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Interactive Bulletin Boards Ideas for Upper Elementary

Incorporating interactive bulletin boards into your classroom has many benefits. They are a great way to make students' learning space purposeful and engaging. They are also great time savers since there is no need to change them out for the season. What are interactive bulletin boards? Interactive bulletin boards are displays that are meant to be manipulated to increase student learning and ... Read More about Interactive Bulletin Boards Ideas for Upper Elementary

Student of the Month Ideas

Recognizing students for their efforts can be impactful. We all remember a time when a teacher recognized us for our actions or work. It can really help those students who usually feel overlooked. Recognizing a Student of the Month or a Student of the Week is one way we can show students that they are seen. This post will outline several ideas you can use to make sure these recognitions have an ... Read More about Student of the Month Ideas

Teaching Plot Elements

Developing a solid understanding of the elements of a story is essential. Knowing how stories are structured helps students comprehend the stories they read, predict upcoming events in a story, and conclude what the theme of the story might be. In order to help our students master plot structure, we must start off by teaching the plot elements. They should be able to identify what the elements are ... Read More about Teaching Plot Elements

Teaching Nonfiction Text Features

In 4th & 5th grade, students must have a comprehensive understanding of text features. In order to get to that level, they must first be able to identify what the features are and how they are used. Teaching nonfiction text features can seem intimidating since there are so many, but chunking them up can make it manageable. So, how can we help review or introduce text features to our ... Read More about Teaching Nonfiction Text Features

Teaching Nonfiction Text Structures

Explicitly teaching nonfiction text structures is extremely beneficial for your 4th & 5th grade students. Teaching them to notice the structure of informational texts helps them improve their comprehension, retain the information they have read, and understand the author's purpose for writing the text. So, how can we help build this foundation in our students? 1. Teach the 5 Types of ... Read More about Teaching Nonfiction Text Structures