6 trait writing ties in seamlessly to the Common Core standards. Teaching one strategy at a time makes being successful a reality for every student with improving their writing skills. These ideas are for any grade level (just adapt and adjust as we all do). If you haven’t used the six traits of writing before, just … Read more
Six trait writing process makes teaching writing strategies a snap. The key is to use mentor texts for modeling and provide lots of practice. The beauty of using mentor texts with the six trait writing process is that they are meant to be used for many purposes, they are to be imitated and help our … Read more
Use creative story ideas for teaching narrative writing! Find out just how easy it is to use these short story writing tips. Have you ever wondered why some teachers are just better at teaching children creative writing? It seems their students do not struggle with how to write a narrative. They have loads of creative stories, and look … Read more
The truth about using creative writing prompts in an elementary classroom – this is what works and these are my best prompts for getting your students to write! The best ideas come from experience, and students must be able to web their thoughts prior to putting them on paper. Using story starters is a great … Read more
Quick and easy creative writing topics that will spice up your journal writing time – any grade level can use these! Students often need a prompt to jump-start their brains. Some children really struggle with finding enough to say that they think is worthwhile. The more you prepare your students for the task at hand, … Read more
Bored with the same old creative writing ideas? These prompts are perfect for the primary classroom. Just like reading, kids need to be writing a lot. We need to saturate them with quality pieces as mentor texts and provide them with real reasons to write. Even our youngest students should be creating meaningful and authentic … Read more
You will be amazed at how eagerly your students will take to this five paragraph essay lesson. I guarantee that they will beg to write (a little show and tell never hurts either!). Organizing thoughts in expository writing (sometimes referred to as “explanatory writing”) is difficult for children. Often they do not even understand that … Read more
Make paragraph structure easy for students to visualize using the Stoplight Writing method. The question “How to write an essay?” becomes easy to answer. Stoplight writing is an essay writing format that teaches students how to use a basic paragraph structure. This way of teaching was developed by the Step Up To Writing program. The … Read more
These are rigorous rubrics for writing, K-5, to guide and evaluate grammar and mechanics instruction. Most teachers are very good at coming up with creative writing ideas and using the 6 Traits of Writing, but consistently teaching grammar and mechanics is sometimes a struggle. Some have even – gulp! – completely ignored implementing consistent … Read more
Kindergarten writing activities set the stage for life-long learning and writing. This is a time to razzle dazzle your kids while still meeting your standards. Did you know that high-achieving schools do two to six times as much authentic reading and writing as other schools? Through teacher modeling and interactive writing experiences, we can have … Read more
Teaching writing to elementary students happens over a series of scaffolded stages. A gradual release towards independence will result in improving writing skills. 4 Developmental Stages of Writing The four stages of teaching good writing is a gradual release from teacher-directed to complete independence. It is tightly controlled to ensure success, yet the lessons can … Read more
These 6 ideas for teaching writing can be used in any classroom – with any subject. The foundation of a writing framework is to “romance” your students into wanting to write and to love expressing themselves in a variety of forms. Writing should be a pleasure, for both students and the teacher. Often teachers become … Read more
Essential lessons for teaching writing skills to children and creative writing prompts with rigorous rubrics for grading. We learn to write by the act of writing. Often we teachers get a bit too caught up in making everything a formal lesson, don’t we? There is a time and a place for writing lessons. Yet there … Read more
Boo! Stir up some spooky fun with Halloween science. These quick and easy experiments keep the focus on academics but are full of spooky fun. Science is a terrific subject to delve further into during Halloween. Halloween science is full of mysterious concoctions, strange spooky sounds and sets a great stage for either demonstrations your … Read more
Everyone knows the alka seltzer rocket experiment, but not everyone has seen a ghost fly! Scare up your lesson plans with an easy example of a chemical reaction. This Halloween activity is so easy, and nothing is more fun than watching your students’ faces when the first ghastly ghost takes off into the air. It’s … Read more
Sir Isaac Newton would be proud: Can you catch the Boo Bomb or will you use too much force and break it? Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object in motion stays in motion unless an external force is applied against it. There’s a lot of ways to teach this, but nothing is as fun … Read more
How can you make teaching the water cycle for kids really fun? Use a song, a simple explanation of the water cycle, and make a fun project that showcases their learning. This is the stuff kids love and remember. When we make it fun, even difficult topics become easier. Science projects are a great way … Read more
What could be more fun when finishing up a unit on clouds than painting them with puffy paint? This cloud naming lesson is so much fun, and really shows if the students have developed a strong metacognition about the topic. One of our content strands is the atmosphere. It’s huge, so by necessity we have … Read more
Even our youngest geologists can understand core sampling cupcakes! Inquiry skills and deductive reasoning form a sweet hypothesis children will not forget. Core sampling is what geologists do when they are trying to “see” beneath the surface of the earth. They take a variety of samples from different locations using coring devices made of metal. … Read more
How delicious! Make an edible sedimentary rock formation that tells a story from the time of the dinosaurs. Geologists classify rocks according to where they come from and how they are formed. One of the most fun types of rocks for the younger crowd are sedimentary rocks. These are the rocks you will find fossils … Read more
Rock cycle hands on activities for the elementary classroom, including a song and video explanation. Teaching kids how rocks can change into other types is a messy business because it can be really confusing. When I moved to third grade so many years ago, I found myself having to learn about the rock cycle. I … Read more
Rocks and minerals facts and information, plus a great lesson your students will love to take a bite out of. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. Minerals will look the same both inside and out. Rocks, on the other hand, are made from minerals and may not look the same on the inside as … Read more
Ready to take an abstract concept into a fun-filled hands on science activity? Rocks and minerals for kids lets students be geologists by exploring candy! Give a kid a box of different types of rocks and minerals, and they are completely entertained for hours – if you give them the right activities. Minerals are inorganic, … Read more
Fun and easy lessons about geology lesson ideas that any elementary science classroom can use. I can’t believe I once thought rocks and minerals would be boring! This is one of my favorite areas of science. There is just so much we can do to make geology a fascinating subject for our students. It is … Read more
Plant adaptations are fascinating – when young kids realize that many plants eat meat, smell like poop and have needs much like our own, they instantly turn into little botanists that want to know more! For example, here is the lovely rafflesia, one of the largest and smelliest plants in the world. This 24 pound … Read more