The Blog
10 Morning Meeting Read Aloud Activities
Anyone else a picture book collector? I love accumulating picture books to use in my classroom, and I love using them for my morning meeting read alouds. Using picture books during morning meeting provides a great opportunity to build relationships…
How to BEST Utilize Your Classroom Parent Volunteers
I have always been fortunate to work at schools where parents want to volunteer! I was tickled pink that I had so many classroom parent volunteers who wanted to join, but I also wanted to make sure I was using…
Math Tips To Start The Year Strong
Last week I shared literacy tips and ideas to help you start the new school year strong, so today I’m sharing similar math tips. I find that a little bit of prep and planning now saves me so much time…
Literacy Tips To Start The Year Strong
Each summer I spend time reflecting on the previous year and thinking about changes I’ll make when back to school time rolls around again. Of course I spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying summer break, but I personally…
Professional Development Books for Teachers
Looking for a summer reading list of professional development books for teachers? Maybe you are looking for some new teaching ideas or need a crash course in classroom management. Or you might want to hear some inspiring tales to remind…
Language Skill Activities: How to Teach Conjunctions, Interjections, Articles, and Prepositions
Will you think I’m a huge nerd if I tell you how much I love teaching language skills to my upper elementary students?! Language skills and rules for conjunctions, interjections, articles, and prepositional phrases are the “math” behind writing. Teaching…
Amazing Reading Skill Videos
Sometimes the best way to review or practice reading skills is through video. That might sound a little counterintuitive, but when we are helping our students master reading skills it can be helpful to make connections between those skills and…
Graphic Novel Lists for Upper Elementary
It always seems like the graphic novel shelf in my elementary classroom is empty because my students are avid readers of this genre. It’s easy to see why students love them… graphic novels are fun, engaging, and often make reading…
Amazon Classroom Favorites
It’s no secret that a love of school supplies is one major requirement for becoming a teacher, so the question of must-have items for upper elementary always leads to great answers in our FREE Inspired In Upper Elementary Facebook group….
Comparing and Contrasting Texts: Why it’s Important and How to Teach It
If you think of comparing and contrasting as looking for differences between an apple and an orange, it seems like a pretty easy skill! In fact, that’s exactly how I teach students about the essential skill of comparing and contrasting….
Teacher Appreciation Task Card Giveaway
We’re halfway through Teacher Appreciation Week, and I hope you are feeling super appreciated by now. I’m hoping to add to that by giving away TASK CARDS today! It’s no secret how much I love task cards, and today’s giveaway…
Last Week of School Lesson Plans
I can’t believe we are nearing the last week of school, but I’m already finalizing my end of the school year plans. We have put state testing behind us (yay!), so I love to incorporate several super engaging but educational…
