Blog - Your Thrifty Co-Teacher

Valentine’s Day Picture Books for Upper Elementary

Picture books and read alouds are a great way to bring a classroom community together, and Valentine's Day is a perfect day to share books about friendship, love, and kindness. Here are a few Valentine's Day books for upper elementary students that you can read aloud this February. (This blog contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means that Amazon throws a few pennies my way if you ... Read More about Valentine’s Day Picture Books for Upper Elementary

Possessive Nouns Activities for Upper Elementary

Do your upper elementary students seem to get confused on when and where to add the apostrophe to a possessive noun? Mastering possessive nous rules definitely takes a lot of practice. It involves first mastering plural nouns then becoming aware of where to add the apostrophe. Whoa! This is why offering a variety of possessive nouns activities is so beneficial. This post will give you several ... Read More about Possessive Nouns Activities for Upper Elementary

Opinion Writing Anchor Charts for Upper Elementary

Teaching new writers how to gather evidence and plan for text-based writing can be challenging. Transitioning them over to actually writing the essay where they must weave those ideas into a well developed and organized essay is just as big of a task. Below, are some ways you can use opinion writing anchor charts to give 4th and 5th grade students tangible examples of how to make their writing ... Read More about Opinion Writing Anchor Charts for Upper Elementary

Idiom Activities for Upper Elementary

Have you ever read a book with your students when suddenly an idiom shows up and someone asks, "What does that mean?" Idioms without the proper context clues can be really difficult to understand especially for nonnative English speakers. This is why teaching them the most popular idioms for kids is important. Not sure where to start? Here a few idiom activities that will make teaching idioms a ... Read More about Idiom Activities for Upper Elementary

Fun New Year Activities for Students in Upper Elementary

Happy New Year, my Co-Teacher! As we get ready to head back into the classroom, here are some fun New Year activities for students you can do with your upper elementary students. (This blog contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means that Amazon throws a few pennies my way if you purchase something through that link at no additional cost to you.) 1. Learn about the Different New Year ... Read More about Fun New Year Activities for Students in Upper Elementary

40 Picture Books that Teach Grammar to Upper Elementary

Introducing grammar lessons with picture books that teach grammar skills is an excellent way to engage your upper elementary students and set the stage to engage them. Fortunately, many authors have realized the importance of incorporating picture books into lessons, and they have written some fun books that explicitly explain parts of speech and grammar rules within the text. Here are a ... Read More about 40 Picture Books that Teach Grammar to Upper Elementary