As a teacher, one of the most important aspects of fostering a successful learning environment is understanding the unique personalities of your students. Every child learns differently, and knowing how to adapt your teaching style to fit these personalities can make a big difference in engagement, motivation, and classroom management. One useful tool for understanding…
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Teaching 5th Grade Place Value, Decimals to Thousandths, Activities and Resources
Decimal place value is sometimes difficult for students to grasp because it introduces concepts and words similar but different from those students have already learned. Then it puts those same concepts in reverse order. When learning place value, students have already learned ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and get bigger. Now “-ths” is added to the…
Read moreFuns Ways to Prevent the Summer Slide for Young Students
A few years ago, I learned some interesting statistics about how summer vacation impacts a child’s knowledge retention. Between 70% and 78% of students experience a decline in math skills over the summer across elementary grades. The summer between 5th and 6th grades is one of the worst, where 84% of students demonstrate summer slide…
Read moreTeaching Place Value to 1,000,000 with Minecraft Uno Cards
Do you have a fourth grader learning place value to one million? Here’s a quick idea on how to make it more fun. Create a color coded place value mat. Then use uno cards that match each color to teach the place value. Start by teaching just the ones. Refresh on saying the random numbers…
Read moreWeek 21: First Grade Lesson Plan
Lesson Topics Holidays: MLK Days, Inauguration Day (2020) MATH Go Math Addition Concepts – Chapter 8 READING/ELA Honey Bees Phonemic Awareness: Substitute short e for /e/ Blend and Segment Syllables Identify and Isolate Phonemes Phonics: Long e: e, ee Syllables VCCV Comprehension: Compare and Contrast Preview Grammar: Nouns in Sentences Antonyms Writing Trait: Focus/Ideas Sight…
Read moreFirst Grade Homeschool Curriculum & Lesson Plans
After trying virtual school for several weeks with my first grader during the COVID pandemic, I made the decision to pull her and do homeschool. Like many parents, I was concerned about not picking the right curriculum. I decided to stick with the reading and math books we were utilizing already in her school, while…
Read moreFirst Grade Telling Time Activities & Lessons
Teaching first grade kids how to tell time can be a challenge. Before teaching time, it might be a good idea to teach them fractions. Once they’ve mastered fractions, it will be easier to teach them what whole, half, and quarter hours mean. It is also a good idea to both a digital clock and…
Read moreWeek 20: First Grade Lesson Plan
Lesson Topics MATH Go Math Addition Concepts – Chapter 7 Telling Time READING/ELA Honey Bees Phonemic Awareness: Substitute Phonemes Add Final Phonemes /t/, /d/, /ed/ Blend and Segment Phonemes Phonics: Long u (CVCe), Long e (CVCe), and Inflected Endings -ed Comprehension: Author’s Purpose Preview the Text Grammar: One and More Than One Writing Trait: Voice…
Read moreGrowth Mindset : New Year Lesson Ideas for First Grade
Children’s belief systems define their success. Teaching growth mindset is a way to help them improve their self-esteem. Growth mindset is the opposite of a fixed mindset. A child with a fixed mindset believes they cannot change their character, creativity, or potential for success. By teaching growth mindset, children learn how to face challenges with…
Read moreTeaching Fractions in First Grade
Are you ready to teach your first grader the concepts of what a fraction is, but you don’t know where to start? You’ve landed in the right spot. The resources linked here are great for teaching whole, halves, and quarters. I recommend teaching these concepts before teaching time. Once your first grader has mastered understanding…
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