Task Cards 101

…If you provide an answer key, students can self-check their work. Another option is to write the answer directly on the back of each card. Independent Work – Students could…

Creating a Caring Classroom Family

…that “gratitude always precedes the miracle.” Keep blank thank-you note cards available in a writing center to encourage students to share their appreciations. How do you teach students to not…

What Every New Teacher Needs to Know

…kid. Linda Doering – Gravitate towards positive colleagues who inspire others & students alike. Keep a journal, and for the first year really do reflections – in writing – on…

Solving Unknown Perimeter Mysteries

students their own copies of this page and colored pencils to follow along and practice with you. Next, Joy shows her students how they can use addition and subtraction to…

Daily Math Problem Solving and the Common Core

…free Problem Solving Assessment packet to be really helpful because each page of the assessment requires students to show their work. You can also require students to explain their answers…

Weathering, Erosion, or Deposition?

…of my favorite projects is to have students work in teams to create islands from salt dough, and each island has to include specific landforms. When students share about their…

Spelling Stories – Creativity Unleashed!

…your students’ creative talents with spelling stories. Tips for Assigning Spelling Stories For several weeks before you ask your students to write stories with their spelling words, have them write…

6 Reasons to Teach Poetry in the Fall

…yet powerful language. When I introduce poetry in 4th and 5th grade, I start with free verse rather than rhyming poems because I want my students to notice how the…

You Can Put a STOP to Classroom Disruption!

…to keep students on task during cooperative learning lessons. This strategy is for “whole class” management when students are moving about the room or working in teams. It should not…

Math is More Than a Numbers Game

…tool for building math vocabulary. Mystery Number Detectives takes only a few minutes a day to play and requires very few materials, but while students are playing the game, they’re…