Looking to use math menus or choice boards for math? Here are must-do and may-do math menu activities I offer in my fifth grade class. I’ll also explain how I structure my block and assess the work my students do when we use menus for math!
Teaching your students how to do multiplication algorithms different ways will help them understand how multi-digit multiplication works. These four multi-digit multiplication algorithms are perfect for upper-elementary!
Planning as a First-Year Teacher I remember the first year I had my own classroom. I’d proudlyplanned out my first week early on in the summer (even before I had a job linedup) but once the school year began, it became evident that I had not plannedenough. Kids were consistently
The first week of school… For the first week of school, my goals are always the same: Choose intentional activities to build classroom community, introduce the kids to each other, and help them get to know me. Figure out who my most needy students are. This can be students who
One of my goals is to play and create more math games. I’ve been trying to come up with math games that are fun and that allow students time to practice the specific skills that we’re working on. Here are five fun math division games for 4th grade that you can use as math stations instead of assigning more division worksheets!
Grade 5 social studies is one of my favourite subjects to teach, but would you believe it was one of my least favourite subjects as a student? Well, 99% of the time I was in an elementary social studies class, we were reading a textbook and answering questions about it. I love reading, but even I found that boring! Reading comprehension is not what social studies is about.
There are so many fun poetry activities middle school teachers can easily bring into their classroom! Bring poetry alive with these 11 ideas.
A few years ago, I was teaching kids how to translate patterns. One boy was really struggling with it. I asked if he spoke another language, thinking we could use translating words as a jumping-off point. He said he spoke Mandarin but admitted that he didn’t “feel right” or “comfortable” speaking it at school. He turned to a friend and asked – “are we allowed to speak our language at school?”
Financial literacy is an absolutely fundamental math skill, so it’s so important to give students time to practice working with money all year long. One of my favourite ways to get some quick Canadian money practice in is with slap games. Slap games are probably the Canadian money teaching resources that I use most frequently. They’re a great way to practice concepts when you have a few spare minutes in your day. They’re also so easy to play – all you need is a projector and you’re ready to go! I also love that there is no set-up or clean-up required. I don’t know about you, but I find a counter or two on the floor every time we pull out our laminated math games!
When it comes to Canadian financial literacy, there are three kinds of slap games I play with my students and each one is for a different skill…
Since I’ve started teaching, I’ve been on the hunt for good books featuring mixed-race characters. Finding children’s books with biracial characters is even more difficult. Based on purely anecdotal evidence, it seems easier to find books featuring biracial characters with one Black and one white parent than mixed-race kids from other racial backgrounds. I’ll have to make a longer list of books with mixed-race protagonists later, but for now I just want to share three that I really wish I had access to as a kid. It’s probably no coincidence that all three protagonists are half-Asian and half-white like me.
I’m a grade five teacher in beautiful B.C. I love teaching fifth graders because they’re old enough to have big conversations but still eager to have fun and use their imaginations. In the classroom, I love talking about social justice, engaging in hands-on math, and sharing great books. At home, you can probably find me creating resources for teachers, reading in a chair by the window, or buying more books.