We're so glad you're here. We're Joe and Quyen and we can't wait to share all things teaching with you. By signing up, you will be the first in line when we share new ideas and resources. Can't wait to meet you!
What We’re Reading, Tracking, and Testing This Week
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Hey friends, First, a quick apology for missing last weekend’s email. We were fully immersed in dance parent life and, if you know… you know. Sometimes it feels like we are juggling teaching, creating, and parenting all at once. Last weekend, dance won. Now, back to our planbook! Women's History Month!March means Women’s History Month, and we keep this one intentionally low prep. This doesn’t have to be a big, time-consuming unit to make an impact. We just share one or two biographies a day as quick reads. Sometimes it’s a warm-up, sometimes right after lunch, sometimes during those odd transition pockets. The consistency is what makes it powerful. By the end of the month, every student is familiar with multiple influential women without it ever feeling overwhelming. Then for our culminating activity, each student is assigned a different historical figure and creates a Wonder Woman–style shield based on that person’s life and accomplishments. It turns into an incredible display for Open House and the kids are so proud of them. If you want something that works for quick reads, partner work, small groups, or a simple display, we use our Read Across America WeekThis week we’re celebrating Read Across America by focusing on picture books that still hit in upper elementary. One of our favorites is The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. Even in 5th grade, students deeply connect with Brian’s story. It opens up honest conversations about inclusion, kindness, and what it means to really see the people around you. We’re pairing it with this interactive empathy activity 👉 The Invisible Boy – Interactive Empathy Activity It’s thoughtful, structured, and gives students space to reflect instead of just “talk about it and move on.” Highly recommend if you’re looking for something meaningful but manageable during this busy time of year. Don’t sleep on picture books in upper elementary! 🏀 i-Ready March MadnessMarch = bracket season. We are running an i-Ready March Madness challenge based on number of lessons passed. Students are seeded and go head-to-head each week. We narrow it down until we have a class champion at the end of the month. We adapted this idea from i-Ready Central. Here’s how we’re keeping it equitable and motivating for all students:
The bracket brings the hype, but the milestones keep everyone engaged. It’s been such a fun way to build momentum before testing season without it feeling like “test prep.” Want to use the prizes we are using? Here's a freebie that you can print out to hang next your bracket! 👉 March Madness Prizes Using Instructron for Focused Writing FeedbackRight now, we’re in narrative writing. Our students are doing really well with:
Where they’re struggling?
So instead of overwhelming them with feedback on everything, we are having Tronnie focus only on conventions and grammar for this round of revision. This has been a game changer. When feedback is too broad, students shut down. When it’s focused, they actually apply it. Tronnie keeps the tone supportive, gives clear next steps, and allows students to revise independently before coming to us. It feels like having an editing assistant that never gets tired. And Don’t Forget the Test PrepTest prep is the feature that started Instructron in the first place. What we love about it:
It turns “practice” into something responsive instead of random. This is real-time, mid-year, slightly tired but still excited 5th grade energy over here. Thanks for being here with us. Joe and Quyen from Top Floor Teachers Follow us on our social media accounts and TPT store! |
Top Floor Teachers
We're so glad you're here. We're Joe and Quyen and we can't wait to share all things teaching with you. By signing up, you will be the first in line when we share new ideas and resources. Can't wait to meet you!
Hi teachers, Testing week is here, so we’re shifting how we use our time. Less new instruction, more review, and a big focus on keeping students engaged without overdoing it. One of our go-to moves this week is turning math review into a friendly competition. We set up task cards around a common area on campus and have students work in partners or small teams to solve them. When time is up, we collect all the responses and tally the correct answers by class. The class with the most correct...
Hi teachers, We’re in that stretch of the year where things start to move fast. The content ramps up, the schedule fills up, and there’s a lot happening all at once. Here’s what’s going on in our classrooms this week: Math: Order of Operations with GEMS We’re diving into order of operations, and we are firmly Team GEMS over PEMDAS. If you’ve ever had students multiply before dividing just because the acronym told them to, you already know the struggle. PEMDAS can lead kids to think there’s a...
Hi teachers, Spring break came and went way too fast, but we’re back and ready to roll into the final stretch of the school year. These last two months always feel like a sprint, and this week is no exception. Math: Geometry is HEREYou know it’s the end of the year when geometry finally makes its appearance. This week, we’re diving into classifying polygons using hierarchies and Venn diagrams. That whole “every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square” idea can really trip...