April Activities For Upper Elementary
Spring is in the air, bringing with it a renewed sense of energy and a touch of spring fever in the classroom! As the weather warms up and the end of the school year approaches, it can become challenging to keep students focused and engaged. This is the ideal time to refresh your routines with creative, standards-based activities that embrace the excitement of the season.
From Earth Day celebrations to spring-themed writing prompts and no-prep skills review, this collection of April activities for upper elementary classrooms is designed to keep learning meaningful, fun, and stress-free for both you and your students.
Start Your Day With April Morning Greeting Slides
Say goodbye to chaotic mornings! These April Morning Greeting Slides are the perfect way to streamline your routine while adding structure and fun to your classroom. Each editable slide includes a morning message with a daily quote, question of the day, to-do list, and a fun BITMOJI avatar—giving students clear expectations the moment they walk in.
Not only do students love checking the slides each morning, but the predictable routine helps them settle in quickly while you take attendance, talk with parents, or handle other morning tasks. The seasonal April themes and holidays make each day engaging, and students especially look forward to seeing how your BITMOJI will look!
You can find step-by-step instructions for editing and personalizing your morning greeting HERE and HERE. With just a few quick edits, you can personalize your slides to fit your schedule. These morning messages are a teacher’s favorite for a reason—they save time, build independence, and bring a smile to everyone’s face. Try the April set now, or grab the yearlong bundle to keep mornings running smoothly all year!
Celebrate Spring Reads with April Book Reviews
Bring a fresh burst of excitement to your classroom with April Book Reviews! This seasonal writing activity encourages students to share their favorite books with the same energy they use to talk about their favorite songs or movies. It’s the perfect way to foster a love of reading and build classroom community through book recommendations.
Students can easily organize their thoughts to write meaningful reviews with the included planning page and checklist. Each review includes a brief summary, personal opinion, examples from the text, and a fun rating system. Once their ideas are mapped out, students can create a polished final version ready for display.
These April-themed book reviews also make a bright and engaging bulletin board that inspires others to pick up a new book based on peer recommendations. It’s a simple yet powerful way to keep students excited about reading all month long!
Want to keep the book buzz going all year? Check out the Year-Long Book Review Bundle for monthly sets that make book sharing a regular part of your classroom routine.
April Close Reading Practice
One of my absolute favorite April activities for reading instruction is close reading. If you haven’t tried close reading or want to learn more about it, you can read this post for all the details. I really love how it provides a guided focus on a variety of reading skills and strategies.
The April Close Reading passages are filled with lots of engaging topics that your students will love! This month the close reads include:
Each close reading set includes a reading passage, differentiated to include two options for different reading levels. Everything you need to guide students through four readings of the passage and related activities to deepen their understanding is included. Additionally, there is a close reading anchor chart, plus student instructions for each April activity! Thankfully, these activities are super easy to implement. This close reading activity is a complete week-long activity that is ready to print and go!
Spring-Themed Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions
If you’re looking for a fun and low-prep way to get students excited about reading, these Reading Comprehension Skills Packet with Mystery Pictures might be just what you need! Engaging upper elementary students in reading can sometimes feel like a challenge—but when you add a little mystery and creativity, everything changes.
Each activity starts with a high-interest reading passage paired with comprehension questions focusing on key reading skills like context clues, text features, point of view, and more. What makes this activity even more fun? Students use the color listed next to each answer choice to color a section of the mystery picture—revealing a hidden image as they work.
The best part? The coloring is completely optional! You can use the passages and questions independently for targeted skill practice or let your students color the mystery picture for an added layer of fun. Either way, you’ll have an engaging and meaningful activity that keeps students focused and motivated.
Try them for free below! They might just become your students’ new favorite way to practice reading!
Strengthen Main Idea Skills This Spring
Teaching main idea is one of those skills that definitely takes time and lots of practice. That’s why I love using scaffolded resources that start simple and build in complexity over time. At the beginning of the year, students are introduced to the concept using short, focused paragraphs with a clear topic and easy-to-identify supporting details. It gives students the confidence they need to grasp the concept.
As the year goes on, the passages gradually become more challenging to match students’ growing skills. By April, most students are ready for that next step—and this Spring Main Idea resource is the perfect way to give it to them. Each passage is designed with one goal in mind: helping students identify the main idea and back it up with strong text evidence.
Not only does this reinforce their understanding, but it also builds essential strategies they’ll need for standardized testing. It’s a great way to keep their reading skills sharp this time of year.
You can find these spring main idea passages with graphic organizers set in my store, or grab the Main Idea Year Long Bundle to have scaffolded practice ready to go for the whole year!
No Prep Easter Activities
Let’s be honest: by April, students are primarily focused on one thing—summer break. Spring fever kicks in, and keeping their attention can feel like an uphill battle. But the learning isn’t over, and this final stretch of the school year is a critical time to reinforce key skills. That’s where a meaningful skills review can make all the difference.
There’s no need to stress about squeezing something extra into your already full schedule. These No-Prep Easter Activities for Math and Reading are designed to save time while keeping students engaged in meaningful work. These print-and-go pages offer rigorous practice with important standards; all wrapped up in a fun Easter theme your students will love.
Just like the other seasonal review packs available in my store, this Easter set includes a mix of math, reading, and language arts activities. Students will stay focused, and best of all, they might not even realize how much learning they’re learning!
Here are just a few of the skills included:
- Drawing inferences
- Identifying point of view
- Using progressive verb tenses
- Citing reason and evidence from text
- Recognizing themes in literature
- Adding and subtracting mixed numbers
- Multiplying fractions by whole numbers
- Converting measurement units
If you are looking for some skills-based, no-prep activities then you want to check out this Seasonal and Holiday NO PREP Bundle. Each pack includes a variety of math, reading, and language arts review worksheets that are the perfect April activities for morning work, centers, or even homework. They are also perfect to leave for a sub!
Celebrate Earth Day With No Prep Activities
As April rolls on, Earth Day offers a perfect opportunity to engage students in meaningful academic activities with a real-world focus. This Earth Day No-Prep Skills Review Pack is just what you need to keep learning on track while celebrating all things Earth-friendly—and the best part? It’s completely no prep!
Students love Earth Day and get excited about topics like recycling, conservation, and protecting the environment. This resource is a great way to tap into that enthusiasm while reviewing key math and reading skills. Whether you’re looking to supplement your lesson plans or just need something quick and effective, this pack has you covered.
Here’s a look at a few of the engaging activities included:
- A vocabulary graphic organizer
- A reading activity explaining single-stream recycling
- A grammar color-by-code recycling mystery picture
- Practice with context clues while reading about useful trash
- Earth Day-themed decimals and fractions
- Protractor practice
- Recycling bin division squares
These activities blend academics with Earth Day fun in a way that’s both purposeful and enjoyable. Give your students a chance to celebrate while strengthening essential skills!
Spark Creativity with Spring Roll-A-Story Writing Prompts
Looking for a fun way to inspire your students’ writing this spring? These Spring Roll-a-Story Writing Prompts are just the thing to get their creativity flowing! With nothing more than a set of dice, students can roll their way into unique story combinations that make writing feel like an adventure.
Each spring-themed board is filled with imaginative characters, whimsical settings, and exciting problems—perfect for helping students dive into storytelling with enthusiasm. The set includes 6 different Spring Roll-a-Story Choice Boards, giving students plenty of variety and opportunities for creative expression.
To make things easy, the resource also includes graphic organizers, writing templates, student-friendly directions, and a simple scoring rubric for teachers. It’s everything needed for a smooth and engaging writing activity!
From springtime adventures to Easter fun and Earth Day themes, these writing prompts are always a classroom favorite. Let spring fever fuel your students’ imaginations, and watch their stories bloom!
Spring Writing Choice Boards
Looking to keep your students engaged in writing through the spring months? These Monthly Writing Choice Boards are the perfect solution! With 16 unique prompts for each month, students can choose topics that spark their interest while practicing a variety of writing genres, including narrative, persuasive, descriptive, expository, and even poetry.
These choice boards are great for morning work, literacy centers, early finisher tasks, or independent writing time. Whether you’re working with confident writers or those who need a little extra inspiration, this resource provides meaningful writing opportunities that meet students where they are.
Each board is available in both color and black-and-white versions, making it easy to print and use right away. The wide variety of prompts encourages creativity and helps build writing stamina, all while reinforcing essential writing skills. Plus, students love having the power to choose what they write about!
Try a spring-themed writing choice board for free below!
Digital Stickers for April Activities
If you are assigning digital work this spring, remember to add some fun and encouragement with digital stickers! These sticker packs include 20 colorful and seasonal stickers that are perfect for celebrating spring, Easter, and Earth Day. Whether you’re using Google Slides™, Google Docs™, or Seesaw™, it’s easy to copy and paste these cheerful stickers right onto student assignments.
I love stickers just as much as students do, and in this digital world, they have evolved into something even more exciting and interactive. It’s easy for you to reward your students while you are grading digital assignments. Thankfully, you can find out just how easy digital stickers are to use in this post.
Save these April Activities!
April is full of excitement and all things spring. Let these ready-to-use April activities help you plan engaging and fun activities for your students without the extra work from you. Just pin this to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so that you can come back throughout the month as you need fun, engaging, skills-based activities for your class.
