Back to School Ideas for Upper Elementary Teachers

Are you an upper elementary teacher planning for the first week of school?  This time of the year always stirs a wide variety of emotions for both students and teachers.  It is normal to feel a mixture of excitement and anxiety.  As teachers, we want to be well-prepared and ready to welcome our new group of learners.  That begins with careful creation of a welcoming and fun environment for your young scholars.  But creating a positive learning atmosphere goes much deeper than hanging up a bunch of cute banners, posters, and classroom decor.  More important than the way a room looks is how it

Skip Counting Offers Valuable Multiplication Practice

Mastering the basic multiplication facts is a major component of elementary school mathematics education.  Trying to memorize so many facts can be challenging and frustrating for young learners.  It is important to provide early exposure and offer a wide variety of strategies and activities to promote familiarity with the basic multiplication facts.  Skip counting practice lays an early foundation for multiplication mastery.  Keep reading to get two FREE sets of skip counting puzzles!

Visual Decimal Models Assist in the Learning Process

Decimal grid models and number line models are important visual representations to include in your decimal instruction.  Working with a variety of models helps students truly understand the meaning of what a decimal represents.  It is important for learners to comprehend that decimals are specific fractions of a whole number.

Hands-on activities that incorporate shading of decimal grid models support the development of decimal concepts.  You will find a FREE decimal

Hands-on Activities for Decimal Tenths and Hundredths

Decimals challenge learners to understand a new form of notation to represent specific fractions.  Both the decimal notation and the fraction concepts need to be well-developed for students to master the topic.

I like to use hands-on activities to allow students the opportunity to develop decimal concepts in their mind.  I always begin with a decimal grid model for tenths and relate it to the hands-on fraction tiles we have used previously.  We take