Category Archives for "Teaching"

Introducing Our Poetry Unit

We are currently in the middle of our poetry until and so far everyone is having a blast! Every year our students love writing poetry because it’s a totally different type of writing than they have done all year long.  In the beginning on the year up until now, we focused on narrative and essay writing.  These […]

March Madness Book Edition – Part 2

Here’s part 2 of the March Madness Book Edition! See how the books advanced and the students earned their points for their individual brackets :)

March Madness Book Edition – Part 1

At the end of March, my students took the standardized state PARCC exam for the first time. They worked SO hard for so long and I wanted to reward them with something after the exam. Enter the first annual March Madness Book Edition!

Frankenstein Compare & Contrast Project

The Common Core Standards are placing a large emphasis on comparing and contrasting in the Upper Elementary grades. Students are responsible for being able to compare and contrast different characters, settings, plots, and themes within a single text and across texts as well.

In order to teach these high level skills using grade level texts, students first need to learn a foundation for comparing and contrasting. This was the perfect Halloween project that allowed students to practice these foundational skills in an engaging way.

Morning Meeting with Upper Elementary Students

Every morning after the students arrive in the classroom, we designate about 10 minutes to morning meeting. Morning meeting is a really great way to start off the day. It sets a positive tone in the classroom. This year, my morning meeting is completely student run! I used morning meeting to help empower students, improve vocabulary, teach character education and build a strong classroom community.

Categorizing Character Traits in a 5th Grade Class

We’ve successfully transitioned into our Character Study unit and I’m liking the direction it’s going so far! To begin our unit, the students worked cooperatively to create a list of character traits to refer to when reading and thinking about their characters. Once the list was created, they sorted it into positive, negative, or neutral traits in order to help identify appropriate traits that match their characters.

Classroom Management Compliment Chain

I use a “compliment chain” to promote positive behavior, respect, and responsibility within my classroom. This super simple management technique has made a huge difference this year! All you need is some construction paper, marker, and a stapler and you’ll all set!

Get to Know Your Class Using Poetry and the Common Core

The first few days of school are typically spent getting to know your students through various ice breaker activities and projects. This poetry writing activity is not only engaging for all students, but it also allows you to incorporate the common core standards as well! We wrote “The Important Thing About Me” poems using “The Important Book” by Margaret Wise Brown as inspiration.

Motivating Readers Through Our Classroom Reading Challenge!

This interactive bulletin board is a great way to motivate students to read and discuss their reading with their peers. After the students finish a book, they fill out a “completed book square” to add to the bulletin board under the genre of the book they read. Included on the completed book square is the title, author, rating, and one sentence summary of the book they finished reading. They have their own personal challenge to read more books than they ever have before. So far they love it and it has been very successful!