Simple yet engaging ways to make your upper elementary lessons meaningful and fun!
π’π΄ The Cinco de Mayo lesson everyone can get something out of
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βββ Trying to make history interesting, Reader? It can be a tough sell. One quick way to reel them in? Find a story they can see themselves in. And the Battle of Puebla has that built in. You've got: π’ A smaller Mexican army. It's the kind of underdog story students connect to. But hereβs the problem: Reading passages about historical events tend to be long. And dry. And hard to understand. So when a teacher told me this Cinco de Mayo scavenger hunt worked in her class because: βThe bite-sized text helped my reluctant readers.β Well, it made my heart happy, let's put it that way. Because the real history of Cinco de Mayo is too important, and honestly too interesting, to be something only your strongest readers get to engage with. β‘οΈβ‘οΈ With this scavenger hunt, students read short nonfiction fact cards, answer text-based questions, and move through the room while they learn the story behind May 5th.
Students will: β
read quick nonfiction fact cards Itβs low prep. Talk soon, P.S. Scavenger hunts are a great test-prep boredom buster, #justsayin
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Creatively Comprehensive
Simple yet engaging ways to make your upper elementary lessons meaningful and fun!
Not everything needs to be invented from scratch, Reader. So if you need to come up with a way for students to respond to reading that doesn't interfere with your plans to binge The Pitt this week (because how is it the season finale already), may I humbly suggest this done-for-you option: JUST HIT PRINT They work with independent reading, centers, homework, small groups, and pair beautifully with whatever reading curriculum you are already using. So instead of spending your evening coming up...
Earth Day Every Day, Reader. ...unless you're a busy teacher prepping for test season. As much as torn construction paper collages and recycled art projects have their moment, this time of year is not exactly overflowing with extra wiggle room in upper elementary. You need your seasonal activities to pull their weight. Luckily, this one does: GET THE SCAVENGER HUNT Students move around the room reading Earth Day fact cards, answering text-based questions, working with vocabulary, and...
We're trying something new, Reader: Every Friday until the end of the school year, Iβm sending a short note built around one real teacher question. Not the kind you're asking your admin. The real kind. The questions that show up in the teacher's lounge, next to the copier that seamlessly ran off 27 of 28 copies before breaking down. So letβs start here: Is it too late to start something new in April? For a brand-new system with twelve moving parts and a learning curve? Yes. For something...