I have not always taught complex sentences to my upper grade students. It was not on my curriculum standards.... So, I didn't teach it... Then, our standards changed! Complex sentences became a part of my language arts curriculum standards, and I was faced with the challenge of how to teach them to my fourth graders so that they would "get it." Truthfully, I was nervous and uncertain that I would be able to meet this challenge. To my surprise, my students exceeded my expectations and were not only able to recognize complex sentences, but more importantly, they were able to use complex sentences in their own writing. This was a game changer for me and such an eye-opener! I realized the potential that this skill could have on my students' writing! Teaching complex sentences became such a very important language arts standard to me that I realized that I needed to teach it early in the school year to have the most benefit for my students.  I want to share with yo......

Reading teachers cover a wide variety of  genres: realistic fiction, folktales, fairy tales, mysteries, historical fiction, etc. One genre, tall tales, may be considered by most a genre only for lower grades, but there are many wonderful reasons to use tall tales in upper grades as well! Using tall tales to teach reading in upper grades can be fun and beneficial for our students. My Favorite Tall Tale Books There are many wonderful tall tale picture books that are perfect for upper grades. These books contain wonderful stories with rich characters that make perfect read-alouds to model many types of reading lessons. Some of my favorite tall tales for upper grades include Swamp Angel, Thunder Rose, John Henry, Dust Devil, and Dona Flor. Swamp Angel is a tall tale set in the Appalachian Mountains. The main character, Angelica, is larger than life, literally, and encounters many problems. This a fun read-aloud, especially using a Southern accent. Kids love the extr......

For the past several years, instead of posting a list of rules in my classroom, I have used motivational posters. Not only do they make a pretty bulletin board that can be left up year around, there are several other reasons why using motivational posters in your classroom can be a benefit to your students. 1. Motivational posters provide students with a positive message. Rather than posting a list of behaviors that students should not do, motivational posters provide students with examples of positive behaviors, and these posters can help to reinforce the positive behaviors that students should strive to have. 2. Motivational posters make a great morning routine. Simply choral read, or have a student in charge of reading the motivational posters each morning. This is another way to motivate students each morning to be their best. 3. Motivational posters can be used as a reference. When students make mistakes, motivational posters are a great reference to remind st......

Although we may only think of using fables in lower grades, using fables in upper elementary can be very beneficial. Not only are fables an excellent genre for teaching morals and themes in stories, but because they are short, they are wonderful to use when comparing and contrasting the treatment of similar themes and topics. Using these short stories can be both beneficial and fun, even for our older students. Finding Free Resources Finding free resources for teaching fables is easier than you may think. One wonderful resource can be found at Library of Congress.  This website contains a list of classic Aesop fables that you can print or display with your overhead projector for your entire class to use.  Another website is Aesop's Fables that also contains a large list of fables. A Fun "Fable Strip" Activity Recently, my students read a variety of fables that I printed from Library of Congress. The students discussed the morals of each fable, compared f......