Discover the secret to boosting student engagement with seasonal and holiday-themed activities! Join me as I share my top fall reading activities for upper elementary classrooms. Witness the power of this simple approach in enhancing student learning!
It’s time for October classroom activities to make their debut as you start to gear up for the holidays! It’s such a fun month full of seasonal activities and sugar-filled days! Students love Halloween-themed topics, and there are so many ways to keep students intrigued and focused while continuing to build on skills and knowledge. This time of year is also when students get that ‘holiday brain.’ Instead of fighting against the ‘holiday brain,’ you can use it to your advantage. Here are 7 great October activities for upper elementary.
Whether you are teaching virtually through distance learning, using a hybrid in school – at home model or homeschooling by choice, students are doing all or part of their learning from home. And if you are currently teaching in person in the classroom, you know the very real risk that tomorrow students could begin learning from home. These at home learning activities are your answer to providing engaging skills-based practice for your students no matter where they are learning.
School’s out for summer! Doesn’t that just make you want to sing? I love summer and summer break. What I don’t love is the summer slide. But the summer slide can be avoided. I am excited to share with you some fun summer review activities to help avoid the summer slide and make summer learning fun.
Looking for a new way to engage your upper elementary students? Today I am super excited to share with you why using Boom cards in upper elementary classrooms is a perfect way to get your students engaged in practicing core academic skills and concepts.
Third grade is a pivotal year when it comes to reading instruction. It is the year that we focus less on “how to read” and we begin focusing more on “reading to learn.” Along with this change comes a push for students to be thinking at a higher level while reading. Teaching with paired reading passages is a great way to do this. With paired reading passages, students have the opportunity to work on thinking skills that they generally don’t get with a single passage. Paired passages are great opportunities for comparing author’s purpose, drawing conclusions, comparing & contrasting, and inferencing.
Learning to read is a process, a long process. I have found that there are two primary phases. From kindergarten through 2nd grade, students are ‘learning to read.’ From about 3rd grade forward, students move into a phase that I refer to as ‘reading to learn.’ Learning to think critically while reading is a goal of this second phase of reading instruction. Using paired passages is a great way to teach these important thinking skills.
Close reading is a valuable skill for students to develop, but it can also be challenging to teach. As an upper elementary teacher, it’s important to know how to incorporate close reading into your curriculum and make it engaging for your students. Let’s explore some strategies and tips for teaching close reading in the classroom.
December is here and that brings so many thoughts and feelings. On one hand, I’m amazed that it is already December. On the other hand, December is a month unlike any other (except maybe the last month of school). The students are filled with energy and excitement about the approaching holidays and school break. I am focused on finishing the month strong while also trying to balance all that December brings (gift buying, decorating, parties, and so much more). These December activities for the classroom are a great way to focus the students and keep them learning while making life a little easier for the teacher too!
Do you struggle to engage your students in reading comprehension practice? I’ve got you. Finding high-quality free reading comprehension worksheets can be hard. Reading comprehension doesn’t come naturally to all students. It’s up to us to challenge our more gift readers to grow while helping our struggling readers flourish alongside them. Keeping reading skills practice fresh and fun is half the battle! Today I’m sharing two FREE print and digital resources that will keep your students engaged while fine-tuning their reading comprehension skills! I promise that they will beg for more!
Many students struggle to find the main idea of a passage or story. Students tend to confuse the main idea with the summary, while others just can’t seem to grasp the concept. Here are a few tips, ideas, and activities to help you teach students how to identify the main idea and the supporting details of a passage, short story, or book.
Common Core brought with it many standards that teachers had little to no resources for. L.4.5b was one of them for me. In the past, I had briefly covered idioms (usually around St. Patrick’s Day) but I had never taught proverbs and adages. Honestly, I had no clue what an adage was. Once I familiarized myself with this standard I thought, “Wow, this is going to be really fun!”
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.
I’m happy you’re here!
