How can we continue to inspire students to give 100% while practicing their text-based writing skills so late in the school year? Why, candy extrinsic motivation of course. Let's be honest. Getting eight, nine, and ten year olds to write a well developed, multiple paragraph essay, after reading and synthesizing multiple nonfiction texts, is no easy task. It takes lots and lots of ... Read More about A Writers’ Workshop to Motivate Students During Text-Based Writing
Classroom Transformation – Italian Restaurant for Commas & Periods
Have you implemented a classroom transformation in your classroom? They have been so successful in my classroom and have proven to be a great way to engage students. The most recent transformation was a pizza classroom transformation. Our classroom became an Italian restaurant where students were able to implement all of the comma skills they had recently been exposed to. My students had ... Read More about Classroom Transformation – Italian Restaurant for Commas & Periods
Classroom Transformation – Roots and Affixes Surgery Room
Keeping students engaged and motivated, especially at the end of the year, can be quite a challenge. For this reason, I have been evaluating the best ways to keep students excited to come to class and "work" (well, to them this seems more like playing). You may be wondering if this works with older students, and the answer is DEFINITELY YES! I am a 5th grade teacher, and the students absolutely ... Read More about Classroom Transformation – Roots and Affixes Surgery Room
Parent Communication Binder – Keeping It All Together
As we all know, parent communication is an extremely important part of our job. Staying in touch with parents about their child's progress is crucial. But how do we keep it all together and organized when there are phone calls, emails, conferences, after school encounters, etc. to keep track of? As I'm sure quite a few of you have encountered, sometimes there is a lapse in memory on our part, ... Read More about Parent Communication Binder – Keeping It All Together
A Ninja Subject and Predicate Classroom Transformation
Let's face it, grammar is usually NOT students' favorite subject, however, it is so important that students learn how to write properly. They must be able to identify whether or not they are writing a complete thought in a sentence and get their message across to the writer effectively. For this reason, using hands-on subject and predicate activities is a great method for teaching these otherwise ... Read More about A Ninja Subject and Predicate Classroom Transformation
Classroom Library Set Up
Do you want to set up an organized and easy to use classroom library, but don't know where to start? Hopefully my process will give up an idea of where to start. First off, let me give you a quick snapshot of my personal experience. Last year, I started at a new school midyear. It was quite the challenge to start midyear and walk into another teacher's small classroom to co-teach. By ... Read More about Classroom Library Set Up