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Anchor Charts | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Math | Math Anchor Charts | Novel Study | Novel Study | Novels & Picture Books

Ratios and Mysteries!

Sometimes I’m hesitant to post anchor charts because I don’t have a ton of information or activities to go with them, but I thought I’d go for it anyway!  These are two that we have done this week as we…
READ POST Ratios and Mysteries!
Fiction comprehension anchor charts, foldable notes, and practice activities for upper elementary. Includes book list and questions too!
Literacy | Anchor Charts | Comprehension | Free | Literacy Anchor Charts | Reading Skills

Fiction Comprehension

We spent a few days before state testing doing some quick review activities for answering fiction comprehension questions.  We had spent A LOT of time on nonfiction comprehension over the past several months, but I wanted to be sure we…
READ POST Fiction Comprehension
Figurative language review for similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, idioms and more for upper elementary students.
Task Cards | Anchor Charts | Free | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Using Pictures to Teach | Writing

Figurative Language Review

I have been trying to write this post for two weeks now!  Between home, school and a few new resources I have been working on, I haven’t had a spare second.  So, here’s what we did for our figurative language…
READ POST Figurative Language Review
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Anchor Charts | Classroom | Classroom Organization

Anchor Chart Storage Solutions

Happy Sunday, and welcome to another month of Bright Ideas!  I am teaming up with Shelly at Teaching in the Early Years as well as over 150 other bloggers to bring you a monthly “bright idea.” I’m a little bit sheepish…
READ POST Anchor Chart Storage Solutions
Upper Elementary point of view teaching ideas, anchor charts, and practice activities. Includes several FREE resources too.
Literacy | Anchor Charts | Literacy Anchor Charts | Reading Skills | Task Cards | Using Pictures to Teach

Teaching Point of View

I absolutely love teaching point of view! We have been busy working on point of view, and most specifically, on how an author’s point of view impacts how a story is written or told.  I loved some of the activities…
READ POST Teaching Point of View
Summarizing Paraphrasing Quoting
Anchor Charts | Informational Texts | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Reading Skills

Easy ways to teach students Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Texts

Teaching students the difference between summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting texts is such an incredibly crucial skill. We are SO close to finishing our nonfiction unit, and I’m looking forward to jumping back into novel studies.  My students are slowly growing…
READ POST Easy ways to teach students Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Texts
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Literacy | Using Pictures to Teach

Tell Me a Story Tuesday!

It has been a while since I have featured a Tell Me a Story Tuesday post around here!  I made a copy for each study and had them glue it in the center of a large piece of construction paper….
READ POST Tell Me a Story Tuesday!
NonfictionProjects
Free | Informational Texts | Literacy | Projects | Reading Skills

Informational Text Structures & Features Cumulative Assignment

Last week, we finished our final project for our nonfiction text features and structures study.  Now, we are working on summarizing nonfiction and making inferences from nonfiction.  I’m having to get quite creative in order to keep my kids engaged…
READ POST Informational Text Structures & Features Cumulative Assignment
NonfictionSummaries
Anchor Charts | Informational Texts | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts

Nonfiction Summaries

I’m popping in to share an activity I did to get kids thinking about summarizing nonfiction texts.  I got this idea from the fantastic Kristine Nannini at Young Teacher Love.  She blogged about their classroom anchor chart where they discussed…
READ POST Nonfiction Summaries
This post includes anchor charts and practice activities for multiplying and dividing fractions word problems in upper elementary.
Anchor Charts | Fractions | Math | Math Anchor Charts

Making Sense of Multiplying and Dividing Fractions Word Problems

If you teach the upper grades, you likely know how maddening it is to try to teach your students the difference between a multiplication word problem and a division word problem when it comes to fractions. Everything we have taught…
READ POST Making Sense of Multiplying and Dividing Fractions Word Problems
A collection of simple and short ideas to increase critical thinking and creativity in the upper elementary classroom.
Classroom | Classroom Management | Critical Thinking

How to Increase Critical Thinking and Creativity in your “Spare Time”

We all know that our students need time to cultivate their minds for critical and creative thinking, but knowing how to increase critical thinking can be tricky.  I struggle to find time to fit these types of activities in to…
READ POST How to Increase Critical Thinking and Creativity in your “Spare Time”
Upper elementary ideas for teaching informational text structures with anchor chart, interactive notebooks, task cards, assessments and more.
Task Cards | Anchor Charts | Free | Informational Texts | Literacy | Literacy Anchor Charts | Reading Skills

Informational Text Structures

I have spent the past week working on Informational Text Structures with my 5th graders.  I was shocked to discover that this was almost an entirely new concept for them, so we did several fun little activities to solidify the…
READ POST Informational Text Structures

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I’m Mary

Welcome to my blog! I started blogging in 2011 and have amassed hundreds of posts full of engaging, research-based, and classroom-tested teaching ideas. Enjoy exploring!

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🍂👻 The leaves are changing, so it’s the perfect ti 🍂👻 The leaves are changing, so it’s the perfect time to share THREE of my FAVORITE fall picture book lessons, and they are PACKED with meaningful reading comprehension skills and can be adapted for a huge range of grade levels. These are tried and true lessons that I’ve used in my classroom and absolutely LOVE! 🧡

🍂 Comment below, and I’ll send you the links to more info about all three lessons, including the FREE printable for the Leaf Peeps.

I LOVE pairing picture books that share similar themes, and I’ve come up with MANY different paired sets. It’s research-based and gives students opportunities to compare characters, analyze how different authors develop similar ideas, and make connections across texts—all while keeping fun, seasonal themes with authentic texts!

Here are the three lessons I’ve been LOVING over the past few years:

🍁 The Leaf Peeps: We read four adorable leaf-themed books and compare their topics, themes, and important life lessons. These books pair together extraordinarily well and work well anytime between now and Thanksgiving. BONUS: I have a FREE lesson guide and reflection for this one!

👻 Gustavo’s World: You can use any combo of these books, and the kids just love them. We explore character traits, character change, and theme with these sweet spooky stories. Then students create their own characters (with Play-Doh!) and imagine a new book for the collection!

🎃 Stand Out: We pair Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden, Beatrice Likes the Dark, and The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt to explore what it means to stand out and embrace our differences. The discussions are SO good, and the lessons behind the books are so impactful!

These are the kinds of lessons I always LOVE most. Simple to prep, rich in discussion, and full of opportunities for students to think deeply about what they’re reading AND grow as little human beings. 💗
Picture books are one of my FAVORITE ways to teach Picture books are one of my FAVORITE ways to teach character development skills in upper elementary, and these are some of the very, very BEST! 📚❤️

Every week (and sometimes more often), I use a carefully selected picture book to help my students explore some big personal growth concepts! I incorporate books about everything from managing big emotions and navigating friendships to embracing differences, building confidence, and working through challenges. 🫶 

I love how a single picture book can lead to some of the most meaningful conversations we have all week!

I’ve rounded up several of my favorites, along with a specific learning objective for each one, so you can see exactly how I use them in my classroom.

And YES, picture books absolutely belong in upper elementary classrooms! 🥰

Which of these have you read with your students? Any favorites I need to add to my collection?
Can I tell you about one of my FAVORITE types of n Can I tell you about one of my FAVORITE types of novels to teach (I mean, if you know me, you know they are ALL my favorite, but this type is a ✨ students ✨ favorite — and not just while you’re teaching poetry)!📚🩷

🥁 Novels in verse! If you haven’t tried teaching one with your upper elementary kiddos yet, this is your sign.

I’ve found they’re the perfect way to get my readers to actually SLOW DOWN and pay close attention to the text — what’s said and what’s left unsaid. When there are only a handful of words on a page, every single word has a job to do. A line break changes everything. A word sitting all by itself on the page? Figurative phrases that tell more than an entire paragraph alone could? There’s a reason the author made every single choice. 

🌟 And for teaching inference? Oh my goodness. So much is left unsaid in these books. Truly, so much. My students have to piece together what a character is feeling from tiny details, and the conversations we have are AMAZING.

I just put together a whole blog post with everything I love about teaching them, my favorite titles for grades 4, 5, and 6+, and a giant list of annotation ideas you can use right away. 🎉 Comment below, and I’ll send the info your way!
Book beads ➡️ Book Lanyards ⭐️ No matter which one Book beads ➡️ Book Lanyards ⭐️ No matter which one you choose, your kids are going to love this reading celebration!! 🥰 

Comment below, and I’ll send you all the info or both options!
❇️ I have a few must-have anchor charts in my clas ❇️ I have a few must-have anchor charts in my classroom each year, and these are two of them! 🚨 BUT, I don’t just hang them up and go. It’s so important to spend time teaching my students how to use the prompts in their reading responses, how to develop their questions using each prompt, and discussing how to answer each type of prompt. 

Once students are familiar with how to use the prompts, they are able to have so much ownership over their reading response while also thinking critically about the book or chapter being discussed!

🎉🎉Comment below, and I’ll send you a link to three free sets of reading response resources and my favorite reading response task cards!
You won’t ever catch me in an ELA teaching positio You won’t ever catch me in an ELA teaching position where I’m not teaching word parts. 🩷💚 I believe wholeheartedly in the value of teaching morphology, especially in the upper grades! 

Comment below, and I’ll send you info on ALL my resources, including an entire FREE starter kit for teaching your students the basics of prefixes and suffixes!
🎉We start every math class the same: I read just a 🎉We start every math class the same: I read just a few of these mental math cards orally, step by step, and when I’m done, I count down from three silently using my fingers. When my students see a closed fist, they share their answers in unison. It’s so quick, simple, and low stakes for kids. They increase in complexity throughout the year, and I’ve seen massive gains in my students’ mental math abilities.

Comment below, and I’ll send you the info! ❤️❤️
Podcasts in the classroom are SO fun while still b Podcasts in the classroom are SO fun while still being academically worthwhile! 👏 🎙️ I designed them to address listening and reading comprehension skills in an engaging, relevant format. Each one comes with show notes and assignments and covers topics ranging from sports and science and tales and more! 🥰 Comment below, and I’ll send you all the info.
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