Have you ever had your students set up your classroom library? I know, it was a scary thought for me too. Then I realized that it would be a great learning experience! My students do a genre sort activity during the first week of school. While the students are out of the … [Read more...] about Genre Sort Activity
Uncategorized
Control the Paper Chaos
Have you ever found yourself under a mound of papers? Do you feel as though your teacher desk is just completely covered in student work and meeting agendas and forms? I know the feeling. Here are some tips for tackling that giant pile. Letter Trays One issue I ran into was so much paperwork … [Read more...] about Control the Paper Chaos
Article of the Week
One part of my Social Studies curriculum was to incorporate current events into our classroom. However, I wanted my students to have the opportunity to think about and research topics that truly interested them. We incorporated Article of the Week. For homework, students would find an … [Read more...] about Article of the Week
Making Novel Studies Engaging
Novel studies are a great way to teach reading in the upper elementary grades. However, they can also make or break a reader. If you, as the teacher, build engagement and enthusiasm amongst your students, a novel study can be an amazing experience. Here are a few tips to making the … [Read more...] about Making Novel Studies Engaging
Graduation Gift
I had a high-school graduation party to go to over the weekend. It was a special one for me. I started baby-sitting this young man about 15 years ago. Fast-forward a few years and he is now my nephew! My husband is the youngest in his family (by a lot!) so I inherited 12 … [Read more...] about Graduation Gift
Moving Up Grade Levels?
When I taught second grade, my previous students would always ask me if I would ever change grade levels. I would tell them no, because second graders were the only kids in the school shorter than me. Fifth graders are too tall! Totally not the reason, but they got a kick out of … [Read more...] about Moving Up Grade Levels?