With these 6 engaging end of year literacy activities, you can make sure you still keep academics at the forefront of the end of the year but also keep students very engaged! These end of year literacy activities are fun, but also make sure students are learning up to the final days! The Importance of End of Year Literacy Activities  You want students to love the end of the year and not check out. But you also want to finish up anything you need to teach and review all of the literacy skills you have taught throughout the year. These activities do just that! Engage students while re ..read more

Are you looking for engaging activities to make your 4th graders love reading the novel Holes? Look no further! This post will give you a comprehensive list of Holes novel study activities that your young readers will love.  Holes, written by Louis Sachar, is a  children’s novel that intertwines mystery, adventure, and friendship. It tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, a boy who is wrongfully accused of a crime and sent to a juvenile detention camp, Camp Green Lake. As Stanley navigates through the challenges of camp life and unravels the mysteries of the past, students will learn v ..read more

Step into a world of adventure and friendship with our 5 fun and educational Because of Winn-Dixie activities for kids. Based on Kate DiCamillo’s book, Because of Winn-Dixie, these activities will engage your students’ imagination and help them explore important themes like love, forgiveness, and acceptance.  In this post, I am going to share 5 learning activities that you can do to go along with the novel Because of Winn-Dixie.  Because of Winn-Dixie Activity 1: Character Analysis Through Drawing Have students visualize what each character looks like after reading a few chapters. D ..read more

The Wild Robot is a great novel to teach in a 2nd-3rd grade classroom! The Wild Robot reading activities can be engaging and fun for students! It also integrates well into the science curriculum! In this post, I will show you activities that you can do while teaching this novel to your students.  If you have never done a novel study before, I suggest reading this post first with ideas on how to teach a novel study in your classroom.  Why read The Wild Robot in 3rd Grade? The Wild Robot is highly engaging to students at this grade level. It goes through the life of a robot who gets a ..read more

Are you looking for innovative ways to enhance reading comprehension and foster a love for literature among your students? Literature circles or book clubs are exactly what you need! They are really low-prep but super valuable for students. Students learn about comprehension, vocabulary, and so much more. All while creating a love for reading. What do I need for literature circles? Easy, all you need is the books! Get 4-5 copies of the same book, and you are golden! You can use this pack here to provide activities for students to complete with the book. How do I start literature circles? All ..read more

Science of Reading has been a hot topic in literacy classrooms across the country, but the main focus is in lower elementary. So, how do we apply brain research to upper elementary? I am going to share five tips that you can use today to start applying the Science of Reading to your classroom. Science of Reading in Upper Elementary Main Focus: Vocabulary Teaching students high-level vocabulary is the main focus for upper elementary when it comes to the Science of Reading. Students need to experience new vocabulary, learn what to do when they come across new words, and expand their vocabulary ..read more

Are you reading The One and Only Ivan in your classroom? If so, these The One and Only Ivan classroom activities will go perfectly with the book!  The One and Only Ivan Classroom Activities  This novel is great for grades 2-4. You can do an entire novel study, or you can do it as a read aloud. Either way, these activities are great! Visualizing the Domain Visualizing is such a fun activity to do with any novel! Without pictures, it is nice to have students think about what they are reading. It also requires them to work on listening and reading comprehension. After reading all about ..read more

Are you reading Charlotte’s Web with your class? Make teaching Charlotte’s Web low prep for you and engaging for your students! These tips will help you plan out teaching the novel to your students.  Teaching Charlotte’s Web: Unit Plan When planning your unit, you want to make a plan of your goal for the unit. Whenever I am reading novels, my goal is to review all of the comprehension standards that we have learned that year while reading.  Keep the general format the same for each chapter/day. It makes planning so much easier!  Introduction Lesson Before reading, I always hav ..read more

Teaching grammar to 3rd graders can be a little bit stressful, but also so much fun. The stress comes from learning how to teach grammar to 3rd graders in a way that fits into an already busy schedule.  How to Teach Grammar to 3rd Graders: Three Easy Tips I am going to share three tips today that will change the way you teach grammar! They will make it easier, more engaging, and less stressful!  Focus on 10-15 Minutes a Day Don’t stress about fitting an entire grammar section into your daily routine. Just add 10 minutes a day. That is it. You can teach grammar and students can maste ..read more

Teaching writing to third graders can be frustrating at times, but it’s also fun! I am going to share three simple tips to show you how to teach writing to third graders effectively! How to Teach Writing to Third Graders: Three Simple Ideas If you focus on these three things, I promise you will see growth in writing throughout the year! Teaching third graders to write should focus on creativity, grammar, and forming a strong paragraph. With these tips you can do just that!  Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are a great way to start a unit. They give students something to go off of and start ..read more