Blog - Create Teach Share

Close Reading Toolbox FREEBIE!!

Well, my school year has barely ended, and call me crazy, because I am already planning and creating for next year!! I have a list a mile long of new ideas that I can't wait to try out for next year. My first one?!?! Close Reading Toolboxes!! This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. If you make a purchase from amazon.com through the links on this page, CreateTeachShare will receive a small commission. This helps to support the blog, and allows me to continue creating and ... [Read More]

Encouraging Summer Reading

I spend the entire school year working to instill a love of reading in each and every one of my students. It certainly is not an easy task!! I have to choose just the right read-alouds to engage all. I work with students individually to establish reading goals and to find books they love at their reading levels. We practice responding to texts in meaningful ways, teaching them important reading skills, while still loving to read. By the end of every year, I am such a proud teacher, when I see ... [Read More]

Engaging Lessons To Explore Geometry

Geometry is one of those wonderful math subjects that can be so much fun to teach!! It lends itself to engaging HANDS-ON and UP-AND-OUT-OF-YOUR-SEAT lessons!! These are some of my favorite lessons for teaching geometry!! This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. If you make a purchase from amazon.com through the links on this page, CreateTeachShare will receive a small commission. This helps to support the blog, and allows me to continue creating and sharing educational content ... [Read More]

Narrarive Writing with Picture Books Without Words

Even though I'm an upper grade teacher, not a single day goes by that I don't read a picture book to my class. I love using picture books to teach a wide range of reading and writing skills. Even though they are older, my kiddos still love to come down to our rug to hear a great story. This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. If you make a purchase from amazon.com through the links on this page, CreateTeachShare will receive a small commission. This helps to support the blog, and ... [Read More]

Earth Day Case File {FREEBIE!!}

Earth Day is the perfect time to get students thinking about the world we live in, the threats to our environment, and the different ways that we can all work to take better care of our planet. Last year, I had my students create Case Files for different environmental causes. It was a great way to recognize Earth Day and practice research skills at the same time!! We started by brainstorming and discussing the different threats to our environment. We had some great "cause and effect" ... [Read More]

5 OF MY FAVORITE NON-FICTION SERIES TO ENGAGE READERS

I love exploring non-fiction texts with my students!! Non-fiction can be fun, fascinating, and extremely engaging for students, especially when presented the right way. Unfortunately, as an upper grade teacher, many of the non-fiction texts that are "grade-level appropriate" for my students tend to lack such excitement, and although they might be rigorous, they can be somewhat daunting. So when we first begin to explore non-fiction in my class, I love to find the perfect texts to pique their ... [Read More]

DIY Text Feature Posters

I have fallen in love with Non-Fiction over the past few years. I used to find it so challenging to incorporate into my reading instruction. Now, it seems that there are endless tools, strategies, and resources for teaching non-fiction. I just couldn't wait to dive-in to some of our favorite non-fiction texts this year!! I always like to start things off with exploring TEXT FEATURES! Last year, I received this very cool poster with my order of Scholastic News.... My students loved how they ... [Read More]

Frightening Figures of Speech

I absolutely love to celebrate holidays like Halloween in my classroom!! However, I always try very hard to keep our celebrations as "educational" and FUN as possible. Today I thought I would share a quick fun activity that I have used over the years to teach idioms, while also celebrating the Halloween season!! Last year my students worked with "Frightening Figures of Speech". We spent time discussing different idioms with a Halloween theme. After discussing their meanings, and writing ... [Read More]

Upper Elementary Tricks & Treats

Over at Upper Elementary Snapshots we have some TRICKS & TREATS up our sleeves!!! We have put together a FREE eBook full of fabulous tricks and treats to celebrate the Halloween season. For my contribution, I am sharing a fun Halloween-themed STEM activity. It's a twist on the marshmallow and toothpick tower challenge, using marshmallow candy corns!! Students use toothpicks and candy corn marshmallows to build the tallest tower they can in 15 minutes. It's so fun to see what ... [Read More]