First Week of School: Lesson Plans & Low-Prep Activities for Grades 3 to 5
The first week of school should help you do four things. Teach routines, build classroom community, learn about your students, and check their starting skills….
ELA
How to Use Mentor Texts to Teach Writing in 3rd–5th Grade (With a Free Lesson Plan)
The Day EACH KINDNESS INSPIRED MAYA…. I had a student, let’s call her Maya, who refused to write. Every writing block, she’d sit there with…
- ELA | Reading | Teacher Corner
3 Things I Stopped Doing as a Teacher to Avoid Teacher Burnout!
Are you a teacher drowning in grading papers and feeling burned out? I was in your shoes, but I decided to stop doing these three…
Proactive Classroom Management: How to Turn Chaos Into Calm!
Classroom management in K-12 is tough, and far too often, you’re only taking corrective action on behavior. But what if you could help stop most…
Effective ELA Resources to Support Struggling Readers in the Classroom
As a teacher, I’ve found myself planning, preparing, and trying to meet the needs of my four different reader levels in the classroom. It can…
Lesson Planning Repurposing Hacks that will help you Save Hours
Teaching is a mix of creativity and strategic planning to engage students while meeting their educational goals. Finding ways to manage our workload and simplify…
3 Ways to Make Grammar Activities Engaging in Grades 3 Through 5
How can I make grammar lessons more engaging? To make grammar lessons engaging in grades 3 through 5, use hands-on practice, give students something to…
- ELA | Reading | Social Studies
How I Combined ELA and Social Studies Lessons in Grades 3-5
See how I combine ELA and Social Studies in grades 3–5 through research, writing, and history while saving planning time.
How to Teach Citing Text Evidence with the TAGS Strategy
My students were getting marks of one or two on their reading responses. Here’s what changed. I moved from second grade to fifth grade after…
Understanding the Essentials of Planning: Unit vs. Lesson
What’s Unit Planning? Unit planning is about seeing the big picture. When you sit down to plan, consider where you will start and where you…
