The Great Kapok Tree is a compelling story that teaches about the importance of protecting the environment, particularly the rainforest. It makes a great 3rd, 4th, or 5th read aloud for Earth Day - or any time of year. Below, find questions and activity ideas to use in your upper elementary lesson plans when reading Lynne Cherry's The Great Kapok Tree. Summary of the Read Aloud The Great Kapok Tree A man tires himself as he tries to chop down a kapok tree in the Amazon Rainforest. He falls asleep at the foot of the tree. As he sleeps, different rainforest animals and one indigenous child ..read more

Poems are full of figurative language examples, but both figurative language and poetry can be intimidating topics for 3rd, 4th, and 5th students. Ease them into figurative language in poetry with the kid-friendly examples below. After sharing these examples, use one of these figurative language activity ideas to complete your lesson. Or, spend less time on your poetry lesson plans with these ideas.  Examples of Figurative Language in Poems for Upper Elementary Kids O Wind, Why Do You Never Rest O wind, why do you never rest Wandering, whistling to and fro, Bringing rain out of the ..read more

A Letter From Your Teacher on the Last Day of School is a sweet story that helps 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classrooms reflect on and celebrate the school year. This rhyming book from the teacher's perspective reminds students of what all they accomplished during the school year, lets them know they will be missed, and offers encouragement for the upcoming school year. Below, find questions and activity ideas to use in your upper elementary grade lesson plans when reading A Letter From Your Teacher on the Last Day of School.  Summary of the Read Aloud A Letter From Your Teacher on the L ..read more

The end of the year offers opportunities for some engaging opinion writing! Have 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students reflect on the school year while practicing their writing skills. Use the EOY opinion writing prompts below as inspiration. If your students are still struggling with opinion writing, then these opinion writing tips and paragraph frames can help provide scaffolding.  1. FAVORITE MEMORY Have upper elementary students reflect on the school year and think about their favorite memory. Then, they can share their opinion on it, explaining why it was their favorite. Combine th ..read more

If you start the school year off with the read-aloud First Day Jitters, then you need to end the year with Julie Danneberg's Last Day Blues! At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Hartwell was nervous about teaching her class - but by the end of the year, she is sad to see her students go. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students will get a kick out of this end of year book that provides plenty of opportunities for students to do their own reflecting on the year. Summary of the Read Aloud Last Day Blues As the end of the school year approaches, Mrs. Hartwell tells her class how much she will miss the ..read more

Fact vs opinion sorts Write Your Own Scavenger Hunt Find in Text False / Fact sorts Find the Fib - 1 true fact, 2 fake facts Facts to Support Claims 2 Opposing claims, facts to support both In persuasive texts, determine opinion and find facts that support it Activities to Practice Reading Multisyllabic Words 1. Model Decoding Multisyllabic Words and Phrases Fac vs op 2. Make a Word Wall 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students are past needing an alphabet word wall. Use your wall space more wisely by creating a multisyllabic word wall that students can reference. This is easy to adapt to wha ..read more

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students while sneaking in some fun writing practice with one of the 9 ideas below. It's a win-win for students and teachers! 1. Write a Limerick St. Patrick's Day is an ideal time to teach your upper elementary students about limericks. This fun poem is believed to be named after Limerick, a city in western Ireland. Limericks are supposed to be humorous, making them an engaging introduction to poetry.  Writing a limerick can feel intimidating, however. Students will benefit from a lot of examples and scaffolding. This No Pr ..read more

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students often have difficulty decoding multisyllabic words and will benefit from a variety of opportunities to practice. The 9 activity ideas below will help make teaching decoding multisyllabic words a little easier. Activities to Practice Reading Multisyllabic Words 1. Model Decoding Multisyllabic Words and Phrases This one is obvious, but so important that it's worth mentioning. Students need plenty of opportunities to observe capable readers decoding words. Taking just a few minutes every day to model different strategies will be hugely beneficial. And best of ..read more

Those Shoes is a compelling read aloud about a young boy who cannot afford the pair of shoes that he really wants. The themes of generosity and friendship make it a great picture book to help you set a positive classroom culture in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom. Below, find questions and activity ideas to use in your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade lesson plans when reading Those Shoes. This book's sentence structure and vocabulary are not complicated, so it is often used in younger grade levels. However, the themes of this book are very appropriate and valuable for upper elementary student ..read more

The 8 ideas below will help make creating lesson plans to celebrate Black History Month in your 3rd, 4th, of 5th grade classroom easier. There are writing activities, read aloud suggestions, social studies activities, art and music activities, and no prep activity suggestions, project ideas, free resources, and more. 1. Complete a Black History Month Research Project Give your students the opportunity to research a notable black American of their choice, write a research essay, and share what they have learned with the rest of your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade class. This was a favorite activity ..read more