Teaching using novels is great, but how can you actually assess their comprehension skills? Here are seven ways I’ve used in my upper elementary classroom. Keep students on track during a novel study with these different ideas for assessing comprehension.
Make sure you read to the end for something you can use today! Start with Character Traits as Vocabulary Inferring character traits is one of the skills I love to start the year with. Fourth graders usually have some prior experience, which is helpful. The bonus is that it’s a
Adding Details in Writing One of my biggest pet peeves in writing is when a student will rewrite the exact five sentences from their graphic organizer, call that a paragraph, and tell me they’re finished. Getting students to elaborate and add details to their writing has been extremely challenging. It’s
Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means they earn me a small commission at no cost to you. 🙂 Social Emotional Learning Made Easy Do you ever feel like if you get asked to cover one more topic in the limited time you have, your brain might explode? Me
This post may contain some affiliate links, which means if you click on one of the links and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. You will never incur a fee or charge for this. Reading is my thing. Two things my students learn about me quickly- I love
Understanding the genre of a text is important to determining how to analyze it. You wouldn’t breakdown a fiction text the same way as a nonfiction text, nor would you analyze a mystery text like a science fiction novel. These genre activities will help with introducing genre and reviewing it
Science has always been my weakest subject. So when I first heard about the “science of reading,” I was skeptical, because a) anything involving science is usually harder for me to understand and b) trendy educational movements never last. Lucky Me I had the opportunity to take the LETRS course,
One time, while teaching a grammar lesson, a student pointed out to me, “Hey Mrs. Veise, your voice gets more excited when we’re learning something boring.” Yup. You got me. Not every topic is exciting. That’s why I’ve tried every different engagement trick I can think of to keep my
We’ve all had that class before. The one that never stops talking long enough to breathe. Two things to consider before jumping the gun: Once you’re sure you’ve done what you can, then it’s onto more talking specific strategies for classroom management. Here’s a quick list of strategies I’ve used
Theme days are a great way to create cross-curricular connections and spark higher interest in lessons through the day. This is one of the ways I keep students engaged during any holiday season without excluding others. Halloween is one of those holidays not everyone celebrates. In the past few years,
The first FIVE days of lesson plans for the beginning of the year.Visual, clickable resource grid.Free & delivered to your inbox. 
