O'BrienTeach 5th Grade ELA

In my 5th grade ELA classroom, the school year ended in a flurry!   Students dashed around the school competing in The Amazing Race, conducted Word Parts Surgery, mastered Greek & Latin Word Parts "I Have, Who Has?," researched and published an endangered animal Infographic culminating in a Gallery Walk of classmates' designs and played 5th-grade Vocabulary Jeopardy.  After the Jeopardy game, one student said,  "This is so much fun!  Can we play again tomorrow?"   

These activities kept kids engaged in word study, reading, writing, speaking, and creating to end the year on a high note.

Excitement filled each day with these end-of-the-year activities and made spending time with my students a lot of fun.  Did some of the activities take loads of prep time?  Yes, especially the first time I used them.  Others took merely a few minutes each month throughout the school year - creating the activity a little at a time makes it easier during the hectic last month of school.  

This blog celebrates students learning necessary ELA skills based on State Standards through interactive, engaging activities.  My goal is for students to move during the ELA block each day, to reflect or share their learning verbally, and for myself to understand what students truly are learning each day.  I will share interesting teaching activities, anecdotes, classroom decorating ideas, and classroom management tips.  Here is where you can explore new ideas to implement in your classroom this week, or even today!