Teaching students how to use context clues to define unfamiliar terms is a hard and necessary skill in upper elementary. I spend one week really working hard on this skill and then I will review it all year long! I am going to walk you through different activities I do in my context clues week. At the bottom, you can grab a FREEBIE, plus the skill pack! Monday-Introduction When students enter my room I have ten HARD words placed around the room. I tell the students they have ten minutes ... Read More about How to Teach Context Clues

Teaching students through an engaging transformation that is cheap and fun is the way to go! Construction is big in my community so I decided to bring it into the classroom. We used this as a review week for all subjects! We completed rigorous and engaging work that all had the construction theme! Setting up the Transformation To set up the transformation I did the following things: Printed off clipart of different machines to add around the room (these are provided in my ... Read More about Construction Transformation in Upper Elementary

  Valentine's Day is exciting for children. In order to keep students learning all week long, you need highly engaging and rigorous work! The week of Valentine's Day I focus on review in all subjects, while keep students working hard and highly engaged. Reading Centers I love doing reading centers in my classroom! Each day we do one 20 minute center. Students listen and watch Valentine's Day stories being read to them! They read two close reads and compare and contrast ... Read More about Valentine’s Day Activities for Upper Elementary

We all have to do at least one conference with parents throughout the school year! I am going to share with you exactly how I run my conferences and tips to make them easier! Plus...there are tons of freebies! Sign-Ups and Reminders If you have control over your sign-ups, then I highly suggest you spread your conference times out. Give yourself breathers when you can. At my school, we have two nights of conferences. I will schedule as many as I can in the mornings if parents need them. ... Read More about Parent Teacher Conference Tips and Freebies

I love teaching themed weeks! The students are so engaged, which makes for a perfect time to hit them with HARD curriculum. In October I always focus a whole week on bats! It is so much fun while being academically rigorous, and engaging! Today, I am going to share with you what I do each day! Then, at the end, you can get a FREEBIE to print my plans for yourself! ;) Monday We start off the week reading "Bats" by Gail Gibbons! This is a great book that really introduces the topic in a ... Read More about Bat Week in Upper Elementary