• The third version is completely digital where students solve the problems on Google Slides and enter the codes in Google Forms.

Decimal Escape-Clue 1

Students match each rocket with the corresponding astronaut. After they match the rockets with the astronauts, they will line the cards up from least to greatest. After students arrage the cards correctly, they will be able to read the clue that tells them the code to the first lock.

Clue 2

In the second part of the decimal escape activity, students determine which decimal is the largest decimal through a bracket system. They will compare each set of decimals on the bracket and record the largest decimal. Students continue until there is ONE decimal. The digits of that decimal will unlock the 4-digit lock. Your sports enthusiast will love this one!

Decimal Escape-Clue 3

Students use symbols to compare each set of decimals. The record how many of each symbol used on the recording sheet. This will give students the code for the lock. There is definitely an emphasis on comparing decimals in this escape.

Clue 4

Students solve each of the decimal fraction problems. They use the key at the bottom of the page to determine the five colors on the five color lock. This clue will give students the final code, so they can make it home!

As with all my escape room activities, there are detailed teacher directions for easy set-up and prep.

If you’d like to learn more about using escape rooms in the upper elementary classroom, be sure to check out this post. You can find this decimal escape activity here.

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This geometry escape room activity is a perfect way to end your upper elementary geometry unit!

In this activity students work together to escape from a zoo where all the animals are out of their cages. To escape, students use clues and codes to unlock a series of locks to find the key that allows them to escape the zoo.

I have included multiple versions of this geometry escape room activity to meet your classroom needs. One version is for a physical set-up of the activity, and the second version is for a digital version of the activity that does not require boxes or locks. Students enter their codes on their computer or device through Google Forms.

Clue 1

For the first clue, students complete five geometry task cards. The numbers to the correct answers are the colors for the five-color lock. If you are using the physical version (rather than Google Forms), your students will need to use the color decoder to find the colors for the lock. The task cards cover topics such as classifying triangles and the hierarchy of polygons and quadrilaterals.

Geometry Escape Room – Clue 2

In the second clue, students complete a 3-by-3 puzzle where they reconstruct the squares so that all of the images match on every interior side. Once they complete the puzzle, students use the four corner images and the decoder wheel to crack the code!

Clue 3

The next activity in the geometry escape room has students match the description of multiple shapes with the corresponding picture example on the right column. They will draw a straight line from the left dot to the right dot. The letters they do not cross out with the lines are the code for the 5-letter lock.

Geometry Escape Room – Clue 4

In the last clue, students determine how many sets of parallel lines, perpendicular lines, right angles, acute angles, and obtuse angles are in each shape. When students finish, they add the numbers together to discover the next combination.

Each of these activities require problem solving and critical thinking. They’re also FUN for students! If you’d like to learn more about implementing upper elementary escape rooms, be sure to check out this informative post.

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This measurement escape is a culminating activity for the fourth grade measurement standards. In the activity, students must work together to escape from a coral reef. To escape, students must unlock a series of locks to find their way out of the reef.

There are multiple versions of this activity to meet your classroom needs. One version is for a physical set-up of the activity, and the second version is for a digital version of the activity that does not require boxes or locks. Instead, students will enter their codes on their computer or device through Google Forms.

Clue 1

In clue 1, students find the dimensions of two rectangles. For example, one rectangle has an area of 48 square inches and a perimeter of 38 inches. This definitely requires problem solving and strategic thinking. The dimensions from the rectangle provide the code to the 4-digit lock.

Clue 2

In the second clue, students find the measure of 5 angles. In four of the angles, students will need to use a protractor to find the measure of the angle. One one of the angles, students will use their understanding of angles are additive to find the measurement. Once students find the measurements, they add the degrees of each of the angles together, and the sum is the code for the 3-digit lock. This will lead them further away from the reef.

Measurement Escape – Clue 3

In the next clue, students answer questions using a line plot describing the length of fish. After determining the answers, students use the decoder wheel to determine the colors for the 5-color lock.  If you’re using the physical version, this will open the large box for access to the small box.

Measurement Escape – Clue 4

In the last clue, students solve measurement conversions. At the bottom of clue 4, there is a code that can only be solved by using the correct conversions. The message says, “Solve the whale maze.” The whale maze gives students the code to the final lock.

This measurement escape is such a great way to end your measurement unit. If you’re new to using escape room activities and would like a little more information, be sure to check out this post. You can find this unit here.

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This shares 4 procedural reading lessons you don’t want to skip. At the start of the school year, it can be challenging to find your groove.  Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to get back into the routine.

It can also be difficult to find your starting place teaching reading. Your first few lessons of the school year are building toward your “normal” reading lessons. This post focuses on how to get started with your upper elementary reading lessons.

Guidelines of Reading Workshop

My first reading lesson of the year is Guidelines of Reading Workshop. This is typically a refresher lesson for most students, but it’s always a good review. It’s also nice to have common terminology with students. Since I teach this on the first day of school, it’s a short and sweet lesson. I follow it with a class read aloud First Day Jitters.

How to Choose a Book

On the second day of school I teach students how to choose a book and eventually let students choose their own book.

Show students how your classroom library is organized and explain the procedures in selecting a book. My procedures are: 1. only four students are allowed to select a book at a time, 2. students may only select one book at a time, 3. when students return a book, they should place it in the exact same spot and in the right direction, 4. students may only select one book during reading workshop-no switching. It is essential for students to practice placing their books back correctly, because inappropriate use of the library will cause a headache later in the year.

Before students’ independent reading time, I teach students how to log-in to EPIC. I let them select any book to read online. I don’t typically use EPIC during independent reading time, but it’s a great way for me to see what type of books students gravitate toward. While students are reading on EPIC, I let one table at a time browse the classroom library and select their first book. During this time, students begin building stamina for independent reading. After summer break, it is typically difficult for many students to read silently for long periods of time, and stamina must be built.

When You Finish a Book

This is such an important lesson. However, I feel the need to throw in a disclaimer. You will need to adapt this to your own classroom and students. We’re all in different settings and situations, so make it work for YOU. I’ve shared what I do to give you a starting place and ideas that you may want to implement.

Holding students accountable for their independent reading has always been a challenge for reading workshop. Many of us love reading and would do almost anything for uninterrupted reading time, but some of our students aren’t there….yet. The goal is to get our readers to the point where they no longer avoid reading. But, the students who struggle most with reading are the ones who work diligently to avoid it.

24 Book Challenge

For a reading bulletin board, I set up a 24 book challenge. I originally wanted a 40 book challenge as mentioned in the amazing Book Whisperer. However, I found that 40 was overwhelming for students. I always avoid stress, so I stepped back a little.

I customize a “poster” for each student. As students finish a book, they add a sticker to their poster. The goals is to finish 24 books by the end of the year, with a few required genres.

Being that I like to create completely unnecessary work for myself, I print images of the covers of books on stickers for students. It would be much easier to use different colors and color code different genres. I’d love to share my already made labels with you, but I’m fairly confident that would be violating a lot of copyright rules.

You can download the poster and label here. You can use any font for your students’ names. I used APL Type A Teacher.

It’s hard to think of many reading topics more controversial than Accelerated Reader and similar reading programs. As with most things, it all depends on how it’s implemented. Below are a few things to consider.

• We don’t want our students only reading for points or extrinsic rewards and inadvertently send the message that reading isn’t fun.
• We don’t want our students to not read a book, simply because it’s not AR.
• Avoid limiting students’ level of comprehension to the type of AR questions students encounter.
• It’s important to never turn reading into a chore or punishment.
• Students will learn how to work the system.

All that being said, I can still see some benefits. With larger and larger class sizes and and less and less time, it’s hard to consistently meet with all students individually. I want to …. I really do, but it’s not always feasible. That’s where I see the value of AR or something similar such as Read N Quiz. I use this as a tool to hold students accountable during their independent reading time.

If a student fails a test, I don’t make it a big deal. I use that information to make sure I carve out time to meet the student and discuss the book. There’s a possibility that the student did comprehend the text but didn’t do well on the test. However, there is a possibility that the student needs support in choosing a just right book because the book was far too challenging. There’s also the possibility that the student was pretend reading and more or less turning pages during their reading time without actually thinking about the text. This is when we dig-in and begin to understand the student as a reader.

Whatever your routine is, make sure that you clearly communicate it with students. Otherwise, you’ll constantly hear, “I’m finished!” which is not productive.

Status of the Class

At least once a week, I check in with each student and record the book they are reading. We have a brief conversation about the book, so I can make sure the student understands what they are reading. This also allows me to see if my students are finishing books and how long it is taking them to read a book. If I have a student spend six weeks on one book, then something’s wrong, and we discuss the situation. It’s a highly effective and simple reading accountability tool. This form is also found in my first reading unit.

I keep my status of the class forms in my teacher binder. This is on the immediately behind each student’s data/reading profile sheet.

After these lessons, I’m ready to move to more academic content, which I’ll share about soon.

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