What’s the big idea?  It may have been a go-to line for the Three Stooges, but many upper elementary teachers are asking the same question to their students almost every day, and have been for many years. Today we are going to provide two brand-new strategies for discussing and identifying the main idea. Before we begin though, let’s get on the same page. What is the Main Idea? The main ... Read More about 2 Unique Strategies for Teaching Main Idea

A Year of Literacy Lessons: Close Reads by Month Reading never goes out of style, and here at Fun in 5th Grade, we have reading passages for all seasons. From Football in the fall to Mardi Gras or even some Sweet Treat history for National Dessert Day in October, we have engaging reading passages for every season, and the list just keeps getting bigger.  When we design lessons, we aim to ... Read More about 12 Months of Close Reads

Why should we review classroom procedures after break? I hate to break it to you, but the honeymoon period is officially over. You all know what I’m talking about. Those blissful beginning weeks of school when behavior issues are at a minimum and students seem to be genuinely excited to be at school...those days are coming to an end. This year many of us were lucky and the back-to-school ... Read More about Why you should review classroom procedures after break!

No matter how many new ideas enter the educational world, one thing is for certain... New content is going to be introduced to students...obviously.  But learning new content is hard for many students and for most, organizing it is even harder.  Using educational flipbooks while teaching new content is exactly what your students need as they conquer the new content in your ... Read More about How to use Educational Flipbooks for Digital Learning