Rounding numbers always seems to be a challenge for many of my students each year. When I approach how to teach rounding every year we create anchor charts, practice, and play games until they finally start to get it. I know from years of struggling with it that figuring out how to teach rounding...
Task cards are a great way to quickly increase engagement in the classroom. There are a variety of ways that task cards can be used in the classroom and I can’t wait to share them with you. In this post, we are going to discuss how to use task cards, how to manage them, finding time to...
Getting classroom routines and procedures for back to school figured out is essential to start the school year off on the right foot. If we don’t get these routines and procedures figured out we are more likely to have a tough time with classroom management and this will lead to a rough...
In today’s post, I want to share with you the best back to school books for upper elementary students that I typically read aloud to students throughout the first week of class. Classroom read alouds are most often associated with younger students, but reading aloud to older students is...
The importance of quality morning work is often overlooked in the upper elementary classroom. Your morning routine is the perfect time to set the stage for the day and sneak in some valuable learning time. If done right, your morning routine can be one of the most significant parts of your...
You’re probably starting to think about back to school night. This event can be very different depending on how your school structures it for parents. In some schools, Back to School Night is more of a hop from one classroom to another at your own pace whereas others are blocks of time for...
When we are thinking about setting up our classroom for a new school year, there are a few different things that we want to consider. We want to make sure that our classroom is welcoming for our new students, but we also want to make sure that we make some practical decisions about the placement...
Curriculum Mapping is the process of determining what you’re going to teach and in what order you’re going to teach it. This is a crucial part of being able to stop worrying about what to teach tomorrow and start lesson planning more efficiently.
How Do I Start Curriculum Mapping?
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As teachers, we deserve our summer break, but we often don’t know what things for teachers to do in the summer. Read to find out my top 10 things for teachers to do in the summer.
1. Re-energize
Let’s start this summer to do list with your personal needs in mind. First, take time to...
If you’re gearing up for summer, like most of us are, but will be teaching still, check out my tips for teaching summer school. There could be a variety of reasons why a student might be attending summer school, but no matter why we still need to give them our best.
Empathize with...
As the school year is ending, you may be wondering “How to Celebrate the End of the School Year?” Even though state testing may be over, the school year isn’t quite done yet. In this post, I’m going to be sharing with you some of the ways to keep up the momentum of...
Are you looking for the best geometry books for elementary students? I love using picture books in math to introduce a topic, or during math centers to reinforce real-life math applications. Below I am highlighting my top 12 geometry picture books that you can use in your classroom. All book...
