Book Recommendations

Cozy Up With Great Winter Books

Come check out this list of winter books that we use in our upper elementary classroom. We use picture books to teach all kinds of English Language Arts skills, but our students also love them. We've even included some ways to inspire your students to dig into winter books.

When it’s cold outside, a good winter book is a great way to cozy up and spend the cold months. We love to read picture books to our students in Grade Four and Five. Older students love picture books and they love to be read to just as much as younger students.

Picture books are a great way to teach specific comprehension skills, show examples of different types of writing, teach poetic devices and show how grammar is used in real-world situations.

Having a great book is just part of the equation. Next, we’ll talk about some of the ways we get kids to read.

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Easy to Use Classroom Activities for Earth Day

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for activities to do with your upper elementary class? We pulled together Earth Day themed lessons and activities (but they can be used any time of year) for your upper elementary classroom. Come check out the resources, books, and ideas to use right away.

Every day in our classroom is Earth Day. It’s part of our science lessons to learn about energy conservation, so it’s easy to make sure we talk about the importance of conservation regularly.

One year a fellow teacher thought it would be a great idea to print a little paper globe for each student in our school (that’s several hundred) and write a “thank you to the Earth” type sentence.

I don’t often speak up at meetings, but I couldn’t resist this one. Isn’t it counterproductive to teach students about conservation by wasting all that paper?

Everyone agreed, but NO ONE had any suggestions on what we could do instead. And that’s how we came up with this list of Earth Day activities (and why you should try some of them).

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Quick and Colourful Activities for Holi the Festival of Colours

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for upper elementary classroom activities you can use to learn more about the Holi Festival of Colours? We've gathered resources and books that are perfect for your classroom. Come take a look.

Learning about different traditions allows students to explore people and their cultures around the world. And it’s a cheap way to travel! We collected activities for Holi so you can travel with your students.

Holi is an ancient Hindu festival that originates and is widely celebrated in India. Although different regions of India have their own traditions and variations, they all share one thing, it’s so much fun! As people have moved around the world, settling in other countries such as Canada they have brought this celebration with them.

Many non-Hindu people around the world also celebrate Holi. In fact, this tradition has inspired all kinds of different events. It is often used to support all kinds of good causes, like children with chronic or life-threatening conditions and is incorporated into many different types of fundraisers.

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Christmas Books We Love

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for Christmas books to share with your students this holiday season? Check out our list of books that will get everyone in the spirit of the holiday season.

There are so many amazing books that use Christmas as a theme that you could read one a day and probably not run out in your lifetime. Christmas picture books make great gifts and they can be read all year round.

Now, we recognize that not all of your students will be celebrating Christmas (and we have lots of book lists for other holidays and celebrations-see the bottom), but for your students that do, we’ve collected a list of our favourite pictures books, graphic novels and novels that bring on the Christmas spirit.

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Practical Strategies for Reluctant Readers

by BrainNinjasWP

Do you have students who avoid reading? Check out these step-by-step effective strategies for reluctant readers so you can get all of your students to enjoy reading.

Do you have students in your classroom you would label as reluctant readers? A reluctant reader is usually considered to be a person who doesn’t read for pleasure, but we’re about to debunk that myth and help you out in your classroom by giving you strategies to engage reluctant readers in ways you didn’t even know you needed.

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Books About Kindness That Should Be in Every Classroom

by BrainNinjasWP

This is a great list of kindness books you can use in your classroom (even an upper elementary classroom) all year round. Use them for Pink Shirt Day, World Kindness Day or to foster a kind environment for all your students.

We love picture books and use them all the time in our classroom as mentor texts or to illustrate a writer’s craft. We love books that highlight kindness and use them all year with our students. We’re always on the search for new books, but here are some of the best kindness books we’ve found and use all year.

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