Has spring fever hit your classroom yet? With warmer weather and sunshine peeking through the windows, it’s tough to keep students focused during lessons. Students
Have you ever wanted to unlock the secret sauce to reading comprehension? Of course, you have! Teaching reading in upper elementary is challenging. Providing students with an essential skill to rinse and repeat with every text they read sounds dreamy, right?! Annotation is the key to understanding texts beyond just the words.Β
The end of another school year is always so bittersweet. Saying goodbye to our students can be tough, but planning a great end of year celebration always makes it a little easier. Students love celebrating their accomplishments, remembering all the fun they’ve had and friendships made. Throughout the year, students have worked hard to succeed, teachers have made a difference in the lives of their students, and parents have supported their children through it all. What better way to showcase this than an end of year celebration with fun student awards!
With spring comes warmer weather, plants blooming, and excitement from students knowing summer is on the way! However, it also means end of the year testing is soon. Teachers work hard all year to ensure students master the skills they need to succeed in reading. By spring, teachers understand their students’ reading levels and look for ways to differentiate instruction for them.Β
It’s back to school time! Maybe you’ve already started your year, or maybe you are just gearing up to head back to your classroom. Either way, this time of year is full of transitions and excitement for all. It is bittersweet to end another beautiful summer and begin a new year of adventure. September is filled with opportunities to get to know our students and form lasting relationships. I can’t wait to share some fun September activities for upper elementary classrooms.
A question that I get asked frequently is, “Can you please give me the password to this resource so I can delete the pages I don’t need?” Oftentimes, teachers ask this question because they either want to only share certain pages from the PDF with their students or send the PDF to someone in their building to print. In these cases, they want to remove the pages they don’t want to share or print. Today, I’m excited to show you how to reorder, delete, and assign pages of a PDF before printing or sharing with your students.
With the end of the year upon us, it’s time to start thinking about how you are going to celebrate your kiddos and the amazing work they have done throughout the year. With some schools still participating in virtual or hybrid learning, how do you hold a meaningful and fun end-of-year award ceremony? While this can seem like a less than ideal situation, it is possible to have a really amazing celebration to recognize your students’ talents, personality, and growth. Today, I’m here to share a variety of options for holding a virtual end-of-year award ceremony that will be fun and memorable!
As you approach the end of the year, it is time to start wrapping things up in your classroom. The end of the year is always bittersweet. I’m sure you are excited about the upcoming lazy days of summer. You may also be a little emotional thinking about your students and how far they’ve come – especially through such a difficult school year. They grow so much academically and as people. π Today, I’m here to help you celebrate their successes and keep their memories close for years to come! The perfect way to do this is by having your students create an end of year memory book!
Do you dread teaching poetry? I get it! I’ve been there! The concepts of poetry are oftentimes difficult for children to understand and that makes it challenging to teach. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. After years of teaching and practice, I’ve nailed down a few strategies for teaching poetry effectively in the classroom. They say practice makes perfect, right?
Aaaahhhh! It’s almost April and you know what that means. The snow has melted and the soft, refreshing rains of spring are upon us. Soon we will see flowers popping up everywhere after a long, dreary winter. In addition to the changes in the weather, April is filled with some fun holidays too! With April Fools Day, Earth Day, and Easter all wrapped up in one month, there are lots of engaging themes to bring into the classroom. I have a lot of fun April activities to help you finish strong.
Engaging students in reading comprehension activities can be so hard. As teachers, however, we know the importance of these skills. So working to keep reading comprehension lessons and activities fresh and fun is half the battle. It is so important to keep students engaged so they can fine-tune their reading comprehension skills. Sure, we can assign reading passage after reading passage, but who really wants to do that? Instead, let’s focus on some engaging reading comprehension activities that will make reading lessons fun!
Teaching main idea and supporting details to students isnβt all that easy. Many students struggle with the concept and the process. They get confused and caught up in all of the little details when reading through the text. Some even confuse summarizing a passage with finding the main idea. So, how can you as a teacher make sure that this doesnβt happen to your students? After many years of trial and error, I have the solution that has worked in my classroom time after time. I’m excited to share with you my strategies for teaching main idea and supporting details.
March is a month of budding potential in the upper elementary classroom. It’s a time when the academic year is in full swing, students are eager for a change after the winter blues, and teachers are looking for engaging activities to keep the learning environment exciting and educational. From springing into new seasonal reads to adding some St. Patrick’s Day charm in lessons, here’s a pot of gold full of ideas to enrich your upper elementary classroom.
While I love a good school holiday, there’s also a part of me that really loves being in school on holidays so that students can learn about them. There are many holidays that we seem to have lost the significance of and they have become nothing more than just a Monday off. Presidents’ Day is one of those holidays. These Presidents’ Day activities will help you teach your students about this holiday and the important position of the president. Consider adding a few of them to your lesson plans during the week of Presidents’ Day!
Can you believe it’s already February? For a short month, there sure is a lot to do! This month has so many great things to celebrate: Valentineβs Day, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, Black History Month, and much more! Here are some fun February activities your students are going to love.
I’m Kim, the founder of A Love of Teaching. My ultimate goal is to empower teachers to reclaim their afternoons and weekends, all while feeling confident in their role as educators. I’m passionate about inspiring teachers with fresh ideas and providing them with time-saving materials.Β
I’m happy you’re here!
COPYRIGHT Β© 2024. Kim Miller.
