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3-5 Upper Elementary

Explore and share tips, strategies, and resources for helping students develop in elementary school grades 3-5.

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A girl is sitting at a desk looking at a tablet. We only see the back of her head. On the tablet screen is a color palette and a drawing of a brown and red farm.

Resources for Using iPads in Grades 3-5

Looking for advice on integrating iPads in grades 3-5? In this curated guide, we've compiled resources to help you find apps, learn about best practices, and explore ideas for engaging activities.

Illio of a hand and arm in a suit holding a feather quill pen

The Power of Poetry in Primary Classrooms

Poetry is an effective tool for broadening elementary students' reading choices, strengthening sentence-level skills, teaching ELLs about English, and reinforcing learning across many subjects.

5 Ways Literature Can Teach Global Lessons in Elementary Classes

Becky Morales, creator of Kid World Citizen, offers five ideas for using literature about children and families in other parts of the world to broaden the minds of U.S. elementary students.

Building Brain Literacy in Elementary Students

Neurologist, teacher, and author Judy Willis discusses the benefits of teaching elementary students how their brains work.

Common Core Standard: Third Grade Math Strategies

Mary Beth Hertz suggests some student-centered learning methods to meet the Common Core requirement of teaching multiplication and division to third graders.

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When Behavior Charts Don't Work, Throw Them Out!

Last comment 6 days 23 hours ago
46 2,733 34,633 views

Counted Thread Embroidery: Does it Have a Place in the Classroom?

Last comment 1 week 6 days ago
4

Move Your Body, Grow Your Brain

Last comment 3 weeks 6 days ago
52 879 49,333 views
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The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn

Wed, 05/03/2017 - 13:08
19 2,487 438 views

Birmingham Covington: Building a Student-Centered School

Thu, 04/06/2017 - 14:00
40 10,114 26,646 views

Back to School: A Surefire Strategy for Building Classroom Community

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 17:00
21 64 103,397 views
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A photo shot from above of four girls working together at a table.
Article

Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom Is Key

Teach students how to listen and ask good questions with these exercises designed to scaffold deep, meaningful collaboration.

747 715 views
Musical notes flow across a blackboard from a piece of chalk held by a student.
Article

Music as a Teaching Tool

Incorporating music into almost any class can be a great way to teach content—and it doesn’t take special training or expensive resources.

1 2,132 3,772 views
An outdoor stage at the author’s school
Article

Setting the Stage for Arts Integration

A school in Louisiana got a start on developing a standards-aligned, arts-integrated curriculum by building a puppet theater.

1 869 1,444 views
A young girl takes a quick break in class, lying on a rug with her eyes closed.
Article

Entering the Quiet Zone

Giving students a dedicated spot in the classroom to collect themselves helps them learn to manage their emotions—a valuable life skill.

10 1,519 1,940 views
Two smiling girls stare into each other’s eyes in class.
Article

Concentrating on Concentration

Help your students increase their ability to concentrate with these exercises and discussion prompts.

8 339 5,507 views
The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus & Learn
Article

The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn

Imagine a safe space where students with autism can go to calm their bodies and then get back to the business of learning.

19 2,487 438 views
Tech Buddies: Building Technology Skills Through Peer Teaching
Article

Tech Buddies: Building Technology Skills Through Peer Teaching

See the learning on both sides when fifth graders teach computer skills to first graders.

5 163 469 views

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A young boy in a large-striped red and blue polar shirt is sitting at his desk with his head down in a book.
Article

What Doesn't Work: Literacy Practices We Should Abandon

The number one concern that I hear from educators is lack of time, particularly lack of instructional time with students. Although we can't entirely solve the time problem, we can mitigate it by carefully analyzing our use of class time.

122 52,785 1,298,117 views
Article

7 Apps for Teaching Children Coding Skills

If you're concerned that a) elementary school students don't have the ability to code, b) there's no room in the curriculum, and c) you don't possess coding chops to teach programming skills, throw out those worries. Explore these free, or almost free, tools...

42 224 748,883 views
Article

11 Alternatives to "Round Robin" (and "Popcorn") Reading

Rather than intimidating young readers with ancient pedagogy, encourage and empower them with livelier strategies such as partner reading or the manic Crazy Professor Game.

83 6,021 471,873 views
A girl looks at a math app on a tablet screen.
Article

Using Math Apps to Increase Understanding

These 10 free or low-cost apps turn learning math into a game.

7 910 366,333 views
Article

22 Simple Ideas for Harnessing Creativity in the Elementary Classroom

Kindergarten inclusion teacher Trisha Riche' inspires her students -- and her readers -- to play, learn and teach outside of the box.

31 974 210,781 views
Article

Motivating the Unmotivated

A simple, no-cost video chat program motivates unruly, disengaged elementary and middle school students through relationships with high school students who demonstrate the value of education.

36 1,740 208,290 views
photo of teacher in front of an engaged classroom
Article

6 Engaging End-of-Year Projects

Consider one of these six engaging and creative student projects to wrap of the school year.

20 5,864 192,095 views

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