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The Final Test: A Fun End-of-Year Activity
You know the last days of school can be so difficult to plan for. The schedules are out of whack, the kids are bursting with energy, and you are tired. Real Tired. You’re thinking, what can I do these final days to have some fun. Enter “The Final Test” to the rescue!
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Welcome to 4th Grade: Understanding the Wonderful World of 9 and 10-Year-Olds
Hello there, teacher friend! I’ve seen a lot of teachers on social media who teaching fourth grade for the first time and are wondering, what are fourth graders like? First of all, congratulations on embarking on the exciting journey of teaching fourth grade. Let me follow that by saying that fourth graders are an at…
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Building Math Fact Fluency (Without Tears)
When I called this post “Math Fact Fluency (Without Tears)” you probably thought I meant student tears, but really I really meant your tears. Am I right? There is nothing more frustrating as a teacher than when a student does not have a basic foundational skill like fast recall of their math facts. It’s like…
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9 Fun Games and Activities to Practice Addition and Subtraction of Greater Numbers
The second math unit I teach after place value is addition and subtraction of greater numbers. While on the surface this can be a pretty mundane topic, there are lots of fun ways to spice it up for you and your students. I like to use lots of games and fun activities to practice. Here are…
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Ways to Build Classroom Community at the Start of the Year
The beginning of a new school year is an exciting time for both teachers and students. As educators, one of our primary goals is to create a positive and inclusive learning environment where students feel safe, supported, and connected. Building a strong classroom community from the very start plays a crucial role in fostering a…
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Strategies and Kahoot Games to Practice 4th Grade Measurement and Elapsed Time
I’m not sure why, but Metric and Customary Measurement is a topic which most teachers seem to push off until the very end of the school year. While introducing these topics can be done in about a week, it is always a good practice to tie in these skills into your math and even in…
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Avoiding the Overwhelm with Word Problems
We’ve all been through this. Students can solve problems on a worksheet in isolation, but when they are given the same concept in a word problem, they are lost. No worries. I’ll walk you through how I implement problem solving skills in my classroom. Pay attention to DOK. We know that providing questions with rigor…
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☀️ Sun, ⛺️Fun, 🦜Birds and 📏Measurement Freebies
I hope by now that you are enjoying your summer break. Summer for my wife and I means means spending time outside – particularly camping. So far my wife and I have had three opportunities to take out our camper and enjoy the great outdoors. When our kids were younger, we always camped in a…
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How to Wrap Up a School Year with Fun AND Learning
Even as the year winds down, many kids love to finish goals in their subject areas. I’m big on earning badges through the year to mark learning accomplishments. For example, in my math class, we have 30 topics in an online assessment program (Learning Farm) that kids can earn medals as they show mastery. As…
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Developing Division Fact Fluency
It always cracks me up when a student says “I know my multiplication facts, but I don’t know how to divide.” Many students struggle with the concept of fact families as they relate to multiplication and division. However, developing fluency with basic division facts is a key foundational skill to learning long division. How do you…