Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love sharing it with my family and my students. Over the years, I’ve found or created a few Thanksgiving activities for upper elementary students that keep the learning going but are still fun! This post contains affiliate links.…

Look. I’m not trying to be a party pooper. I swear. But….Halloween at school stresses me out! All I want on Halloween is a quiet day. No party. No costumes. No craziness. On the other hand, I don’t want to be *that* teacher. So…

As my classroom has transitioned to anchor charts created with students, I’ve found less need for all the fancy posters I’ve purchased over the years. Check out how we made a mini-thesaurus from an old poster! We used this poster, and it’s been a huge hit!…

I’d like to preface this blog post with a friendly reminder: I am NOT a morning person. I am a bleary-eyed, coffee-clutching, stumbling fool before about 9:00 am. Yet… MY SCHOOL STARTS AT 7:30. Students begin arriving at 7:20. I needed a way to…

Are you looking to up your small group reading game this summer? Check out this summer book study at Adventures in Literacy Land! I’m a guest blogger over there – giving you all the info on chapter 2 of this awesome book. Grab your…

Happy Friday, friends! I’m so glad that spring is finally here and the weather is slowly, but surely, improving in our corner of the world. Today I want to share with you a step by step process for introducing your writers to a new…

I can’t believe that winter break is here already! This year is flying by, and I can definitely tell that it’s time for a break. My students are moody. Chatty. Cranky. AND sick of each other. They have been seeing the same people day…

Ah, beginning of the year writing samples. They are the best, aren’t they? {eye roll} It’s clear that most kids have not picked up a pencil all summer long, let alone written words, and you can forget about stringing them together into a sentence.…

Every August, I take a poll in my 5th grade classroom. Everyone gets to vote for their favorite subject. Each year, hands wave for reading, science, writing and social studies. But, inevitably, math is always the biggest loser. Maybe one or two hands shyly…

One of the best things about 5th graders is their ability to adapt to a new situation and make it theirs in a heartbeat. AND I love using that to my advantage when it comes to setting up the classroom. This year, I couldn’t…