Looking for Wordle classroom ideas? Incorporate Wordle into your classroom with this activities, ideas, and templates.
Do you want to keep your students engaged and reading during reading time? Read this post to learn about 10 reading centers for upper elementary.
Increase student engagement by making exploding books or squash books in the classroom. Here is a simple step by step exploding book tutorial with pictures.
This blog post contains a FREE compare and contrast reading activity! Materials are included so you can replicate the compare and contrast anchor chart and lesson for your own upper elementary and middle school students.
Beginning a new whole-class novel is an exciting event. Teachers talk up the story, and kids start to make connections to their
complex sentences lesson ideas
Correlative conjunctions... they are fairly easy for students to recognize, but they aren't always the easiest sentences to write! In fact, when it was time to teach a grammar lesson on correlative co
Find 23 ready to use, effective vocabulary activities your students will love, by The Teacher Next Door!
Are you interested in getting your upper elementary students to spell more words correctly, understand the meaning behind more words and read more words independently? If so....then code based instruction must continue in the classroom. What is code based instruction?? This is when students are taught phonics skills in an explicit and specific sequence. Research tells us, code based instruction is the most effective way to teach students to read and spell. If a student is taught using this approach they will have the skills needed to apply learned patterns when spelling or encountering the unknown word in text. According to international literacy expert and co-author of LETRS, Dr. Carol Tolman, orthographic learning should continue beyond phonics concepts into morphology and etymology. Morphology is the study of morphemes. Morphemes are units of meaning in language (i.e. prefixes, suffixes and root words). Etymology is study of the historical development of words (i.e. identifying if the morpheme is of Greek, Latin or Anglo Saxon origin). Typically instruction on morphemes and etymology would happen at the end of third grade progressing into middle school and beyond, although younger students can easily learn basic morphemes. Dr. Tolman uses the hourglass figure below to clearly illustrate the multiple layers of direct instruction teachers should provide, progressing from phonological skills all the way into etymology. The video is about 20 minutes in length, but well worth the watch if you want to learn more about all of the layers. There is a sort of natural progression of instruction with morphemes. You will notice the progression goes from easier to understand to more difficult concepts that require background knowledge. One might first start with Anglo Saxon and Latin compounds which are free morphemes. A free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand alone and have meaning (i.e. dog and house alone mean one thing, but combined make doghouse, which means something else). Compounds are a great introduction to illustrate word chunks are meaningful. Next, one might progress to inflectional morphemes. Inflectional morphemes change what a word does, but doesn't change its meaning (i.e. ing, ed, etc.). Then, one might progress to irregular past tense plurals (i.e. catches, catch and caught). After that, one might teach common prefixes (un, re, pre, etc.) and then move to less common prefixes (macro, mono, fore, etc.) Next, one might instruct on derivational suffixes, which are suffixes that make a word change a grammar class. For example this means a word can go from being a noun (ex: pore) to being an adjective (ex: porous) by adding a derivational suffix (in this cause -ous). Finally one might teach Greek and Latin roots. Greek roots are not as common as Latin roots and are more scientific and technical. After a prefix, suffix or root word is explicitly taught there needs to be multiple exposures and chances to engage with the learned morpheme. Some great ways to further explore taught morphemes are by creating word webs, thinking of a visual or action that represents the morpheme, word hunts, graphic organizers, cloze activities or playing games. Ready to better instruct on morphology? Prefix, suffix and root word graphic organizers are a great way to deepen understanding of morphemes! Send me morphology graphic organizers!! We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered By ConvertKit > Bottom line--the more students understand about the structure of words, the better they will be at reading them independently, understanding their meaning and how to correctly spell.
I created this graphic organizer to be used with any fictional story or novel. I also thought it would work well for the days my students e...
This figurative language foldable is a great introduction.Visit us!!
Root words, Suffixes/Prefixes Bell Ringers are the perfect and super quick way to teach your middle school students this important ELA skill.
Teaching the meanings of prefixes and suffixes is undoubtedly a skill that needs to be scaffolded over multiple grade levels. When I taught second grade, my main goal was to teach students how a prefix or a suffix affected the meaning of a word. We started with five basic prefixes and six basic suffixes. (Check out this affix blog post at my personal blog if you want to view my anchor chart, or read about my favorite way to introduce prefixes and suffixes to younger students.) Then, with each passing grade level, a few more prefixes and suffixes are added to the list. When I work with 4th and 5th grade students, I like to use concept circles to provide an opportunity for students to analyze affixed words in a more challenging way. (If you're interested in using these with your own upper elementary students, don't miss the free student worksheet version near the end of this blog post!) This activity involves four steps: Students read the four words written inside the concept circle, and determine which one does not belong. Students draw a line through the misfit word. Students determine the meaning of the affix used in the other three words. They write the meaning in the innermost circle. Students think of another word that uses the featured affix. They replace the word they crossed out in Step #1 with their new word. In the outside rim, students write the meaning of each word. Here are a few photos of some concept circles I have done with students: Click on the image below to download this packet of concept circles for FREE! It contains the three large concept circles picture above, 5 students worksheets like the one pictured below, and blank versions so you can create your own concept circles! Also, if you're looking for additional resources for teaching about prefixes and/or suffixes, feel free to check out some of the bundles in my TpT store! (Just click on an image to check one out!) Thanks for stopping by today! FREE Newsletter! Blog TpT Store Instagram Facebook Pinterest My YouTube Video
Back in the fall of 1991 I was a brand new middle school teacher. I had left a two year gig as a high school English teacher which I loved, but felt called to work with middle schoolers. In any case, my mentor teacher ( they didn't have such a program then, but she graciously took me under her wing) shared with me a beginning of the year writing activity she did with her 8th grade language arts students called The Perfect Gift. Now, I have no idea where she got this; as creative as my dear friend Deanna was, she probably came up with this herself. In any case, I used this idea all 14 years I taught middle school and have even used it with the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade reading/language arts students I have taught- all with success! This activity has been tweaked to death and I recently gave it a massive face lift! Click on the picture below to see the listing for this packet in my TPT store. Write to Inform Prompt from the packet I absolutely love using this activity as the beginning of the year. The Perfect Gift is a beginning of the year writing activity that promotes self-reflection, goal setting, and can be used as an assessment of writing skills. In fact, I used it as a beginning of the year writing assessment before we were required to administer a specific, county-wide one. Students are asked to write what a perfect gift would be for them to have a successful year. The gift is to be an abstract noun such as bravery, patience, kindness, responsibility, joy, honesty, creativity, self-control, self-confidence, humor etc. Since I am now teaching in a Christian school, prayer and faithfulness also appear on the list. The first day I bring in a huge gift-wrapped box that always gets the students' attention and is used as my "hook". Students get so excited when I tell them that I have a gift for them and they start guessing what it could be. Imagine their shock when I throw the present on the floor! This is my intro into abstract nouns... I pass the box around so they can shake it, just to make sure it is empty! We discuss concrete and abstract nouns and the way I teach these is to tell them that if they can place the item in the box, then it is most likely a concrete noun. Mini-poster/anchor chart This activity involves the whole writing process and gives me a glimpse not only of students' writing strengths and needs, but also tells me about who they are: their personality, fears, learning styles, and needs. Students write about the gift, what it is, why they want/need it, and how it will help them. At the end they design a cover page or can use the gift box template to decorate and use as a topper for their published piece. By the end of the first week of school, I always feel like I have learned so much about my students from a social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual perspective. And usually I learn something new about myself too! I keep the gift box visible in the classroom the entire year. Students revisit this writing at the end of each marking period and reflect on whether they have "received" their gift yet. This is how I introduce them to goal setting during the first marking period. Check it out and let me know what you think and whether you and your students would benefit! Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 Have a blessed week!
Not too long ago, I had to write a script for our holiday program at school. "Me?" I asked. "You want ME to direct the Christmas...
Are you interested in getting your upper elementary students to spell more words correctly, understand the meaning behind more words and read more words independently? If so....then code based instruction must continue in the classroom. What is code based instruction?? This is when students are taught phonics skills in an explicit and specific sequence. Research tells us, code based instruction is the most effective way to teach students to read and spell. If a student is taught using this approach they will have the skills needed to apply learned patterns when spelling or encountering the unknown word in text. According to international literacy expert and co-author of LETRS, Dr. Carol Tolman, orthographic learning should continue beyond phonics concepts into morphology and etymology. Morphology is the study of morphemes. Morphemes are units of meaning in language (i.e. prefixes, suffixes and root words). Etymology is study of the historical development of words (i.e. identifying if the morpheme is of Greek, Latin or Anglo Saxon origin). Typically instruction on morphemes and etymology would happen at the end of third grade progressing into middle school and beyond, although younger students can easily learn basic morphemes. Dr. Tolman uses the hourglass figure below to clearly illustrate the multiple layers of direct instruction teachers should provide, progressing from phonological skills all the way into etymology. The video is about 20 minutes in length, but well worth the watch if you want to learn more about all of the layers. There is a sort of natural progression of instruction with morphemes. You will notice the progression goes from easier to understand to more difficult concepts that require background knowledge. One might first start with Anglo Saxon and Latin compounds which are free morphemes. A free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand alone and have meaning (i.e. dog and house alone mean one thing, but combined make doghouse, which means something else). Compounds are a great introduction to illustrate word chunks are meaningful. Next, one might progress to inflectional morphemes. Inflectional morphemes change what a word does, but doesn't change its meaning (i.e. ing, ed, etc.). Then, one might progress to irregular past tense plurals (i.e. catches, catch and caught). After that, one might teach common prefixes (un, re, pre, etc.) and then move to less common prefixes (macro, mono, fore, etc.) Next, one might instruct on derivational suffixes, which are suffixes that make a word change a grammar class. For example this means a word can go from being a noun (ex: pore) to being an adjective (ex: porous) by adding a derivational suffix (in this cause -ous). Finally one might teach Greek and Latin roots. Greek roots are not as common as Latin roots and are more scientific and technical. After a prefix, suffix or root word is explicitly taught there needs to be multiple exposures and chances to engage with the learned morpheme. Some great ways to further explore taught morphemes are by creating word webs, thinking of a visual or action that represents the morpheme, word hunts, graphic organizers, cloze activities or playing games. Ready to better instruct on morphology? Prefix, suffix and root word graphic organizers are a great way to deepen understanding of morphemes! Send me morphology graphic organizers!! We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered By ConvertKit > Bottom line--the more students understand about the structure of words, the better they will be at reading them independently, understanding their meaning and how to correctly spell.
For the most part, reasoning, deducing, inferring, and critical thinking are not skills that come naturally to our students. Rather, they must be nurtured and developed. We want our students to become critical thinkers so they can reason and apply logic to solve novel problems throughout their lives. These skills will set them up to...
Looking for some fun subject and predicate activities you can use with upper elementary students? Find engaging activities and lessons.
I love to read in my class. It is just something that brings so much joy to so many, that I feel like it needs a place of honor in my room. And while we do read our fair share of nonfiction, where I find myself (and my students) drawn to is the fiction stories. They are just so full of awesomeness that I can't help myself. With those great reads comes great lessons. Books (in general) have a beginning, middle, and end. They start with introductions, take the reader through many different actions which lead to the climax, that point we have been waiting for, and then solve the problems with a nice, neat ending. (OK, OK...I know not every.single.book does that, but I am talking in general!) So this past week, I wanted to focus on that story structure we call PLOT and bring it to the attention of my students. One thing that I have been doing, and have written a bit about in the past few weeks, is take a large reading topic (character, setting, plot) and teach it to my students over the course of the week. I break the idea into smaller, 20 minute chunks, and teach from there. It is working so very well! This week's chunk lessons all dealt with the idea of plot and how everything we read follows the same basic "formula". We started with an anchor chart describing each part of the plot diagram. What is exposition? Why is rising action the longest part? What does climax do for the story? Falling action and resolution are different? Then, we discussed how There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar follows this plot structure. I asked them to think-pair-share with a partner to see if they could come up with examples that fall into each of the categories. Then, after a group debrief on their T-P-S, I sent them back to their seats, with a plot diagram I had made and asked them to write down their thoughts. You can grab this diagram here. Day Two and Three had us looking at a story (written by my husband!) and trying to dissect it for plot elements. We read the story aloud, and then color coded the story using our crayons to represent different elements of plot. Deciphering between the exposition and rising action, and then falling action and resolution proved to be quite challenging! Our discussion kept us moving along though and the students were able to do this quite well. On these days, I wanted them to create a little drawing/writing project that would keep them interested in the story and also serve to get their ideas from the oral discussion to a more written, concrete form. So I asked the students to take the color-coded writing and draw a picture for each of the five elements. What picture would represent the exposition? What about the climax? How would the resolution be drawn? For Day Three I asked them to do the same thing, but instead of drawing it, I wanted written EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT (ahhh....getting some of that testing jargon in there!!) Everything seems to go back to that test, doesn't it? That then lead us into the writing portion of this for the week. I wanted the students to be able to write a clear, coherent paragraph on the subject of plot so for Day Four and Five, I had them choose a picture book that they were familiar with. I guided them towards books that I knew had a clear beginning, middle, and end (ie: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans or Stellaluna by Janel Cannon ) and gave them an organizer to fill in outlining the plot details of the story. Then, using a paragraph organizer, I asked them to construct a complete paragraph plot summary. This was to tell what happened in the story, from exposition to resolution, without giving everything way. It was to be barebones and focus on the main ideas in the text. Using the organizer really helped the kids to do this. They were forced to only pick a few of the details, and really helped them to be sure they had parts from each plot element. I wish I had a completed one, but I forgot to take pictures of it! So sorry about that!! So that is what we did for our study of Plot in 5 Days. If you would like to have the full lesson plans, standards addressed, organizers, and all, I have complied them for you in my TpT store. I really, really love how these lessons turned out and kept my kids focused. It was great hearing them talk about Plot even out of context of language arts (ie: in theatre or when discussing a movie they had seen.) I also love that I was able to do this, and produce some bulletin board worthy products, in 5 days! Win-win for all! What are some things you do to teach your students about plot?
Teach upper elementary students about character traits by having them analyze their characters' feelings, actions, thoughts, and dialogue within the story. This blog post contains everything you need for a complete character traits lesson... for free! The reading passages on the anchor chart, the sentence strip activity, and the interactive notebook foldable are all free!
Reading comprehension skills like making inferences, finding the main idea, and recognizing cause and effect are critical curriculum elements in any ELA classroom. As our students build their reading skills, they need to develop their understanding of 12 different reading comprehension skills. One of my favorite ways to teach students about the reading skills is with doodle notes. Don't worry...I've put together a 20+ page set of doodle notes that you can download for FREE! (Sign up at the bottom of this post!) Have you tried doodle notes in your classroom? If so, you know that... ⭐ Doodle notes are a great way to introduce students to important information. These doodle notes include definitions for 12 different reading skills. In addition, there are tips provided for each reading skill to help students use each in their reading. The definitions are simple enough for students to understand, but specific enough to help students recognize the differences in each. ⭐ Doodle notes tap into multiple learning styles. Doodle notes are obviously great for visual learners. They also create a connection between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This leads to an increase in learning, focus, and retention. The doodles on the note pages also help a variety of learners connect images with information. The free set of reading doodle notes also includes 4 versions for easy differentiation. There are doodle pages for lower grades, upper grades, as well as notes that are filled-in or in a guided notes format. ⭐ Doodle notes expose students to skills they can use in the classroom. Doodle notes are a fun and engaging spin on traditional notes. The free set of doodle notes focus on reading comprehension skills. Therefore, they work perfectly as a review of skills before students show off their learning while reading passages. Of course, I think reading passages should be engaging, too. So, some of my favorites to combine with the doodle notes are these... --- Reading Passages and Text-Based Evidence - R.E.A.D. Strategy --- Social Emotional Learning Passages - Read, Doodle and Do --- Nonfiction Reading Passages - Doodle and Do ⭐ Doodle notes are extremely motivating and therefore work as awesome introductions to units. The free set of reading comprehension skills doodle notes are such an awesome way to introduce students to more in-depth reading units. You could easily have students complete the packet of doodle notes before diving deeper into each reading skill. Or, you could have students complete one section of the doodle notes as they learn about different skills. The good news is that I've already created 12 reading mini-units for each reading skill. Find them here. ⭐ Doodle notes help students review and reinforce information naturally. When students complete doodle notes, first, they do the work of adding the notes to their pages. However, their learning doesn't end there. Students are super motivated to doodle, color, and embellish their note pages. As they get creative, they naturally read over and review their learning. It's the perfect way to mix creativity and learning! If you'd like to add this FREE set of reading comprehension doodle notes to your classroom, just add your email and name below. Then, check you inbox for your exclusive freebie!
When students (especially English Language Learners) move beyond the simple verb tenses, confusion can begin to set in. Using timelines helps students visualize and conceptualized the appropriate context for each verb aspect. The following anchor charts are perfect for illustrating each verb tense. Simple Verb Tenses This verb tense is used to express a completed […]
Expanding Sentences Anchor Chart and Mini-Lesson
What do you do when you run out of wall space for your anchor charts? How do you display your anchor charts? Do you make new anchor charts every year? Hello, friends! I am Deb Hanson from Crafting Connections, and you may or may not already know that I am addicted to using anchor charts in the classroom! I frequently blog about the ones I create, and I'm constantly pinning great anchor chart ideas I find on Pinterest! Because of this, a few questions about anchor charts are sent my way throughout the school year. I must admit, a few years ago, I hadn't figured out any great solutions to these common anchor chart problems. However, thanks to Pinterest, I have found some answers that I'm going to share with you today! Question 1: How do you display your anchor charts? Before I found the creative solution shown above, I hung my anchor chart tablet on some hooks that were previously attached to my white board... or I used about 10 heavy-duty clip magnets, which was rather unattractive. The drawback, of course, was losing precious board space. I love this idea first shared by Sam from Fun with Firsties. You just need to mount two large command hooks on an open wall, hang an inexpensive curtain rod on the hooks (I bought one at Walmart for less than $3), and use binder rings to attach your anchor chart to the curtain rod! Voila! Questions 2 & 3: Do you tear the anchor chart out of the notebook to display? If so, what do you do when you run out of wall space for your anchor charts? There are times that I tear my anchor charts out of their notebooks, but it nearly crushes me to do so! Once it gets torn out, it nearly always eventually ends up getting tossed into the garbage, or rolled up and misplaced when I want to find it again. The above solution would make it possible to keep all of those anchor charts in their notebook where they are easy to find! But what about when you want to display multiple anchor charts for an extended period of time? Create an anchor chart binder!! I first discovered this idea on the Teaching My Friends blog. Simply snap a photo of each anchor chart you make, print it out, and place it inside a special binder! Now you can easily refer to various anchor charts throughout the year by finding it in your binder and placing it under your document camera. If you want to download the FREE cover, just click here. I created covers for the next 5 school years! You will find another solution in the answer to Question #6. Question 4: But if you use a binder, don't the students lose that "easy access" to the anchor charts? Not if you create small versions for students to glue inside their interactive notebooks!! This post by Nasreen at Upper Grades are Awesome inspired this solution. When you take a photo to insert into your anchor chart binder, simply make smaller versions for students to glue inside their interactive notebooks. I reduced the size of the photo so that I could fit four onto a page. Each student is given an image to glue inside their interactive notebook! Now they have easy access to their own personal version of the anchor chart. Hop to this blog post to check out my Connections Anchor Chart and to download this interactive notebook FREEBIE! Question 5: Do you make new anchor charts each year? It just depends. I know the purpose of anchor charts is to be interactive, so if it's a more interactive anchor chart (like the adjective anchor chart shown below) I make a new one every year. However, I must admit that there are anchor charts that I make before class, and we do a different type of interactive activity with them after we review the information on the anchor chart. For example, my "Connections" anchor chart is one that I keep from year to year (I feel that the interactive aspect comes when students create the interactive notebook page shown above). Also, other anchor charts, like my context clues anchor chart, is created more for student reference, so I reuse it from year to year. Question 6: Do you have any ready-to-go anchor charts that are available for purchase? Yes, I recently created a set of reading anchor charts. In this packet, you will find 27 personal anchor charts (that can be colored and glued into reading notebooks) and 27 full-page color anchor charts (that can be placed in a flip display book and set on a table). The reading topics covered include making inferences, citing text evidence, author's purpose, main idea, point of view, perspective, text structures, genres, figurative language, context clues, summarizing, plot elements, types of conflict, themes, and much more! Just click HERE to check it out! I have also created language anchor charts that align with the 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade Common Core standards. FREE Newsletter! Blog TpT Store Instagram Facebook Pinterest My YouTube Video
A blog full of tips, lessons, and ideas to use in the upper elementary classroom.
POEMS? That 5-letter word will send shivers down the spines of middle school students. Add in the suggestion of "poetry analysis," and the moans and groans can be heard throughout the hallways! If all this sounds familiar, I have a few teacher tips to help you boost engagement with poems that middle schoolers actually enjoy!
I’m here to share some tried and true tips and tricks to convert your fake readers into real readers. To help our fake readers, we have to identify their coping behaviors that are helping them hide the fact that they aren’t reading. Here is a list of 10 Ways to Spot a Fake Reader: I...
I always look forward to teaching figurative language in my classroom, and idioms in particular. Students get such a kick (note the idiom here) talking about and learning new idioms and we really enjoy doing some fun activities to help kids build a stronger language base. In this post by The Teacher Next Door, you'll read about seven different activities that reinforce idioms and have worked well in the classroom:
Teach character traits in upper elementary through activities, full lesson plans, anchor charts, and small group work! Plus a freebie!
I've been completely enjoying my time in 3rd grade. The kids are a scream! I've been making anchor charts for them because I'm a visual learner. I like to see in print what I am learning. So, I just assume these kids can also benefit - hence the love of anchor charts. I'm literally obsessed with pinning them on my Pinterest account. Anyhow, here's my recent anchor chart for our prefix and suffix lessons coming up: As you can see, I sorta ran out of room with all those suffixes, but it's better in person. It's just a teaching tool....basically so I don't have to keep writing these things on the board each and every day! I know my Phonics chart made a real difference with the kiddos, and that's all the proof I need! It was so handy to scaffold the information from lesson to lesson, and class to class. Frankly, anchor charts make me feel smarter and also make me look good...Why? Because all I have to do to remind myself of the answer is LOOK AT THE CHART! It's all about making things easier for the teacher. At least, that's what I'm discovering each and every day.
Our principal has really been encouraging us to add more writing into our daily lesson plans. "They should be writing all day long" he tells us. The research is there to back him up. I bumped into this Roll and Retell page from Fun In First on Pinterest awhile back and finally figured out how to add it to our learning day. I printed and laminated four copies of the Roll and Retell page to hand out to each of my four table groups. After a round of Daily 5 I handed them out. I also gave each table one die. Each student at the table took turns rolling the die and then answering the question based on the number they rolled. They each used the individual book they were reading to answer the questions. I felt like it would be a great advertisement for new books for each child to read when they were done with the one they were working on. I also knew it would be great oral practice BEFORE they started writing. Once they had a chance to talk about what they were going to write, I set the timer for 5 minutes and let them write. Then we shared our responses. Here are a few of their responses. I had so much success with this activity with my students, that I created versions that cover the standards for 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. There are 6 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Second Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. There are 5 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Third Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. There are 7 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Fourth Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text. Before you go, head on over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway! Every week one lucky winner gets a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card! Dr. Susan Hall, literacy leader and founder of 95 Percent Group, mentions this Roll and Retell Activity as a Reading Comprehension Game that Students Will Want to Play Over and Over! Check it out for the other ideas there as well! What have you tried in your classroom lately? Link up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday and share! This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog. All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. I would love to hear from you! ❤️ Have a question? Idea for a resource you might find helpful? Be so kind and leave a comment below.
