Fall Break week is both awkward and a total relief. Awkward because a Thursday Thanksgiving holiday means that the week only has two or three days in it, and relief because it represents the end of the drought that is October in the classroom.  Many teachers and students haven’t had a day off from school since Labor Day, and after almost seven weeks, students and teachers alike are more than ... Read More about Thanksgiving-Themed Activities for Fall Break Week

If you’d rather watch paint dry than come up with figurative language examples and activities, give your brain a break because this post will leave you feeling like a kid in a candy store! This blog post contains 40 figurative language examples that will make you cheer like a teacher at a Target sale. Feel free to use these examples to create your own activity, but if you aren’t interested in ... Read More about 40 Figurative Language Examples for Upper Elementary

Close reads have just gotten trendier. In true 2020 fashion, the Close Reading resources with Mystery Pictures that you know and love are now going digital! Close reading strategies are taught to help students explore a text more deeply by digging into the text multiple times, but these aren't just your typical re-reads. Close reads are about changing the lens through which students view the ... Read More about Close Reads with Mystery Pictures are going DIGITAL!!

There are few certainties in the world these days, but one thing I know for sure is that if you teach upper-elementary math, you are going to be teaching place value this year. I also know that if you teach 5th grade, at least one of your students is going to say, “we did this last year.” It’s inevitable because it’s true. Place value is one of the foundational elements of the Common Core, ... Read More about Place Value Resource Round Up

School supplies are on the store shelves which can only mean one thing...it’s BACK TO SCHOOL season. Back to school season has always been one of the most joyous and nerve-inducing times of the year for teachers. Normally, teachers would be decorating their classrooms, buying manipulatives and color-coded bins for new supplies, and dusting off their handy-dandy label makers to prepare for all ... Read More about Back to School Resources for Virtual and Physical Learning Spaces