Our art and craft printables have moved and can now be found HERE>>>
Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX. The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia. She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident. In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A.. … Read more... →
Attention Getters will cut out your classroom chaos and work for all grade levels. Attention getters in the classroom are the perfect solution if you are...
Homeschool resource or school teacher printable. Lined handwriting paper with picture window for a student to draw artwork.
Using sentence frames to get ell students writing. Click here for more:
This is a great reference sheet either as a homework helper or for referring to in class. It is bright and colorful but easy on the color ink. There are a few versions. One for younger grade levels and 3 for older grades.
10 Creative Art Activities for Kids, including free printable drawing prompts and art collages, plus many more creative art ideas!
Don’t get me wrong — I love candy. And, a jolly rancher, a tootsie roll, or a starburst can work wonders in the classroom for student motivation and enthusiasm. So can pizza parties, and cupcake days, and brunch, and…I’ve had so many types of food parties I can’t even keep track! Recently, however, I’ve been […]
Top online learning sties for upper elementary classrooms for in school or home or distant or remote learning. Websites for reading, language arts, math, science and art included.
Teach children art history through a variety of fun art projects and lessons. We love using artists as inspiration for our own creations.
Grab your FREE hair salon scissor skills printable to use with your preschool and kindergarten students! Use at home and at school!
Beanbags, Hula-Hoops, Frisbees, and more games kids love.
Need to help your students get more hands on practice for their vocabulary words? I've got 5 fun vocabulary games you can use right away!
Don't let a short schedule keep you from providing engaging library programming. These 30-minute library lessons are perfect for librarians!
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
I'm always looking for new, fun ways to have students teach and practice our standards. This year, the rise in popularity of escape rooms really inspired me to figure out how they actually work in the elementary classroom. Here's how to do an escape classroom in elementary!
Helpful free Montessori elementary resources for Montessori elementary teachers and homeschoolers looking for specific 6-9 and 9-12 Montessori elementary materials
Have your students demonstrate their understanding of many different math concepts while designing a map of their own town! This hands-on math activity is a project that will definitely engage your students. File Type PDF
A place value Cheerio tower? Genius!
Classroom rewards don’t even have to cost teachers a penny. They can be cheap, free, and easy. Here are 60 ideas for fun whole class and individual student rewards including many that don't cost money. There are simple reward ideas that can easily be used with whatever positive reinforcement system you're using for behavior management in your kindergarten or elementary classroom. Party ideas, non-food, and intangible options are included.
Check out this free list of brain breaks for kids that you can do in your upper elementary classroom. Refresh their brains with easy and fun brain breaks!
Empower ELL newcomers with essential classroom English phrases using this resource pack designed for beginners. Perfect for mastering survival English skills.
This year is the 10 year anniversary of International Dot Day and the 15th anniversary of the publication of The Dot. People all around the world celebrate creative expression, inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ picture book, The Dot. Every year, Dot Day falls on or near September 15. I’d like to share how I helped my K-2 students explore their own creativity this year for
Hi! The winner of the Createures game is Karen Riehle. Congrats! I love GIVEAWAYS. Another one will be coming soon in the next couple of weeks! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you.) Candlewick Press sent me a review copy of the book Birds by Carme Lemniscates, along with a few free activity downloads to share with you. See the bottom of this blog post for the bird activity printable downloads. Birds is a thoughtful, poetic homage … Read more... →
Make learning about geography engaging and fun for your young learners! Your students will have an opportunity to read about the landforms and bodies of water first, answer some comprehension questions and then construct 2 layered books with the definitions for each landform/body of water. Here is what’s included: - 2 Reading Passages: Landforms and Bodies of Water - Comprehension Questions - Templates - Detailed Instructions - Answer Keys for everything For Grades 2-4
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Use this collection of Vincent Van Gogh teaching resources and complete Famous Artist Unit lesson plans for elementary art classes.
There are so many ways to use math task cards in upper elementary and middle school. This game uses math task cards with a bit of a twist!
Classroom team-building games are a must at the start of a new school year! Here are 16 of my favorite icebreakers and classroom team-building activities!
This FREE literature-based unit study introduces students to 16 different countries and cultures around the world.
Haven't tried a book tasting with your students yet? This fun reading activity is an awesome way to introduce genres in your elementary classroom or library!
Combine Art with Anatomy in this X-Ray Skeleton Hand Lesson! This project is perfect for elementary art, but could be a fun Skeletal System Activity for Middle and Highschool as well! A perfect Fall Art Activity, it's spooky enough for Halloween art while also teaching important shading skills and s...
Learn 5 engaging states of matter hands on experiments and activities to teach grade 4 5 6 students in your classroom.
These spooky mummy eyes are such a fun Halloween project! I saw a version of this project online and just had to recreate it. The oil pastels are a bit messy but this is a no-paint project that can be completed in one art session.
So, yesterday I showed you how I got my angle studies kicked off with my students–how I solidified understanding of “right angle”. We had lots left to accomplish–so I’ll try to share some of the different lessons and activities we did over the next days! Tip 1: If you can get your hands on thin […]
How (and how NOT to) plan Genius Hour in an elementary classroom. Genius Hour ideas for second, third and fourth grade. Projects, organization, classroom management, and planning for passion projects.
Give your students a taste of adventure with over 20 free digital escape rooms to try at home or at school. Doing distance learning? These are perfect!
This is GREAT way to motivate your students to write about their Art! I use this with 3rd-5th graders. The simple questions get right to the point and let my students know what I want to read about. I will often post these beside art that's on display to reveal more meaning behind my little artists'...
