Reading The Grinch in upper elementary is a must. You’d be surprised how many kids have not read the book before, just watched the movie. The book is full of great figurative language and reading comprehension! Have a “Grinch Day” in your classroom and do these simple activities! Read the Book & Watch the Movie (or the short version) Well, this goes without saying, but read the book first thing to start your day! You could watch the movie or this short version on ... Read More about Grinch Day in the Classroom

  Themed weeks in upper elementary are the bread and butter to rigorous learning. When you have a theme for a week or a day your students buy into the learning at a whole other level. During the holiday season, theme weeks are vital to keeping engagement and rigor high! Elf week or day is perfect for a fun filled time! You can review many standards you learned all year in a rigorous format! Rigorous Elf Week Read Alouds Pig the Elf by Aaron Blabey This ... Read More about Elf Week in Upper Elementary

Do you have a teacher in your life you want to buy for?  Let me tell you the number one thing your child's teacher wants, a note from you and your student! It is free and goes such a long way! If you put a $5 gift card with it, that is great. If you put nothing with it, even better! It doesn't matter if you spend money, but letting them know that they are appreciated is so important! But if you do want to buy something fun for them, here are some easy ideas! If they are from Amazon they are ... Read More about Holiday Gift Guide for Teachers

Christmas is such a magical time in the upper elementary classroom. You can really challenge your students to think and apply the skills that they have learned in the first half of the school year, all while staying overly engaged. During the month of December, I do not teach a ton of new reading content, instead, we are reviewing all the reading skills that we learned in the first half of the year through themed and engaging activities. Today, I am going to share some of the themed activities I ... Read More about December Reading Activities