The Blog
Teaching Syllable Segmentation
In my 3rd and 4th grade decoding and encoding intervention groups, we have been working on syllable segmentation. I had a major internal conflict on whether or not to teach it as part of an intervention group, and in the…
Multiplying Decimals
Now that we have finished up multiplication, and my students have a solid foundation of multi-digit multiplication, we have moved on to multiplying decimals (I had originally planned to go on to patterning and functions, but decided this was a…
Open Ended Comprehension Cards
I have always desired to push my students in their thinking about texts. While we do focus on comprehension questions, both literal and inferential, I love to have students do a little bit of their own question development that requires…
GROUPS Acronym
The first year I began teaching, one of my teammates shared with me this fantastic acronym for GROUPS. I thought I would post it and share it with you all. I have always had it hanging in my room, and…
Mastering Multiplication Activities
The past few weeks, we have been hitting multiplication activities hard! Our school is focusing a lot on mathematical computational fluency, so it is a main focus area for us this year (and last year). While I firmly believe that…
Vacationing Student Assignment and Task Card Craziness!
Happy Thursday, everyone! I’ve been busy this week setting up my task card board for my classroom, so I have spent a lot of my free time at home cutting, hole punching, and picking tiny pieces of laminating plastic out…
Story Elements & Main Idea Freebie!
I was looking through some files today and found this fun activity I have always used with my third graders. I call it the Story Element Match, but I use it for story elements, main idea, and summarizing. It’s a…
Soap Animals!
A quick, but fun post tonight! After having two, 3 day weeks (due to conferences and work days), this is our first full week back, and I have had a lot of planning to do (and of course relaxing and…
Geometry Focus: Angles
We have finally finished conferences. YAY! I always love this time of year, meeting parents, setting goals, and a fresh start to a new quarter, but it is definitely a relief to have the first round of conferences over. I…
Geometry in the Real World!
One of the things I love so much about teaching geometry is that there are so many real world applications. Every year, we make a circle map showing how we use and find geometry in the real world. We do…
10 Tips for Smooth Sailing Parent Teacher Conferences
It’s conference week for us, so things are busy around here! Report cards are being printed, schedules are being finalized, and the PTA is organizing treats to help us get through the long hours we all work. I know a…
Elapsed Time Strategies
I don’t know about you all, but teaching elapsed time is one of those things that tricks almost every single student in my class! It’s almost one of those things that just has to “click” and then the kids get…
