Many United States teachers may not have heard of the term "hot seating" yet, but we envision this creative teaching idea jumping across the pond from the U.K very soon! Overview “Hot Seating” is a teaching strategy in which either the teacher or student takes on the role of a character from a book or real person and sits in the hot seat. Then the other classmates ask questions and the person in the “hot seat” must answer the questions the way the character or historical figure would have answered. Background Knowledge For “Hot Seating” to be effective, students involved must have background knowledge of the character/person. This will need to take place during normal classroom instruction or outside of school. In order for students to acquire the background knowledge, they must do the research/read the book. Acquiring background knowledge can be accomplished through a variety of ways: Classroom textbook/or literature book  Books from the school or public library  ...
Are you looking for ideas for an end of year ceremony? You will find creative ideas for before, during, and after the ceremony! Your students will be engaged, your parents will be shedding tears, and you will be a rock star! Read on to find out more and grab a freebie! BEFORE THE CEREMONY 1.  WIGGLE WORMS:   All children get a little wiggly when it comes to sitting for a lengthy period of time.  Promise a handful of gummy worms after the ceremony and tell them to wiggly the worms into their mouths! 2.  INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY:   Students need an independent, quiet activity while you are gathering last minute materials or you are all waiting to be called to the auditorium. Here are some great ways to motivate students and keep them engaged while you run around making sure everything is ready! a.  Memory or Reflection Activities  Ideas the can easily be written on the board:     *  Favorite memory of the year.     *  Write to next year's class and tell them what to e...
Are you a huge fan of task cards, too? I believe it was about 4 years ago when I was introduced to them. I was coteaching in a 3rd grade classroom, and when I stepped into that classroom one day, I observed kids scattered throughout the room, each quietly working with a laminated card of some sort. I was so impressed  at how engaged each student was with his or her card. I quickly learned that students were reading the card, performing the task (making inferences was the focus skill for this set, so students were reading a short passage and then answering an inference question), and then recording their answer on another full sheet of paper. When they were finished with the card, they moved on to another card that they hadn't yet completed. From that day forward, I was hooked! I love task cards for so many reasons, but this brief list touches on my top 5 reasons for using them regularly with students. 1.   They are more engaging than worksheets. Glancing at a workshee...
Math manipulatives are expensive, especially if you are on a budget!  I took a trip to the local dollar store and for under $30, I was able to create an entire class set of nine different manipulatives!  Here is what I used:  Self-adhesive foam sheets, 1 package of foam cubes, and...... that's it!  Yep, that's it! While you can use the non self-adhesive foam sheets, I personally like to use the self-adhesive.  This way if I choose to use a template, I can easily attach the template to the foam sheets and then easily cut my manipulatives.   DIY Dice I love these for a number of reasons.  First, they came in a package of 30 for one dollar.  Second, who wouldn't love a classroom set of dice that can't be heard????  These cubes can serve multiple purposes.  Create the traditional die, a die with numbers, fractions, or operation symbols.  You name it, you can make it! DIY Colored Tiles Colored tiles can be made with these foam sheets by simply cuttin...
If you are one of the many upper elementary teachers who incorporate some type of book clubs or literature circles in your classroom, you'll want to grab a cup of coffee and check out today's post!  See if you might find a new helpful hint or idea to shake things up for your next round of book clubs! There are tons of decisions that need to be made before book clubs, aren't there?  What books?  Who will read each book?  How will I decide?  How much can they read each day?  What reading and writing skills will we work on?  What OTHER skills (cooperation, "accountable talk", technology, and so many  more!).  How can I get to each group and keep the other students working? It's no wonder teachers are tired! So let's think about how many different ways we can do book clubs--and this is just a sampling!   Small groups talk and reflect on a read aloud book (picture book or section of a novel) Small groups work to read a whole-class novel in s...
Many believe that two heads are better than one. But here at Upper Elementary Snapshots, we believe that 13 heads are better than one!!  So who are we? We are a group of 13 teachers, bloggers, and curriculum developers, who have come together to share, collaborate, and work to bring quality ideas, lessons, resources, and inspiration to upper elementary teachers throughout the world. Today we would like to share with you the inspiration behind our collaborative blog, how we connect, communicate, and collaborate, and how we have come together to explore new ideas. At Upper Elementary Snapshots, we feel that we have created a community of teachers, who are working together toward one common goal: Inspiring teachers and enriching  the educational experience for all of our students. When we refer to the Upper Elementary Snapshots community, that doesn’t just include us as bloggers, but also includes each and everyone of you who read, share, and inspire each of our posts. Clic...