The Blog
How To Teach Commonly Confused Words in Upper Elementary
Even though upper elementary students have been introduced to homophones in earlier grades, many students (and let’s be honest… adults too!) still struggle to correctly use and understand commonly confused words. Explicit instruction, numerous examples, and additional opportunities to practice…
Teaching Volume with Hands-On Activities
Teaching volume is one of my absolute favorite math units, and I can’t believe I have never written about it before! When I taught 5th grade math, volume always came later in the year when fatigue was starting to set…
Creative and Educational Time Fillers: No More Wasted Minutes
There are few things more frustrating than wasted time in the classroom. All those little five and then minute breaks can really add up, and bored students can often become mischievous students. Whether it’s staggered time as students get logged…
Spring In Upper Elementary: St. Patrick’s Day Activities, Conference Tips, and Test Prep Ideas Too!
After all the snow that so much of the U.S. has been dealing with, is anyone else ready to dream about spring?? Here’s a round up of my favorite upper elementary St. Patrick’s Day activities, conference tips, and test prep…
Teaching Fractions: How to Make Math Meaningful
Teaching fractions in upper elementary can be overwhelming because there are SO MANY concepts to cover. Simplifying fractions, equivalent fractions, fractions on a number line, comparing fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers, converting fractions to decimals, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing…….
Thoughtful Tips for How To Select Novels in Upper Elementary
I love reading chapter books with my class and digging deep into comprehension through novel study. Teachers often ask me for book suggestions, so I wrote this recent post with my favorite upper elementary books. I wanted to take that…
Creative Distance Learning Valentine Activities
With so many students in digital or hybrid models, teachers are once again showing off their flexibility and creativity by creating unique classroom celebrations. There was a great brainstorming thread In our FREE Inspired in Upper Elementary Facebook group, full…
The Complete Guide to Teaching Prefixes and Suffixes
Once students reach upper elementary, they have a lot of decoding strategies in their reading toolbox. At this point, many students have mastered decoding and have many tools in their decoding toolbox. As texts become more complex, introducing new vocabulary…
Must-Read Novels and Engaging Reading Response Activities for Any Book
I am a big believer in having kids respond to reading with thoughtful, defensible, evidence-based responses. Finding high-interest novels that my students will enjoy for independent reading, small groups, and read alouds is an important piece of that puzzle. Here’s a…
The Best Digital Learning Resources to Enhance Your Instruction
With so many schools one-to-one (even before distance learning!), technology has evolved quickly to offer teachers, students, and families a lot of educational options. The variety of educational apps, websites, and resources can become overwhelming! Here’s a roundup of my…
Thanksgiving Lesson Plans for Big Kids
If you’re looking for Thanksgiving lesson plans for math and literacy, I have some great ideas to share with you today! The week before Thanksgiving is such a fun time to learn more about your students, their families, and their…
Tips for Teaching Multiplication Facts
Multiplication Facts. They are the backbone of so many skills beyond third grade, and yet, students continue to struggle with them well into 4th and 5th grade. We teach students ways to show multiplication, we show them all the strategies,…
