• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ninja Notes

Let us help you teach like a ninja!

  • Engaging Lessons
  • Teaching Strategies
  • Classroom Tips
  • Free Resources
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy

English Language Arts

How to Teach Poetry All Year Long

by BrainNinjasWP

Instead of teaching poetry in a unit, have you ever considered sprinkling poetry throughout the school year? It's a great way to show students that poetry is all around us. Come learn about some of the ways we include poetry in our language arts lessons throughout the year.

Many teachers add a poetry unit to their Language Arts programming, but what if you teach poetry throughout the school year? It’s not as hard as it sounds and you don’t even have to be a poetry expert.

Poetry is a beautiful and expressive form of literature that allows students to explore language, imagery, and emotions in creative ways. Many students enjoy poetry because it’s short and the rhyming is catchy. Come learn some of the ways we teach poetry throughout the school year.

[Read more…] about How to Teach Poetry All Year Long

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: English Language Arts, language, Language Arts, National Poetry Month, Poetry, Poetry and Drama, Professional Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Strategies

How to Teach Types of Sentences and Fix Punctuation Problems

by BrainNinjasWP

When students understand how punctuation can change an author's intent, they get better at using the correct punctuation in their own writing. They also learn to properly express the author's intent and read properly with the correct tone. Come learn about a lesson we use to help students learn about the dfferent types of sentences in our upper elementary language arts class.

Often when the school year starts, we do a few different writing activities to get a sense of how well students can (or cannot) write. One of the things we continually see is the lack of conventions regardless of whether students write by hand or type it into a device. We found that a simple lesson around the different types of sentences changed many of the punctuation problems. Come read about the lesson and get some ideas for your classroom.

[Read more…] about How to Teach Types of Sentences and Fix Punctuation Problems

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Christmas activities, English Language Arts, english language learners, halloween activities, language, Language Arts, punctuation, Teachers Pay Teachers, Types of Sentences, Winter Language Arts

Unravel the Magic of Fractured Fairy Tale Activities!

by BrainNinjasWP

How are you using fairy tales in the classroom? One of our favourite ways is to use fractured fairy tales to help students write their own stores. There are already so many great examples out there. Come read through this list of ideas you can use right away in your upper elementary classroom. Add some magic to your language arts lessons.

Once upon a time, there was a teacher who discovered her students didn’t know the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Yes! It’s a true story. It is not a fairy tale. With each year, it is surprising that fewer and fewer students know the traditional fairy tales. It seems that reading classic stories before entering school has become less and less common at home. With the huge selection of stories, teachers just don’t have time to read them all.

Even in upper elementary, one of our favourite units is fairy tales. We start our fairy tale unit by reading some of the old classics. If you have older students who are a little twisty, you can even share the darker versions. We talk about why fairy tales were used by parents and how the stories have changed over time. Come learn about how we use fairy tales in our upper elementary classroom.

[Read more…] about Unravel the Magic of Fractured Fairy Tale Activities!

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Drama Circles, English Language Arts, Fairy Tales, Fractured Fairy Tales, language, Language Arts, Lesson Plans, Teachers Pay Teachers

5 Fascinating and Inspiring Canadian Trailblazers

by BrainNinjasWP

There are many interesting Canadian trailblazers who have stood up in the face of discrimination. Come learn more about Mary Two-Axe Earley, Viola Desmond, Elsie MacGill, Willie O'Ree and Abhayjeet Singh Sachal.

We teamed up with several Canadian teacher-authors to collaborate on different historical (and modern) Canadian trailblazers that you should be teaching your students about.

A trailblazer is the first to do something or to lead the way for others. This term is often used to describe someone who pioneers a new idea, creates a new path, or achieves something that has never been done before. Trailblazers are often seen as innovators or leaders who inspire others to follow in their footsteps. They create positive change in society. They may face challenges and obstacles along the way, but they persist in pursuing their goals and paving the way for others to follow.

How well do you know these Canadian trailblazers?

[Read more…] about 5 Fascinating and Inspiring Canadian Trailblazers

Filed Under: Classroom Tips, Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Biographies, Canadian History, Canadian Trailblazers, English Language Arts, Indigenous People in Canada, Language Arts, Social Studies

How to Have Fun With Homonyms

by BrainNinjasWP

Do your students struggle with reading and writing homonyms? We brainstormed a list of games and activities to help students learn and practice the difference between homographs and homophones. We've even included a list of picture books with homonyms in them. Come have a read today!

Do your students struggle with using the correct word when they are writing? Do homophones confuse your students when they are reading? They are not alone. There are more than six thousand different homophones in the English language. No wonder it’s so confusing for students.

Teaching homophones and homographs can be a lot of fun. We’ve collected some of our favourite lessons, books and activities that you can use in your classroom to practice using homonyms. Come read more!

[Read more…] about How to Have Fun With Homonyms

Filed Under: Teaching Strategies Tagged With: English Language Arts, english language learners, Homographs, Homonyms, Homophones, Parts of Speech, Reading, Spelling, Teachers Pay Teachers, Words, Writing

How to Add Some Meat to Your Idioms Lessons

by BrainNinjasWP

Idioms can be challenging for students, so we brainstormed different ways to learn and practice the meaning of different idioms in the classroom. Come have a read.

Idioms are a complicated thing for many English Language Learners. In fact, many students struggle with them in their day-to-day life. Every language has its own idioms: phrases that say one thing literally but mean another thing figuratively.

Learning idioms helps students understand the cultural context and conversational skills. Many idioms come naturally to native English speakers, making them challenging for English Language Learners. Students with learning challenges like Autism or cognitive issues can find figurative language misleading and frustrating. In our experience, many native English speakers don’t always know the meanings of the idioms either, so they are great for all your students to learn.

What are some different ways you can help your students learn idioms?

[Read more…] about How to Add Some Meat to Your Idioms Lessons

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Book Recommendations, books, English Language Arts, english language learners, Figurative Language, Idioms, Language Arts, task cards, Teachers Pay Teachers

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent

  • There are lots of fun ways to explore perimeter measurement in your upper elementary classroom and we've written up a whole post full of our favourite ideas. Come read it today!
    Love Math and Explore Perimeter With Your Young Mathematicians
    When people ask, "When will I...
  • Instead of teaching poetry in a unit, have you ever considered sprinkling poetry throughout the school year? It's a great way to show students that poetry is all around us. Come learn about some of the ways we include poetry in our language arts lessons throughout the year.
    How to Teach Poetry All Year Long
    Many teachers add a poetry unit...
  • What are you doing to contribute to the chattiness of your classroom? Come learn how we control the noise level in our classroom and spoiler alert-the kids still talk.
    How Change the Noise Level in a Chatty Classroom
    Do you ever have days where...

Before Footer

Looking for something?

Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT